£100 lost by not attending ESA appointment

SingleSue

Confuseddot wrote: »

To be fair this is someone who should have been on ESA not JSA, did he ever appeal the decision ? He should contact the CAB/mind or similar organisation and get help filling in the form and apply again with support.

He went for MR and the support he had (CAB, Mind, and a couple of other trust people) told him it might be too much for him to go to appeal but to try anyway and in the meantime, he had to claim JSA (them's the rules nowadays unfortunately).

He followed their instructions but despite being an appealing 'client' for ESA, once he lost his MR and was waiting for his appeal, there was no reduction or allowances made in his JSA agreement. Their view was that the 'failure' in his MR meant there was nothing wrong with him and that he could do the full range of activities like any other JSA claimant.

It made him so ill, he withdrew both the JSA claim and the appeal and because it had such an impact on his already very fragile health, he has absolutely no wish to put himself through that again, wishes to have no involvement with any benefit department and has pretty much taken himself off the grid.

To be fair, he seems a lot happier now, ok he doesn't have many pennies to rub together but he is making it work and his mental health is slowly improving.

nannytone_2

he should have only been on JSA whilst the MR was being carried out.
once that was refused and he appealed, he should have gone back on ESA assessment rate.

all the 'help' should have known this, so the fact that JC staff stopped treating him as 'incapacitated' because of the failed MR is their fault because they have given him wrong advice regarding which benefit he was eligible for

SingleSue

It could well have been the period of when he was going through the MR, believe me, his mental condition was so bad that it was extremely confusing speaking to him and working out what stage he was at. Or he could have got mixed up with the advice (not difficult, he had worked for so long that it was all very new to him and of course, his mental health meant he didn't know if he was coming or going).

All I know is that once his initial ESA assessment was done and other steps were in process (whether that be the MR or the appeal - he said appeal to me), the pressure was piled on, his disability advisor removed and a harder, less sympathetic advisor given to him and he couldn't cope, he was quite literally at the stage of almost jumping off our local infamous bridge.

Prior to that, the job centre had been brilliant with him, really helpful, really supportive and seemingly really wanting to improve his situation so to give them their dues, there are very helpful staff and it is probably only the odd one that is not so good which you get at every organisation.

As I said, he is a lot happier now. He doesn't have any intrusion into his life and he can get on with getting himself better by still working with those organisations that had been working with him. He doesn't have a lot of money but with mortgage paid and a single man, he doesn't need much and he is used to keeping bills low as a single earner home owner.

red_devil

missapril75 wrote: »

That's what security is. It's about prevention, didn't you know?

Should we abolish the police, after all they are mostly standing around or sitting in cars doing nothing.

Let's abolish the fire brigade too. Mostly twiddling thumbs aren't they?

Or is your hatred reserved for low paid civil servants?

the police are not sitting around doing nothing though, nor are the fire brigade and they are much needed and worthwhile services, the guards are costing a lot of money standing around all the time, the DWP could save a lot of money. If dwp treated people properly there would be no incidents either involving guards. It says a lot about the jobcentre that they even need to employ such people.

red_devil

missapril75 wrote: »

And once again I say, yes, but would you expect the sanction to be so severe? Like the loss of £200 for missing an appointment?

What kind of world is this where the sanction is more punitive than for, say, assault, vandalism, robbery, speeding and other motoring offences?

exactly the DWP can stop all your money on the whim of a decision maker and often the sanction is overturned. Its dreadful. Advisor often isn't even right.

missapril75

red_devil wrote: »

...It says a lot about the jobcentre that they even need to employ such people.

Ah, right.

Is it the same with the security in casualty departments? The nurses and doctors there treat people badly so they misbehave?
That must be it.

:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

When I was last in the JobCentre for a single parent/carer work focused interview I was incredibly depressed (about to be made homeless with two special needs sons). The adviser insisted on telling me about his religious beliefs (everything would be ok and I just needed to believe in God and the goodness of life) in spite of me telling him as politely as I could that I wasn't really there to hear that, please could we get on with the formal part of the interview. He stopped for maybe 30 seconds and then started again! Of course, he was maybe 20 lol. I am also in the process of being diagnosed with ASD, so looking for a job whilst packing up the house and dealing with my sons wasn't on my agenda (as a carer I don't have to anyway, its more than a full time job unfortunately).

I found it very very stressful as I had about a week to go to be evicted.

To be honest, I'm surprised I wasn't sanctioned as I had to be quite abrupt to shut him up and get through the stuff in the interview that had to happen. But I felt and still feel he was very unprofessional.

dktreesea

I find the job centre staff a very mixed bunch. Only going along as support thank goodness, I'm so glad my involvement with benefits begins and ends with tax credits.


What I don't like is allowing job centre staff to determine whether a person's mental health or physical health issues are real or not. It shouldn't be up to them. If a person has a doctors note and is signed off, then they are signed off. If they don't then they are allowed to self certify they are sick for up to 7 days. Instead we have jobsworths ignoring the rules just because they don't agree with them. Too many sanctions are being turned over on appeal for there not to be something amiss.

red_devil

missapril75 wrote: »

Ah, right.

Is it the same with the security in casualty departments? The nurses and doctors there treat people badly so they misbehave?
That must be it.

:rotfl:

Of course they don't they treat people kindly and with compassion something that the little Hitlers in the DWP know nothing about.

Jobcentres are a complete waste of money today. The cost of guards and staff wages and building costs are astronomical. They aren't needed they could be closed down. The gvt are always on about saving money. It makes no financial sense to keep them open today. They aren't what they used to be and people could sign other ways today.

red_devil

deannatrois wrote: »

When I was last in the JobCentre for a single parent/carer work focused interview I was incredibly depressed (about to be made homeless with two special needs sons). The adviser insisted on telling me about his religious beliefs (everything would be ok and I just needed to believe in God and the goodness of life) in spite of me telling him as politely as I could that I wasn't really there to hear that, please could we get on with the formal part of the interview. He stopped for maybe 30 seconds and then started again! Of course, he was maybe 20 lol. I am also in the process of being diagnosed with ASD, so looking for a job whilst packing up the house and dealing with my sons wasn't on my agenda (as a carer I don't have to anyway, its more than a full time job unfortunately).

I found it very very stressful as I had about a week to go to be evicted.

To be honest, I'm surprised I wasn't sanctioned as I had to be quite abrupt to shut him up and get through the stuff in the interview that had to happen. But I felt and still feel he was very unprofessional.

should have reported him to his manager.