No income AT ALL since MArch

Morglin

cammy1981 wrote: »

No

I telephoned today to ask about how my Mandatory reconsideration was coming along. I was promised a call back within 3 hours.

They didn’t bother getting back to me.

Escalate the query, and tell them you require a call back from a manager/supervisor.

Lin

pmlindyloo

cammy1981 wrote: »

The succinct version of my story is I have absolutely no income. None at all. This has been the case since March 27th.

I was receiving Incapacity Benefit and Income Support because I suffer from (among other things) chronic depression.

Following a medical assessment at The DWP Medical Assessment Centre I am now no longer getting any benefits at all.

I am appealing the decision to stop my benefits but as a result I am currently getting no income. I suppose it doesn’t help when I have also been told that my gas and electricity is going up from £51 per month to £101 per month

I have been in touch with the DWP and filled in a questionnaire over the phone. I was asked to get a sick line from my doctor and a p45 and take them to my local job centre. I took these documents to the Job Centre. They didn’t want them from me and I still have them.

I was told that the only way I could get ANYTHING was to lie about being fit and actively looking for work.

I refused to do this as I have principles and I have integrity. But I also have no bloody money.

I have a sick line from my doctor telling me that due to my mental illness I am to refrain from working for two months so I could not, in all conscience, say that I am actively seeking work.

I know that Mr Iain Duncan Smith thinks it is OK to tell lies (as he apparently has done on his CV) and that perhaps all of us scroungers who sponge off the taxpayer should do likewise, but I am unhappy about having to choose between honesty and integrity on one hand and poverty and starvation on the other.

I now understand fully why some folk contemplate suicide

My GP has been brilliant in supporting me and has offered to write a letter in support of my appeal.

As a result of the added stress this situation has put upon me I have had feelings about self harm. My GP has referred me to a psychiatrist about this.


I am not sure what I really hope to achieve by writing this here but doing so has helped release a bit of the pressure in my head, yet made me even more upset and angry at the same time.

I telephoned today to ask about how my Mandatory reconsideration was coming along. I was promised a call back within 3 hours.

They didn’t bother getting back to me.

So while I have no money coming in I have a mortgage, gas, electricity, phone bills and food to pay for.
I had £800 in savings but am down to my last £75.

There seem to be many things that have gone wrong here.

What should have happened is that when your entitlement stopped you should have received a decision letter telling you what you can do as regards appealing and what other benefits you can claim.

Before you appeal you have to ask for a reconsideration. This should only take about 2 weeks unless you offered to get further information about your medical difficulties.

Whilst the reconsideration is being done you should have applied for JSA. The fact that you have a fit note is neither here nor there as you have been found fit for work. Therefore you are entitled to JSA. Whoever told you at the DWP to get a fit note (sick line) from your doctor to present to the Job Centre was incorrect. The Job Centre Plus cannot refuse your application if you have been found fit for work. Presenting the fit note probably caused the problems.

After the reconsideration if they do not alter their decision you have to ask to go back onto ESA whilst you appeal.

So what to do now?

You can reapply for JSA and ask for it to be backdated as you have been wrongly advised. You can ask to see a Disability Advisor who will take into account your disabilities.

If you contact your local MIND they might be able to help you by providing some support or could you ask for a friend to go with you to the Job Centre?

You have already contacted your MP.

You could go to CAB and ask them to telephone and find out why the reconsideration is taking so long. They would be interested as part of their social policy (where they try to change things/provide evidence to get policy changes) to know how long your reconsideration has taken and how misinformed you have been. They may also be able to speed things up, arrange an appointment with MIND and give you general financial advice.

In the meantime you need to contact everyone that you pay money to (utilities/mortgage lender etc ) and advise them of your financial situation and problems with your benefits and ask for some leeway. Cancel your DDs (let them know why) to prevent bank charges. Usually they will put things on hold for a month or two and it prevents any nasty letters. CAB can help you with this.

This isn't how it should be and from what you say you have been badly advised. Please get some support for this.

cammy1981

UPDATE

Since writing I have had my benefits restored and backdated.

I went 12 weeks without ANY INCOME AT ALL

After receiving the mandatory Review The CAB filled in the appeal paperwork and enclosed a letter from my GP.

A week later I got a letter from the Tribunal telling me that they had received my appeal and would send me out a date for the hearing in due course.

Within a week of getting that letter I got a letter from the DWP saying they had looked at the evidence in my appeal, including my GP's letter, and have decided to overturn both the original decision and the Mandatory review.

NO APOLOGY !!!

NO explanation as to why I was left with no money for three months.

Thanks to all who gave advice during this discussion.

rogerblack

cammy1981 wrote: »

NO APOLOGY !!!

NO explanation as to why I was left with no money for three months.

Thanks to all who gave advice during this discussion.

If you have been put in financial hardship and undergone costs that the backdating has not put right - or been treated poorly, put in a request for compensation.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compensation-for-poor-service-a-guide-for-dwp-staff

Is the staff guide about this.
Oddly, there is no customer facing version of this leaflet.

arcon5

Forgive my potential naivety, but during this time couldn't you have sought some kind of part time work - possibly something like evening cleaning for a little income and claim WTCs alongside it, with the support from your psychiatrist. Surely being home for all this time stressing over what may or may not happen with the disability benefits and no purpose will do nothing but harm your state of mind and make the whole situation a lot worse.

epitome

Maybe if you had submitted to Man Recon the same evidence you submitted to Appeal, you wouldn't have waited so long?

What was the difference between the evidence submitted to MR & Appeal?

The appeal/MR team at DWP are probably wishing you had sent them the same evidence with your MR.

DWP does not apologise, to do so would be to admit fault and according to their rules there was no fault.

By the way, when you ask for a 3 hour callback and it does not come through, you have to call again and ask for a 1 hour callback, if that does not come through you have to ask for an escalation.

Your MP is a member of the institution who brought in these new rules of non payment in Man Recon. It is your MP who put you in this position in the first place. The DWP is just following orders from your MP.

And there is ESA hardship, but you have to first of all have a valid entitlement to ESA to qualify, at this time, you did not have any entitlement to ESA so would not have qualified. It is also, only for people on sanction so again you would not have qualified.

Thanks for the update. it brings a close to your thread for others who will read it.

backinbusiness

arcon5 you are an idiot

arcon5

backinbusiness wrote: »

arcon5 you are an idiot

Okay, side stepping the fact your remark is utterly rude whilst my comment, even if you may consider it offensive, was not an attack on op, do you care to elaborate?

I thought I made a very valid point, but welcome a balanced and objective discussion if you disagree, but I do think work, like exercise can be quite liberating for a persons mental state.
In life, personally i've found doing nothing during tough times to be very tiring and counter productive. I recommended two things above, 'part-time' and something like 'cleaning' - and I recommend this because it allows a gradual re-entry in to work whilst allowing you to perform tasks which keep you busy with minimal requirement to interact with others (which I see is often a source of anxiety).

Not receiving income for 3 months would be horrific for any persons, so I can only imagine how somebody like op must have felt constantly throughout this ordeal, thus agree that steps could be taken to turn this around, supported of course by the psychiatrist as well as the job center

pmlindyloo

It would be interesting to know whether the OP attended the medical assessment/had someone with him/her or had a home visit.

Plus it would be interesting to know which group the OP has been put into - WRAG or Support.

If they are in WRAG then the OP is going to have to attend interviews and work related activities.

I would also be interested to know what particular aspect of visiting Job Centre Plus caused the OP to be reduced to tears.

The reason I am saying this is that it could be that the OP should be appealing to go from the WRAG group to the Support group. The symptoms being described certainly seem to be that being placed in the WRAG may cause serious problems.

missapril75

arcon5 wrote: »

...I do think work, like exercise can be quite liberating for a persons mental state.

Yes, it can be.
But not necessarily when you're already as low as the OP has suggested.