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Incapacity Benefit changes

Hi, although I have been signed up for some time now and follow many of the threads and articles with interest, often finding extremely sound advice but rarely having needed to post anything myself, I am now in the position of needing specific advice for a problem of my own.

First, a bit of background is needed to understand my situation. I started with my employer back before I needed to shave in June 1999 and remain with them to this day. However, in August 2000, I became seriously ill with a rare blood disorder that required very aggressive chemo treatment. I was off work for over three months, but finally, before the end of November 2000, I was able to return to my job.

Over the following 7 - 8 years, I carried on working full time, although with many periods off work for chemo or serious flare ups of my illness. The company I work for have been amazing since day one, treating me fairly and with kindness throughout. Unfortunately, my conditioned continued to worsen with severe damage to my sinuses, short term memory loss, diabetes, seizures, sleeping problems, hearing loss and more. So in the October of 2008, a few months before the birth of my daughter, my employer suggested that I speak to my GP and hospital consultants about getting signed off on long term sick leave to give me a chance to recover.

The GP and my consultants all agreed. I was, for the first time in my life, no longer working. My position with my company was, and remains to this day, open for me should my health improve to the point that I am able to return. Being off work meant that I was only paid the standard SSP amount although my company have been continuing to pay employee contributions in to my pension fund.

After a six month battle, the Job Centre Plus finally acknowledged that I as entitled to Incapacity Benefit, which meant with the SSP and some housing benefit and tax credit, I was able to afford the cost of living whist off work. Now, as of two days ago, the whole situation has changed.

Following a 'fitness to work assessment' in May, I was then out of the blue sent a letter telling me that I WAS able to work, based on the decision of someone who had not even heard of the name of my illness until that day and against the judgement of healthcare professionals, some having dealt with me for over a decade. I contacted them by phone to try and understand the reasons for the decision.

I was told that because I am able to walk up to 100 metres, lift an arm above my head, open my own post and climb a single flight of stairs unaided, that I was fit to work in at least some capacity. I tried to explain that it was only on the 'good days' in terms of health that I was able to do anything at all. The bad days, I am pretty much confined to bed with even the simple task of getting to the toilet exhausting me but they seem unable or unwilling to grasp the concept.

Effectively, I have been told that I have three options:
1. My employer make changes that mean I can do my job despite illness - impossible. As a sales rep, my job involves covering two counties which there is no way I can do when on the does of pain killers and other drugs that I have to take on a daily basis and the fact that I cannot tell from one day to the next if I will be well enough to come in and work for a set period, if at all.

2. Quit my job and apply for job seekers allowance. Basically, make myself intentionally unemployed, lose my ongoing pension payments and apply for jobs despite the fact that no one in their right mind is likely to consider employing a worker who cannot give them any indication at all of when they could work. And I would be gambling that the advisor I spoke to was correct in that an exception would be made in my situation if I were to quit, whereby they the 'intentional unemployment' would not be considered as such. I only have his word on that and nothing in writing to confirm it.

3. Carry on without the incapacity money and pray that I am able to live on such a drastic drop of household income with a family to support but with the knowledge that if I do get well enough, I have a job waiting and will continue to receive pension payments.

I continue to have chemo at regular times throughout the year, I take tramadol or morphine 3 - 4 times a day to keep the pain under control alongside anti inflammatory medication, anti sickness tablets and antibiotics daily to compensate for the supressed immune system resulting from the chemo. On an average month, there are maybe 5 or 6 days at best that I can even function to anything like normal levels, with more days that I simply cannot function at all. None of which seems to have been taken in to account, despite being clearly stated in writing and at the assessment.

I apologise for the rather lengthy comment but I am desperately in need of advice on how to proceed and understandably, very worried about my financial future - all stress that I really don't need on top of everything else. Any help or advice that anyone can give would really help as I have no idea what course of action I should take.
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Comments

  • pollyanna_26
    pollyanna_26 Posts: 4,839 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Hi hopefully someone with more knowledge than myself will reply .
    You don't mention DLA or PIP have you considered making a claim ?
    polly
    It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.

    There but for fortune go you and I.
  • GlasweJen
    GlasweJen Posts: 7,451 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    It sounds like you're being moved onto employment support allowance. If you're within time I can only recommend that you apply for a mandatory reconsideration and then appeal the decision to the tribunal.
  • KxMx
    KxMx Posts: 10,834 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Option number 4: Appeal the Fit For Work decision.
    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/while-youre-getting-esa/challenging-an-esa-decision/
    (Get a sick note from GP asap, and continue to get them. If the appeal goes to tribunal, you can get appeal rate ESA only if you have sick notes. And only from the date of your first sick note)

    Also do you get DLA or PIP? You can apply for PIP regardless of your work situation.
  • antrobus
    antrobus Posts: 17,386 Forumite
    daylus wrote: »
    ....Following a 'fitness to work assessment' in May...

    I suspect it was a Work Capability Assessment for ESA.

    If you want to challenge the result this what you do.

    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/while-youre-getting-esa/challenging-an-esa-decision/

    Edit: Just beaten to it.:)
  • daylus
    daylus Posts: 11 Forumite
    Thanks for the replies. One of the problems is that I was told be the Job Centre that I did not need to get 'sick notes' from the GP any more and that my benefit would carry on as normal. This was over two years ago. So I stopped getting doctor's certificates to send off and everything did indeed remain the same. Although I did keep the correpondence instructing me not to get the notes, is this now likely to come back and bite me in the backside?

    I've not heard of PIP and from memory, do not meet the criteria for DLA. I will of course appeal the decision and have already been looking into the best template letter and what info is best to include. I think the biggest hurdles for me are that my illness is one of the 'invisible' ones, where to the rest of the world there doesn't seem to be anything wrong, coupled with the fact that when I do get my occasional 'good days', whilst not in perfect health by any stretch, I can do almost all everyday tasks as long as I don't over exert.

    The fact that severe pain and many of my other symptoms are not things that can be measured or seen like a lost limb, cancer etc, seem to to have gone against me, and against common sense when the assessment was carried out. (it was indeed called a 'work capability assessment')

    I'll update on here once I have a response to my appeal but in the mean time, any other ideas/suggestions gratefully received!

    Thanks again
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 18,808 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    daylus wrote: »
    Thanks for the replies. One of the problems is that I was told be the Job Centre that I did not need to get 'sick notes' from the GP any more and that my benefit would carry on as normal. This was over two years ago. So I stopped getting doctor's certificates to send off and everything did indeed remain the same. Although I did keep the correpondence instructing me not to get the notes, is this now likely to come back and bite me in the backside?

    I've not heard of PIP and from memory, do not meet the criteria for DLA. I will of course appeal the decision and have already been looking into the best template letter and what info is best to include. I think the biggest hurdles for me are that my illness is one of the 'invisible' ones, where to the rest of the world there doesn't seem to be anything wrong, coupled with the fact that when I do get my occasional 'good days', whilst not in perfect health by any stretch, I can do almost all everyday tasks as long as I don't over exert.

    The fact that severe pain and many of my other symptoms are not things that can be measured or seen like a lost limb, cancer etc, seem to to have gone against me, and against common sense when the assessment was carried out. (it was indeed called a 'work capability assessment')

    I'll update on here once I have a response to my appeal but in the mean time, any other ideas/suggestions gratefully received!

    Thanks again
    DLA no longer exists and has been replaced by PIP. Take a look at this link of descriptors and see if any apply to you. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf
    You'll need evidence to support your claim, anything from GP letters, Consultant letters, Letter from soneone that knows you well anything that proves those descriptors apply to you (if they do)
    As for your ESA Mandatory Reconsiderstion you have 1 month from the date of the decision to ask for that MR. Good luck.
  • debtisnotme
    debtisnotme Posts: 111 Forumite
    You cannot just appeal, you need to ask for a mandatory reconsideration first, in the meantime you can claim JSA and produce a fitnote from your doctor which will temporarily give you an income
    Debt on 25/5/17
    Mortgage[STRIKE] £61,999[/STRIKE] £59,335
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  • Alice_Holt
    Alice_Holt Posts: 6,094 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 5 July 2017 pm31 6:08PM
    This is a proforma for your mandatory reconsideration request:
    https://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/178163/mandatory-reconsideration-request.pdf
    Needs to be returned within 1 month of your decision letter.
    If you haven't got a response after 3 weeks ring the DWP and chase. The DWP have a habit of 'losing' MR's.

    You were receiving ESA not IB, here are the descriptors and points:
    https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/start-the-esa-test
    You need 15 points, or
    http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/making-exception

    Let your council HB dept know what has happened, and complete a nil-income form so that you can continue to receive HB & CT support. Do this asap otherwise you will accrue rent arrears.

    Get help with your ESA appeal from your local CAB / advice centre.
    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-we-provide-advice/advice/
    They will also be able to advise on a PIP claim, and what to do whilst your ESA is under appeal.

    The DWP rarely change decisions at MR, so expect to take your appeal to the Tribunal Service.
    Once your appeal is lodged with the TS, you can ask the DWP to resume your ESA payments.
    Alice Holt Forest situated some 4 miles south of Farnham forms the most northerly gateway to the South Downs National Park.
  • daylus
    daylus Posts: 11 Forumite
    You cannot just appeal, you need to ask for a mandatory reconsideration first, in the meantime you can claim JSA and produce a fitnote from your doctor which will temporarily give you an income

    That is one of the problems, or at leat as I understand it. Because I am still currently employed, I am not able to apply for Job Seekers Allowence. Ironically, none of this would be a problem if I didn't have a job to which to return if my health improves - I would be better off now if I were unemployed.
  • daylus
    daylus Posts: 11 Forumite
    When I say 'appeal' or similar, I did in fact mean the 'mandatory reconsideration'. I've never had to deal with a problem like this before so not familiar with all the correct terminology.

    I applied for DLA quite a long while ago. Is it something that I might be worth revisiting now that it has become PIP or are all the requirements involved still exactly the same?
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