Incapacity Benefit And Medical

lancs_girl_2

hI
My husband has been ill since sept and previous to that has worked all his life, he has now been asked to attend a medical and we are worried that he will/may be taken off benefit. he has good days and bad days, any suggestions as to medical, he isnt fit to work in my opinion, but the new criteria seems to be, fit for some type of work, the stress is affecting, all suggestions welcome.

thanks

chesky369

He must say how he feels on the the bad days and not mention the good days.

seven-day-weekend

He must say how his illness/condition affects him on a day-to-day basis without minimising or maximising it. For example if he can only climb stairs occasionally, then he can't climb stairs. If he can usually only sit in a chair for ten minutes before he feels pain, then he can't sit comfortably in a chair. If he can't usually go outside without feeling panicky, then he can't go out without feeling panicky.

The occasional 'good' day is irrelevant; it's how your condition USUALLY affects you that they need to hear.

Good luck.

healy

At the moment there is not any new criteria, it is the same as it has been since IB was introduced in the mid 1990s. The Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will be introduced in October, initially for new claimants.

RevTimms

Hi
I just want to reiterate some of the things that sevendayweekend has said.
I recently have been involved in a benefit claim on behalf of my mother-in-law.
Following some questions on this board, I went to see both a benefits advisor and a benefits solicitor.
Some days are worse than others for mum, and I was advised by someone on the board to pretend that every day was a bad day. (post has now been removed)
Thankfully someone on the board did explain that this was a very bad idea, and as a result I visited both the benefits advisor and then the solicitor.
They both agreed that you should never lie and say every day is a bad day.
Put simply, if you say every day is a bad day, and you cannot do XY and Z and the benefits agency videoed you doing precisely that, you would be in big trouble.
It is important to explain in detail how your condition affects you and exactly how many days are good and bad, but you should not lie.
7DWE is correct you should not maximise or minimise the condition, but they are interested in how his condition USUALLY affects them.

healy

I would also like to say that 7DW and the Rev are coorect in what they say. It is a typical day that is considered not just the bad days. Very often on here I have seen people advise that people should state how they are on their bad days and I dont know where this has come from because that is not the correct guidance and I dont think good Welfare Rights Officers would advise this either.

Benefits_Blagger

lancs_girl wrote: »

hI
My husband has been ill since sept and previous to that has worked all his life, he has now been asked to attend a medical and we are worried that he will/may be taken off benefit. he has good days and bad days, any suggestions as to medical, he isnt fit to work in my opinion, but the new criteria seems to be, fit for some type of work, the stress is affecting, all suggestions welcome.

thanks

unless things have changed (as this area always is) but if your husband has been on IB since only sept, then i presume he is not on the longterm higher rate yet. so it's unusal to be sent for a medical so early. i think everyone i have known have never been sent for a medical until after being on IB for a year and hence claiming the higher rate.

don't mean to worry you, but the people who they send for medicals the quickest and most regularly are those who feel they can get off IB.

dmg24

Benefits_Blagger wrote: »

unless things have changed (as this area always is) but if your husband has been on IB since only sept, then i presume he is not on the longterm higher rate yet. so it's unusal to be sent for a medical so early. i think everyone i have known have never been sent for a medical until after being on IB for a year and hence claiming the higher rate.

don't mean to worry you, but the people who they send for medicals the quickest and most regularly are those who feel they can get off IB.

That is not correct. It is quite usual for people to be sent for medicals around the six month mark, and this has been the case for many years.

lancs_girl_2

Hi
I just want to thank all of you who have replied so far, i/we would only be honest, but i guess when you are struggling with a new diagnosis you like to think you are better than you are, so for example when my hubby is asked how is he, he would tend to say alright or not too bad, its as if all the other parts go out the window, the feeling weak, tired,etc.

my husband was called to job centre just a few weeks into being on sick, he was told it was new procedure, came into effect in October, the man who interviewed him then (it wasnt a medical) pointed out on the form that he had been in work all his working life, and was undergoing a range of tests/investigations, he said hopefully the new agency would take note. he did say that all of them at the job centre would be out of work because it was going to new company and all claimants, screened more by the paperwork. i guess its all out of our hands.

thanks again

healy

winnifred wrote: »

What if the person who is ill doesnt have a "typical" day? Hence why benefit advisors tell you to describe a bad day.

You are talking rubbish and I will not comment further.

Undersized_Rascal

write down what the problems are before you go in
it's so easy to leave something out
have you ever gone doctors and they say describe you're symptoms and after leaving you remember you forgot to say XXXX or whatever

I feel guilty when i tell doc stuff even though I'm telling the truth! but that's my problem....

Hoping to be fit for work myself in three weeks time!!!!!! it's draining dealing with the social