Worry

Danny123
Danny123 Community Member Posts: 230 Empowering
in Universal Credit (UC)

What with all this talk of welfare reforms in the news , and what I'm sure is on the cards ......

It talks a lot about reforms to pip and young people that are on Benifits .

Bit doesn't mention anything about what will happen to the many people in my situation that are not young and are not on pip ..... But claim a mix of new style ESA and UC lcwra......

I haven't had a Reassessment since Nov 2019 and was due another in November 2021 ! And that was for CBESA with a IR top up ...... I vounterally moved over to UC from CBESA with a IR top up in mid 2022 because I was better off ..... Now I get new style ESA every two weeks and my lcwra at the end of the month with deductions of my new style ESA of course

So this November it will be 7 years since a Reassessment and 5 years overdue .....

And when it does come it won't even be the Reassessment I'm.used to as it will now be for new style ESA and UC lcwra instead of CBESA.....

I have no idea what's going on and my head is spinning , I have no idea what they are doing with the WCA , and Reassessments in general

So not only am i worried about when a Reassessment will happen I'm also worried about how it will be different to the ESA50 Ive always had

Then what they are going to do with the WCA for existing claiments

Not to mention UC reviews ....

I suffer from serve OCD and intrusive thoughts and extreme stress and anxiety and panic.....

Ive been bedbound for 6 years and only just started getting active again for the last few months, when I say active just trying to do some steps indoors

Ive been housebound for seven years

I crave certainty it's a massive part of my OCD and I got caught in this sort of doom.loop is the only way to describe it , on the end the things I was worried about become irrelevant and It became littrelly whatever I looked at or thought of was instant doom , it was petrifying..... It's still happening now but not as much .... My aneixty and panic attacks are through the roof

I've been to hospital 7 times in 7 weeks by ambulance as I thought I was having heart trouble they done tests and they came back ok ..... The last time I went they took me in for a fever of 39.9 and a resting heartrate of 140 ......they done tests and said I'd picked up a viral infection , we tested a few days ago and it was COVID ..... Had it for ten days but just tested negative but still feel breathless and terrible and with my other problems and worried I just feel completely drained

Im just worried about everything

Comments

  • Hopeless
    Hopeless Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 1,045 Pioneering

    I understand your worry. I’ve not had a work capability assessment since before 2013 unless they’ve done one without telling me! It is still the same assessment at the moment despite the change to UC.

    As for what is going to happen - I think we’re all scared. I certainly am. The uncertainty is definitely not helping. This morning I wrote an email to various government type people explaining how I feel about things and how frightened I am. Is that something that might help you feel more in control? I’m not convinced my email will be taken seriously but at least I’ve tried and had my say

  • prestencollin
    prestencollin Community Member Posts: 32 Connected

    That’s a hell of a lot to have going on mate, so I can see why your head is all over the place with it.

    The uncertainty around the reassessment and all these changes would be enough to worry anyone, never mind when you already struggle with anxiety and needing some certainty.

    At least you’ve started getting yourself moving again after being stuck indoors for so long. Even if it’s only a few steps at the moment, that’s still progress. Hopefully things start settling down for you soon and you get some proper answers instead of having to constantly worry about what might happen.

    Take it easy mate, one thing at a time.

  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community Member Posts: 6,440 Championing

    Hi,

    The UC50 form is exactly the same as the ESA50 form. If you do get reassessed soon then it will be using the same questions as before.

    Currently the whole WCA is expected to be scrapped in a couple of years time though. Then the PIP assessment will be changed slightly to incorporate work related questions. When that happens, eligibility for PIP will automatically give eligibility for the Health Element on UC.

    At the moment it looks like people who are already on LCWRA will remain on LCWRA, even if they don't have a PIP award. But obviously none of us can say whether that might change in future.

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