ESA and Work Program

Cool_Chick

Thank you, looby75. Your information has been extremely helpful to me. Thank you so much!

looby75

You're welcome. I just hope your WP advisor is as understanding as mine seems to have been.

Cool_Chick

I was with this Work Provider for 1.5 years. In January, I had had enough of their incompetance. I was desperately looking for work, but they offered me no practical assistance. And they were so rude and unprofessional. I was visiting them 4 times a week, even over Christmas.

They last appointment I had with them pushed me over the edge. I went to my GP the next day and was put on antidepressants, but I was suicidal for a month before the tablets started working. It was an awful time. I'm very scared that if I go to see them tomorrow, that I will not be able to cope.

If I don't go, can they really stop my benefit? All I get is ESA of £71 per week. I could not eat if I did not get this. But I am so scared that they will push me over the edge again. I really don't know what to do.

On Tuesday this week I also had a molar extracted so I am in a lot of pain. My GP knows how bad I am. If they try to sanction me, can I not ask my GP to give them her professional view?

Thank you.

Mary_Ellen

If you're on ESA it's accepted that you aren't fit for work, and can not be compelled to look for work. If you can't get to an appointment because of a medical appointment or sickness, contact the Work Program Provider as soon as possible to avoid the possibility of a sanction.

If you're in the 'work related activity group' it DOES NOT mean you're deemed fit for work-if you were,you'd be on Job Seekers. It just means that it is expected you will return to work in the future, and the idea is to support you to get there. Work related activity includes attending adviser interviews, updating CV, updating skills if possible etc. The work Program provider should have access to health related support, so, if you have depression, they may be able to buy in counselling, 'talking' therapies, or organise walking groups etc.

If you're in the Support Group, attendance at work focused interviews isn't required.

I hope that clears a few things up!

GotToChange

I guess I was wrong, sorry...

I could only go on my own experience, which may be a little out of date. In Sept, I started the claim for ESA and once the provider knew this, they told me that I was not required to attend. I did not see ATOS until December but was (fairly quickly) assigned to the Support Group. I am not sure how much knowledge of this the provider actually has.

I really do believe the whole thing is farcial.

OP - you will, I assume (but could be wrong, again) that you will soon be summoned to an ATOS appointment. Now, I realise that feeling suicidal and having to attend the WP can be a bit of a cause-and-effect situation - but, if you have felt and still do feel suicidal at the time of the appointment, make sure that you tell them.

Unless the goalposts are moved again.......

*sigh*

Cool_Chick

Hello Mary Ellen and GotToChange, thank you both for your comments. Mary, you are very right. It seems that they still want you to attend and they can even force you to do community service -type jobs, unpaid of course!

I attended my appointment today although I was terrified. I was just scared of how I felt after my last appointment. I find it so frustrating. I desperately want to work, but they treat you so badly and break any confidence that you have left.

I spent an hour with my advisor today. I could not talk due to having a medical swab in my mouth to stop the bleeding from my tooth extraction, and she didn't believe me until I showed her. But I asked for a pen and paper to communicate. She went on and on about how I still had to attend. Something about Mandatory and Discretionary ESA. And their policy is to treat eveyone as Mandatory. Even though me and my GP have both completed a medical questionnaire, my advisor said that this questionnaire is meaningless. They will only accept that I am unfit for work after I have been seen by a DWP-appointed GP.

She repeatedly went on and on about sanctions and asked for updates on my life, even though I have given her evidence that I am fighting house repossession and a few other things. But she thought that repossession is an overnight process so, again, she didn't believe a word that I said.

And she said that even though I am on ESA, I would still have to attend regular interviews, workshop training, etc, and do anything that they tell me to do that might make me "ready for work again".

As usual, she didn't believe a word that I said and she just kept threatening me with sanctions. So in the end I told her that she had made me suicidal after our last meeting. This just angered her and she went to speak to her supervisor. Then I was called to speak to her supervisor. I told her about my situation and how badly I had tried to find work. And I told her how disappointed I was with the service that I had received. When I told her about my situation and the fact that I will be homeless in 4 weeks, she started to believe me. So she finally started to understand and agreed that I should come in for an appointment in 2 months time, by which time I will be homeless and off benefits anyway.

So I'm feeling a bit better now. I'm sorry to have had to tell my advisor that she made me suicidal, but it is the truth. I just hope that she uses this information to review the way she treats her clients.

Thank you all so much for your help.

dontone

The trouble is, is that once you are on the WP, you still have to keep going. I'm on ESA too atm, myself and Looby75 have both commented on this before. Personally, I reckon if you are unfit to work, they should leave you alone.
Thing is, some of these WP Advisors think they have a vast wealth of medical knowledge, and come across as idiots. My GP told me no lifting, the WP wanted to send me to a warehouse interview :mad:, then it was in a bakers lifting trays of bread, even though I'd proven twice that it would do more harm than good. They think you are lying all the time.
They can threaten to sanction, but I think it has been pointed out on here that they are not allowed to put you into a postion of hardship (someone should confirm it)
It was the funniest thing ever when, while signing on, they threatened to stop my JSA. I only got NI. The look on their face was priceless.
It's the biggest waste of time ever.

Cool_Chick

Hi dontone, thanks for your comment. I appreciate that there are some dishonest people out there and far too many benefit cheats, but how can the WP Advisors question the decision of a medically-qualified, independent GP?! And most of the Advisors don't even appear to have any GCSE's of their own, judging by their appalling standard of written and spoken English. Yet they act as if they are President of the United States!

And I had been with this Provider for over 1.5 years before I moved to ESA. I was attending up to 4 times a week, begging for help to find work before my house was repossessed. But they are useless. And it's too late now to improve my situation. I'm being forced to sell quickly and will make a very large profit, but will be homeless. I'll just jump on a plane and spend my money abroad where I will start my own business and have a much better standard of living. This country is so awful now that I'm so glad to leave.

And I didn't know that they were not allowed to put you in a position of hardship. I would be very interested to know more about this. As I only get ESA of £71 a week, this only covers food and necessities. I did wonder how I was supposed to feed myself if they took sanctions against me.

It seems that the benefits system is just getting more complex and more expensive. No-one seems to know what's going on, and claimants are the last to be told. I'm so glad to be leaving soon!

looby75

Cool_Chick wrote: »

believe a word that I said.

So I'm feeling a bit better now. I'm sorry to have had to tell my advisor that she made me suicidal, but it is the truth. I just hope that she uses this information to review the way she treats her clients.

Thank you all so much for your help.

I'm glad your ordeal is over for now, I think you did exactly the right thing by telling her how she made you feel. It's disgusting that anyone makes another person feel that way.

Cool_Chick

Hi looby75, thank you so much for your help. I was so scared. It's crazy that they have this effect when we are supposed to have the same goal, i.e wanting to be in work. I feel bad telling her but I hope it benefits other claimants.

Thank you.