We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

how does "going on the sick" work?

How does going on the sick work? basically i'm confused and i get the feeling i'm in an awkward situation. I had my benefits stopped yesterday for missing appointments due to illness too many times, this was due to me not being able to get out of bed due to depression/insomnia (i had my 3rd not allowed sicky in july, and they only noticed now in sept so i owe them about 400 pounds in overpayment too. excellent!) I burst into tears at my interview and my advisor advised me to go on the sick. My friends who have been in a similar situation havnt been kicked off JSA and just had to go and get a sick note, but i guess i cant do that as theyve stopped my claim?? I dont know whether to do a "rapid" reclaim and then go from there with my sick note or apply for ESA, which i dont know if i will be eligible for/how long until until I recieve any money. I currently have £10 to live on for the foreseeable future until something gets sorted out. Any advice would be muchly appreciated, thanks.

Comments

  • Caz3121
    Caz3121 Posts: 15,874 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Are you fit for work? If not, you should be claiming ESA and not JSA (with fit notes from your doctor). After about 13 weeks you will have a medical and they will assess whether you have enough points to continue on ESA or whether you are fit for work and should go back to JSA
  • If you make a claim for ESA, it might be possible to have it backdated to the date your JSA was stopped if you can prove that's the point when your circumstances changed. You could then use that money to pay back your JSA overpayments.
  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 18,222 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper PPI Party Pooper
    edited 5 September 2014 at 7:00PM
    If you have been attending to sign on every fortnight I don't see how they can claim an over payment has been made. If they have paid you without you signing it is official error and they can't claim it back.
    If you do claim ESA and they backdate it they will take payments received for the same period on JSA into account. In other words you won't get the money twice, but you woudn't need to "use that money to pay back your JSA overpayments"
    Your doctor won't, or certainly shouldn't, issue certificates for a previous period if you haven't seen him during that time. If you have been to your GP but continued to claim JSA he could potentially provide backdated certificates.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.