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Benefits support for people suffereing from schrizophrenia

Hi,

As posted on another thread, I am trying to help my elder brother get back on his feet as he suffers from schizophrenia. At the moment he is surviving on monies given to him by our mother and jsa to help with his monthly living costs. However I am sure he is entitled to more from the state as he has been diagnosed with schizophrenia- the only benefits I can think of that specifically deal with this is income support and employment support allowance, are there any other benefits he can claim ?

He is desperate to get back into work as he had a relapse early this year and our mother has told me that he won't disclose the full extent of his illness to the state as he thinks he will not ever be able to work again...however any benefits he gets are just a temporary measure before getting back into work- it wouldn't be for life ?

I find him quite difficult to deal with because of his conditions and have involved the mental health crisis team who come up to see him on a daily basis to make sure he takes his medication. However it doesn't sit easy with me to turn my back on him so I have to try and help him get back on his feet...any suggestions are appreciated.

thanks,

habib.
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Comments

  • Normally it would be ESA and PIP you claim for such conditions. Income support isn't really offered for sick people.

    You need to call ESA and PIP to start the claim process then they send out the appropriate forms to fill in and send back with medical evidence, You don't need to send medical evidence but it's advised.
  • If he is getting JSA, I don't think he can get ESA as well. It's one or the other as far as I am aware. ESA is a wage replacement benefit for those who are unable to work because of illness or disability. If he won't disclose the full details of his illness, though, it could be very difficult to be awarded.

    He doesn't qualify for Income Support from what you have said in your post.

    PIP is not means tested and is for people who have an illness or disability that has lasted at least three months and is expected to last at least another nine months. Like ESA, it is points based. You can work and claim PIP. However, once again if he is reluctant to disclose full details, he may not qualify for an award. PIP is more about what you can or can't do, rather than a diagnosis. You can also receive PIP if you are in receipt of JSA or ESA. If you receive JSA and PIP, I understand that it is possible to have certain allowances made for your disability when looking for employment.

    The best option to start the ball rolling is to have a look at the descriptors for both ESA and PIP (they are different descriptors for each benefit).
  • pmlindyloo
    pmlindyloo Posts: 13,071 Forumite
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    How is your brother getting on with claiming JSA? Is he able to fulfil the job requirements and attend interviews? Are they aware of his difficulties?
    Has his job coach suggested that he claims ESA instead of JSA?

    If he applied for ESA then he could still do Permitted Work if it was under 16 hrs and did not go over the weekly threshold of earnings - something else to check by googling. Such earnings would not affect his ESA.

    PIP can be claimed even if he works. Since he is under the care of the Mental Health team, does he have a care co ordinator? You could enquire if he has had a Clinical Risk and Needs Assessment and ask for a copy. This would be good evidence to claim PIP. Certainly receiving daily help from the crisis team indicates that he requires supervision for some of his daily needs. (check the PIP descriptors)

    Claiming either ESA and PIP would obviously require some co operation from him about his illness. A difficult one because when he feels well and taking his medication he probably feels OK to work, but this is when many stop taking their medication and you are back to square one.

    Can you persuade your brother to go with you to CAB who may be able to help with the ESA/PIP applications?

    Seeing your other thread, you could perhaps, go with him to talk about his debt. They would certainly be able to advise him about the debt. This might then lead to their looking at his benefits to increase his income.

    It is such a difficult scenario. Can you speak to anyone on the crisis team about your concerns?

    I am presuming he is living at home and not eligible for housing benefit and council tax reduction?
  • I don't think he has a job coach as he is trying frantically to get back to work.. Too frantically as I am concerned he is coming across as too desperate in interviews which I think from an employer's point of view is off putting. I could be wrong as there could be a multitude of reasons why he or anyone else out there doesn't get a job they've applied for.

    All I know is that he is getting JSA but I'm sure he should be claiming more. this would ease the financial strain on our mother and get him back on his feet. I don't think the mental health services classify him as high priority as he is not a danger to others. He is living in his own flat with a mortgage and thus is not eligible for housing benefit. I am not sure whether he is eligible for council tax reduction - this is something i look into

    He is not an easy person to deal with at times because of his condition and it seems only the mental health people can get through to him.

    there is no end to this....
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 18,744 Forumite
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    Habib2342 wrote: »
    I don't think he has a job coach as he is trying frantically to get back to work.. Too frantically as I am concerned he is coming across as too desperate in interviews which I think from an employer's point of view is off putting. I could be wrong as there could be a multitude of reasons why he or anyone else out there doesn't get a job they've applied for.

    All I know is that he is getting JSA but I'm sure he should be claiming more. this would ease the financial strain on our mother and get him back on his feet. I don't think the mental health services classify him as high priority as he is not a danger to others. He is living in his own flat with a mortgage and thus is not eligible for housing benefit. I am not sure whether he is eligible for council tax reduction - this is something i look into

    He is not an easy person to deal with at times because of his condition and it seems only the mental health people can get through to him.

    there is no end to this....
    If he's looking for work then JSA is the benefit he should be claiming. The disability benefit he can look at possibly claiming is PIP, this would depend on how is conditions affect him daily but to be able to claim he'll have to talk about how his condition/s affect him daily He'll also need evidence to support the claim.
  • Ok,
    e
    so tomorrow our mother and I will go and visit him at his flat. I did phone his bank this week and they said yes, waiving or easing his overdraft woes is something they will take into account, as long as medical evidence is provided. I've also found out he might be able to waive his council tax because of his condition.

    Now the tricky bit is convincing him to phone the bank and ask them to waive the overdraft charges. He also needs to contact the council to see if he qualifies for council tax exemption. Finally he needs to go the CAB and see if he qualifies for any additional benefits as discussed above-this would reduce the strain on our mother.

    Knowing how he is, this will be quite difficult to achieve. If we don't get through to him, we would have to ask the mental health support workers to speak to him and hope he co-operates and complies.

    In the past week there has been a bit of a tiff between our mother and the mental health services and from what I can gather, accusations of them not doing their job properly. A senior supervisor has now got involved and encouraged our mother to make a complaint-but i'll find out more tomorrow. ...

    lets see what tomorrow brings...
  • CIS
    CIS Posts: 12,260 Forumite
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    so tomorrow our mother and I will go and visit him at his flat. I did phone his bank this week and they said yes, waiving or easing his overdraft woes is something they will take into account, as long as medical evidence is provided. I've also found out he might be able to waive his council tax because of his condition.

    Now the tricky bit is convincing him to phone the bank and ask them to waive the overdraft charges. He also needs to contact the council to see if he qualifies for council tax exemption.
    Any chance he'll let you be appointed as a proxy for dealing with his council tax ?

    The council should have the SMI application form on the website - the council can't really say much as the key point is the agreement of a Dr (over which the council have no control). Providing a Dr will sign to say he meets the criteria and he's entitled to a qualifying benefit then the disregard, and any discount/exemption, will have to be applied.
    I no longer work in Council Tax Recovery but instead work as a specialist Council Tax paralegal assisting landlords and Council Tax payers with council tax disputes and valuation tribunals. My views are my own reading of the law and you should always check with the local authority in question.
  • Alice_Holt
    Alice_Holt Posts: 6,094 Forumite
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    Alice Holt Forest situated some 4 miles south of Farnham forms the most northerly gateway to the South Downs National Park.
  • Another point is that my brother doesn't want to disclose the full extent of his condition to the cab because he feels it will go against his chances of securing employment. I have to make him understand that benefits are a temporary measure to help people who've fallen on hard times get back on their feet, its not a lifestyle choice. But with his condition, all rational discussion is not possible.

    I even had a look at my employment contract ( I've been employed as a credit risk analyst for the last five years ) and even under the health questionnaire section it asks have you ever had treatment for a mental health condition ? To which I replied but no, but as the media often points out there is a chance people will at some stage in their lives suffer from a mental health problem. I'm relatively sane but the stress of dealing with this can take its toll....

    Anyway getting back on point, to what extent will employers discriminate or refuse employment to someone suffering from schrizophenia ? Would it depend whether the condition would interfere with his ability to do the job in question ? He worked as a NHS 111 call handler for three years before his most relapse this year, so that in itself proved he can handle employment. unfortunately events in his personal life took its toll and he's back to square one. From what I gather they are trying to convince him to take an injection once a month to avoid him having to remember to take his medication daily. With the stresses of day to day living, this can easily be forgotten and his behaviour becomes erratic once again. However they have to respect the patient's rights and if he refuses he refuses, he cannot be forced to take these injections..

    Anyway that's the plan of action for tomorrow and I think I would be better off posting on forums dedicated to mental health issues/schrizophenia to get guidance on how to deal with him...
  • Habib2342
    Habib2342 Posts: 160 Forumite
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    Well we went to see him ...and pleasantly it went better than I expected.

    He is much more co-operative as now he has a steady supply of tablets to take. I can't understand why he won't agree to taking an injection once a month as opposed to remembering to take tablets daily as surely anyone can see that would make his life a lot easier. He gets very defensive when I suggest this it to him....I think he wants to prove he can handle his medication on his own..plus he doesn't like advice from his younger brother ...its a sibling rivalry/complex mixed in with mental illness I think. He said he would consider it. Possibly the reason why he won't take it is that he has a needle phobia,,,which I suppose is normal ?

    Anyway I digress, he showed us the efforts he is making to get back on track, keeping a log on the interviews he's had. I told him to keep at it as something will materialise eventually. Prior to this I suspected he was coming across as too desperate in his interviews but he is aware of this and hopefully knows when to hold back and keep quiet in an interview setting.

    I had printed out some information from the web last night to take to him including the council tax exemption form but it turns out he is already claiming council tax support reducing so I was pleased to see he's aware enough of his situation to take the initiative. I had also written a list of steps he needs to take including speaking to his bank and speaking to his mobile phone provider as he is overpaying on that. As he is not working, he needs to save money wherever he can.

    we then moved on to the subject of benefits and I brought up the benefits of PIP. based on a quick google search it states its only available to people who are severely mentally impaired ( i.e they have trouble bathing and clothing themselves, which he does not ). He said he'd already looked into it and found out he wouldn't be eligible. I don't know the welfare system in depth but surely there must be a benefit that he can claim that is specific to this condition.

    Anyway he 's got a plan of action for the next week so hopefully he will continue to work on getting back on his feet. I had offer my assistance but he wants to do it alone which is fair enough. I said if he needs my help, give me a call.

    As for his marriage, well one thing at a time is the best strategy to follow I think.....
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