The Diary Of Onebrokelady Aged 60 And A Half

Onebrokelady

foxgloves said:

@Onebrokelady - It must be so difficult & annoying trying to navigate the system & I can feel your frustration from here. However, if you are entitled to some money, please try not to give up. You have paid your NI contributions over the years, as have we all, to enable just this sort of help when it's needed. I can understand you feeling like telling them to stuff it, but saving that money is only a win for them, not for you & if there is some financial help to claim, then it can only help you to have it.
I think your idea to write down everything you need/want to ask them is an excellent one. I always do this when dealing with officialdom as although I'm both articulate & assertive, it's always so annoying coming away thinking, "Oh no, why didn't I say that?" & "I forgot to mention X". 
Would the CAB be able to help you wuth navigating this? Apologies if you've already gone down this route, & I know funding cuts for the service have reduced hours & access points over the years. It just sounds to me that you keep getting told conflicting things, which really isn't helpful to your (or anybody's) situation.
I do hope it can be sorted out soon, but please don't give up. You never know when somw extea financial support might come in useful.
F x

It’s very frustrating and I’m hoping it’s sorted now. Hopefully they will actually pay me and that will tide me over until or if I get my second pension which will also possibly take months to sort out. That’s a tomorrow problem though so I’m not thinking about that yet 😀

Onebrokelady

slm6002 said:

Keep going.  I have been there and they made my life hell for a while but it was eventually sorted out.  It is stressful and I think they want you to give up so they don't have to pay out sometimes, but if you are entitled to help they should give it.

I sure they think people will give up, I’ve never known anything to be so complicated before. Im sorry to hear you went through it too but glad to hear it’s all sorted out now 

Onebrokelady

Arrhghhhhh had a letter from the ESA people saying they still need my SSP1 form which I sent on the 19th of August. I phoned the help line and spoke to someone who had to go and ask someone else but they don’t have it so I now have to send it again, I also got a message saying they need my sick note for May which I’ve also sent 😡

I haven’t done a lot so far this week because I don’t feel too good. I slept a lot yesterday which seemed to help a bit. Today went see my mum but didn’t stay long as she wasn’t feeling too good either and wanted to go to sleep . I did a bit of shopping on my way home just to get some ingredients for a couple of pasta things I want to make. It’s been raining  since Saturday and I waited to do my washing in case it stopped but it’s been raining all day today as well, I did do one load and put it on the clothes horse. 

DD2 is on holiday this week and we were meant to be going out on some days out but she has caught Covid so is stuck at home, they have Covid on her ward so she probably picked it up there.

Im at home tomorrow and will hopefully feel better so I can get on and do something useful for a change. 

Cherryfudge

That's truly terrible 'service' from the ESA people. You definitely have a case to complain, though I can understand if that's too demanding for you.

It's good you were able to get a good sleep, I'm sure that will have helped you feel a bit better.

We needed the rain but it came down with a vengeance today!

jwil

That is terrible with the ESA.  

dawnybabes

Have you a local carers group ? Ours will help with forms and chasing incompetent idiots ! 

Chrystal

Contact your Social Worker and ask to be referred to the Welfare Rights department.  If you haven't got a Social worker then either you or a DD phone and ask for one.  The Welfare Rights should be able to sort this mess out on your behalf.  It should, hopefully,  be worth the effort.  (((hugs))) XXX

Onebrokelady

Not done a lot this week as I’ve not felt too good. I didn’t meet my friend today because I wasn’t feeling too good and thought I was getting a cold so didn’t want to pass it on to her, I’m not sure what’s going on I just constantly feel like I’m getting a cold but it doesn’t come to anything. This might be a symptom of one of the autoimmune conditions that they are investigating but I’m not sure.
i didn’t waste the day though, I got some washing done and pegged out now the rain had finally stopped, it didn’t dry completely but it will be dry on the clothes horse by tomorrow. I also had to go out and clean my black wheely bin, it’s needed doing for awhile but I haven’t had the energy anyway the bun man left the lid open in the rain so i had loads of rain and leaves in it, I gave it a good a scrub so its nice and clean now. 

I printed off the sick cert that the ESA people want and will post that tomorrow and the SSP1 form as well. They are both free post and interestingly both are going to different addresses to what they told me to send them to last time 🤷‍♀️ I printed off extra copies as I’m sure they will ask for more 🙄 

I don’t have a social worker and won’t get them involved as I don’t need that help. I’ve done everything correctly that they’ve asked me to do it’s them that have messed up. I have dealt with the DWP before and this is just what they are like which is why I was so happy when I was able to get off benefits in the first place, I remember how useless they were back then and nothing has changed. They don’t train the staff properly so no one knows how the system a really works and they don’t communicate with each other. The job coach  I spoke to last week was speaking to me about ESA but he was a UC person and he told me I didn’t need to send anymore sick notes, it was me who said that the ESA people wanted sick notes and he had to go and check with his boss ,if I hadn’t questioned that I would have stopped sending them in which would have been wrong.

My boss phoned me yesterday and is also someone who doesn’t listen, she asked me if I had heard from my HR case worker because she had emailed me to say I could apply for ill health retirement after one of the other matrons has asked what was happening with me. First of all I told this  HR woman not to email via my NHS account because it was being deleted due to me being marked as a leaver. I gave her my personal email so she could contact me there instead.Then I reminded my boss that I can only apply for early retirement after I’ve seen the occy health doctor and I’m not seeing him until then11th of September, I also told her that the HR woman told me that the NHS Trust will terminate my contract as soon as the occy health doctor says I’m not fit for work regardless of whether I have got my ill health retirement so I’m gambling a lot here and she coulddnt remember her saying that. I suggested she read the letter that the HR lady sent to both of us 🙄 I to.d her I have an appointment on the 15th of September so she is going to phone me again on the 16th to see what they say. I have a feeling the occy health doctor will refuse to say I’m not fit work until I’ve seen the respiratory consultant as that is what he said back in December, so that will mean another delay while I wait for another appointment. I’m going to fill in the pension paperwork and take it with me when I have my appointment so I can go and give it to my boss on the same day then I know she’s got it. She has to fill it out then give it to occy health to fill out the it gets sent off to the pension people.

I keep feeling overwhelmed with everything but I think it’s because I’m thinking about my prognosis, the money and selling the house which will be a pain in the !!!!!! and it’s just too much to deal with so I’m now going to do one step at a time. Sort the money first by sending off this latest paperwork, then then concentrate on the occy health appointment then the consultant appointment  then the pension. I’m only going to think about one thing at a time until it’s ll sorted. I feel like I’m stuck in limbo and can’t move forward with all this stuff going on but it has a timeline and I’m moving along that timeline. I keep thinking about trying to sell the house when I don’t need to think about that yet that’s a next year problem.

I’m also still paying off my debts and was paying them off at £10 each a month which was £50 a month but I’ve reduced that to £1 each now because I can’t afford it. They tried phoning me and I contacted them and told them I have stayed they are only to contact me via letter or email then I blocked them so they can’t phone me again. They are being paid and will have to be grateful for the amount I’m giving them.

Tomorrow I’ve got to go into town because I need some shopping and I have to post this paperwork. 

foxgloves

Honestly, OBL, what a minefield this is. I'm sure it is all made worse by departments which should be connected NOT being sufficiently connected for systems to integrate properly. I am not at all surprised you are fed up with it. I think it's a really good approach you've decided on, to deal with each incremental part of this as it arises, concentrating on that fully, so as not to get bogged down in the next stages coming up over the horizon. As an overthinker, I think this would definitely be my preferred approach too. I can understand you finding it overwhelming. There's enough to deal with in that you obviously want to keep as well as possible, avoiding lergies, etc, without the current machinations taking up so much of your time & energy. I think we all just want to see you get absolutely everything you're entitled to. As with all things, knowledge is power, but applying it when different departments seem to say contradictory (or wrong) things isn't always easy. 
Sending positive thoughts,
F xx

Onebrokelady

foxgloves said:

Honestly, OBL, what a minefield this is. I'm sure it is all made worse by departments which should be connected NOT being sufficiently connected for systems to integrate properly. I am not at all surprised you are fed up with it. I think it's a really good approach you've decided on, to deal with each incremental part of this as it arises, concentrating on that fully, so as not to get bogged down in the next stages coming up over the horizon. As an overthinker, I think this would definitely be my preferred approach too. I can understand you finding it overwhelming. There's enough to deal with in that you obviously want to keep as well as possible, avoiding lergies, etc, without the current machinations taking up so much of your time & energy. I think we all just want to see you get absolutely everything you're entitled to. As with all things, knowledge is power, but applying it when different departments seem to say contradictory (or wrong) things isn't always easy. 
Sending positive thoughts,
F xx

It’s definitely a mind field 😀 I’m just going to go with the flow now and try to think positve. It will be sorted one way or another hopefully before the end of the year, I will either get my pension or benefits at some point. I am lucky I still have a chunk of my lump sum left to bail me out although I don’t want to spend too much of that if I can help it.