SSP has run out and illness is worsening, what now?

FeistyFidget

Hi everyone, my husband has a severe congential heart defect that was pretty much under control until about a year ago. He suffered an injury and had to be hospitalized for a hydrocele repair. In hospital he suffered complications that have resulted/attributed to his heart condition worsening, a hernia and detection of early liver failure (as a by product of his heart condition). Things are looking pretty bleak.

My husband has been off work since May last year and we've just got a letter stating his SSP has run out. He returned to work last week and worked two separate 4 hour shifts - he severely struggled physically and Saturday night he was rushed back into hospital with a suspected heart attack.

We are now worried that his large retail firm will try to go down the medical dismissal route, and that even if by some miracle they don't, the stress his work causes (physically and mentally) his worsening his general health.

We just don't know what to do. On the face of it, he will not be eligible for DLA/PIP as his condition is sporadic, some days he can function close to normal and then perhaps the next day he can barely move around the house.

He needs a few more operations, which will have a long recovery time and we don't know if this will improve his general health.

Could someone please advise as I'm at my wits end.

FeistyFidget

Thanks for that blondebubbles, I did have a look, but for long term finances it's worryingly low. I was just wondering if there was anything extra that he may be entitled to.

Technically he just went back because his sick note ran out. He wasn't given the green light from the doctor and I fear he may have requested DH stay off a bit longer.

I'm the main income earner, but after almost a year of topping up his SSP I'm stretched to capacity

FeistyFidget

Only about 17k - his was nominal at about 8k (I don't quite know how we manage to live off of this either).

No children

Morglin

FeistyFidget wrote: »

Hi everyone, my husband has a severe congential heart defect that was pretty much under control until about a year ago. He suffered an injury and had to be hospitalized for a hydrocele repair. In hospital he suffered complications that have resulted/attributed to his heart condition worsening, a hernia and detection of early liver failure (as a by product of his heart condition). Things are looking pretty bleak.

My husband has been off work since May last year and we've just got a letter stating his SSP has run out. He returned to work last week and worked two separate 4 hour shifts - he severely struggled physically and Saturday night he was rushed back into hospital with a suspected heart attack.

We are now worried that his large retail firm will try to go down the medical dismissal route, and that even if by some miracle they don't, the stress his work causes (physically and mentally) his worsening his general health.

We just don't know what to do. On the face of it, he will not be eligible for DLA/PIP as his condition is sporadic, some days he can function close to normal and then perhaps the next day he can barely move around the house.

He needs a few more operations, which will have a long recovery time and we don't know if this will improve his general health.

Could someone please advise as I'm at my wits end.

He should claim ESA and PIP.

If the firm medically retire him, would he be entitled to a pension from them? - (many people in pension schemes do receive some before retirement age, when having to retire because of ill health, if the scheme allows for this) and either his HR department or a union (if he is in one) would know.

Meanwhile, he should put in a claim for ESA as soon as possible.

Lin

xylophone

his large retail firm

Is he a member of the pension scheme? If so, what is the position on retirement on grounds of ill health?

bll78

He should apply for ESA but there are rules on how long he can get it and the impact of the hours you work depending on what group he gets put into.
Have a look at the PIP requirements, it doesn't matter if his condition fluctuates, most peoples do, so they ask you to look at averages and report on that. If he meets the criteria it may be an option.

Morglin

PIP is good, but as many new claims are taking up to 10 months to complete, according to threads on here and elsewhere, it's not a solution for the short term.

ESA kicks in pretty quick, at the assessment rate, regardless of whether it's contributory or not.

Lin

pmlindyloo

Morglin wrote: »

PIP is good, but as many new claims are taking up to 10 months to complete, according to threads on here and elsewhere, it's not a solution for the short term.

ESA kicks in pretty quick, at the assessment rate, regardless of whether it's contributory or not.

Lin

I hope the OP's partner is entitled to contribution based ESA as he will not be entitled to income based as she is earning £17k a year.

Torry_Quine

SSP is only for six months so how has he been getting it since May? After that he needed to claim for ESA which he could get if sufficient NI contributions.

Morglin

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I hope the OP's partner is entitled to contribution based ESA as he will not be entitled to income based as she is earning £17k a year.

I assumed as he was working, it would be contributory, and if he did get put into SG, he would receive it until reassessment, without having to transfer to IR after 6 months.

Lin

FeistyFidget

Thank you everyone, it's just all so over whelming.

He has no pension scheme (typical story of not enough money left at the end of the month to pay into it).

We have a mortgage on our home, so unsure if we would be able to claims council tax reduction?

I only earnt £14k last year, but I had to try and increase to make up some of his earnings. I'm self employed, so my annual turnover can drastically change year on year.