Bipolar money help

Stray23

Hi 

I’m wondering if anyone can advise or know of any other financial help I could look into please. 

I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder 3 years ago after years of clinical depression and anxiety disorders , it then came to light the manic behaviour that hadn’t been recognised, along with £15,000 debt  I’d managed to build up without even recognising this ( i am paying this back via step change, which at this rate will take 25 years to pay back) 

I am no longer able to work part time as I fall into depression for long periods and along with insomnia and social anxiety it makes things very difficult 

I am married with 1 dependent now, worked all my life full time until children and then part time. We have a mortgage.

The difficulties I come up against is not being eligible for any disability benefits due to my husband’s earnings on paper. 

What this doesn’t take into account though is that after Tax and Pension deductions and the fact now the sole responsibility for the mortgage and every single bill is on his shoulders , in reality it doesn’t leave much for the month

I thankfully was informed of pip by my psychiatrist which I do receive and have been extremely grateful for this, so at least I can help out with some costs, my debt and day to day living and we were managing 

Trouble is now that with everything going up so much, our energy bills have doubled, our fixed mortgage comes to an end in June and the price increases in food and everything else, things are becoming tight again.

I feel such a burden to my husband that he is having to find so much more money and after working since I was 14 until recent years, it makes me feel like such a failure. 

Does anybody know if it is definitely correct that my disabilities are not eligible for help because of my husbands work and there isn’t something we are missing?

Is there anything else other than pip? 

We were told about a 25% reduction in council tax due to me being like a dependant, after being informed that we definitely qualified and spent months of forms back and forth with the council , they rejected our claim ?? 

Husband isn’t eligible to claim as a carer due to the hours you have to register, although he is in reality my carer as I can be so bad at my worst and I can’t cope in busy places anymore so he does the shopping etc

I guess I’m just double checking on everything because I feel so bad about it all and after both working all our lives, when we could do with some extra support, it doesn’t seem like I qualify for anything and this is just adding more pressure on my husband when it isn’t his fault 

Thank you for reading, sorry its so long 

MSE_ForumTeam5

At the suggestion of a Forumite we have moved this across to the Benefits board 

sheramber

Have you transferred some of your unused personal tax allowance to your husband?

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance

Alice_Holt

"I am no longer able to work part time as I fall into depression for long periods and along with insomnia and social anxiety it makes things very difficult...I  worked all my life full time until children and then part time."

 If you worked in the last 20/21 & 21/22 tax years and paid sufficient NI, then newstyle ESA may be a possibility.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/help-with-your-esa-claim/check-if-you-can-claim-esa/

Stray23

sheramber said:

Have you transferred some of your unused personal tax allowance to your husband?

Yes we did this a few years back thank you though 

Stray23

Alice_Holt said:

"I am no longer able to work part time as I fall into depression for long periods and along with insomnia and social anxiety it makes things very difficult...I  worked all my life full time until children and then part time."

 If you worked in the last 20/21 & 21/22 tax years and paid sufficient NI, then newstyle ESA may be a possibility.

Thanks I have checked this out and hadn’t paid enough. I was signed off work and didn’t return after diagnosis 

huckster

Have you looked into working from home jobs ?  I have known people in a similar position, find some customer service/admin work from home on a temporary basis to see if they could do this and they have found it ok.  

RAS

Stray23 said:

I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder 3 years ago after years of clinical depression and anxiety disorders , it then came to light the manic behaviour that hadn’t been recognised, along with £15,000 debt  I’d managed to build up without even recognising this ( i am paying this back via step change, which at this rate will take 25 years to pay back.

Having popped in, I think you should also put up a thread in the Debt Forum about getting your debts written off. It seems to be a classic case for write off on mental health and incapacity to work grounds.

Do at least read some of the threads like cheesephetamine's Debt's Written Of

Rubyroobs

If you don't qualify for Contributions based ESA and are already getting PIP then there is nothing else if you don't qualify for means tested benefits based on your husband's income, although you could ask CAB to do a calculation for Universal credit based on you receiving the LCWRA element and your husband receiving the carers element also.
The only other thing you could potentially claim is the 25% severe mental impairment disregard on your council tax bill if you don't already get that and your GP was willing to sign the form. You are on PIP and have a diagnosis which would be classed as severely mentally ill so should qualify for this. The form can usually be printed from your local authority website.

Muttleythefrog

Rubyroobs said:

If you don't qualify for Contributions based ESA and are already getting PIP then there is nothing else if you don't qualify for means tested benefits based on your husband's income, although you could ask CAB to do a calculation for Universal credit based on you receiving the LCWRA element and your husband receiving the carers element also.
The only other thing you could potentially claim is the 25% severe mental impairment disregard on your council tax bill if you don't already get that and your GP was willing to sign the form. You are on PIP and have a diagnosis which would be classed as severely mentally ill so should qualify for this. The form can usually be printed from your local authority website.

Thanks for this post - I had no idea someone with mental health problems alone could potentially qualify for a SMI discount. Just made an application.

To the Op, some good advice above. Feeling like a failure I am sure in not uncommon especially if you have been previously 'more productive' in terms of working. But mental illness can have devastating impact on ability to function as you experience and money worries will never help so hopefully you can get some joy on that or at least see in the background some of these costs reducing after the inflation busting hikes we've seen on essentials.

poppy12345

Muttleythefrog said:

Rubyroobs said:

If you don't qualify for Contributions based ESA and are already getting PIP then there is nothing else if you don't qualify for means tested benefits based on your husband's income, although you could ask CAB to do a calculation for Universal credit based on you receiving the LCWRA element and your husband receiving the carers element also.
The only other thing you could potentially claim is the 25% severe mental impairment disregard on your council tax bill if you don't already get that and your GP was willing to sign the form. You are on PIP and have a diagnosis which would be classed as severely mentally ill so should qualify for this. The form can usually be printed from your local authority website.

Thanks for this post - I had no idea someone with mental health problems alone could potentially qualify for a SMI discount. Just made an application.

Did you speak to your GP/Doctor because they will need to sign a certificate saying you're SMI.

Discounts for severely mentally impaired people

You might be able to apply for a discount on your Council Tax bill if you or someone you live with is severely mentally impaired.

You’ll need to:

• get a certificate to say you’re severely mentally impaired from a medical professional, such as your GP
• prove your eligibility for certain benefits - check with your local council

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax/discounts-for-disabled-people