STRUGGLING FINANCIALLY

Annabelle26

I am feeling really fed up & depressed about my financial situation & life in general.  I have had my DLA/PIP taken off me & am waiting for a Tribunal Hearing.  My ESA was stopped & I was told to claim JSA.  Again the ESA has gone to a Tribunal.  I do not get the full amount of JSA because I have a pension.  I am struggling to live on £126 per week my savings have been used up & I have had to cash in some investments but they have nearly all gone. I have the local Welfare Agency to help me at the Tribunal & have claimed everything I can but I am just fed up of waiting for something to happen.  For the last month I have been signed off sick with depression & anxiety but the note expired today.  I had an appointment at the Doctors but forgot about it until it was too late.  I had a bad nights sleep, was really tired & had a headache. I got up late just had some breakfast, took some tablets & went back to bed & fell asleep forgetting about the appointment until later on when I woke up still not feeling much better.  I rang the Doctor & apologised but could not get another appointment.   I have to ring up in the morning to get an appointment.  I just want my life to go back to what it was like last year when I had enough money to live on.  I was getting out & about & trying to expand my horizons by going on bus rides to nearby places to try & help my anxiety problems with socialising etc but my world has now strunk back to what it was before.

mikehughescq

This sounds like an incredibly frustrating period but hang in there and rest assured you’re doing all the right things. What you describe is an almost perfect case study of how the loss of benefit can impact your entire existence but you’ve got people to help you fight your corner. Occasionally in these periods small things can go wrong and they get to seem far bigger than they are but nothing is permanent and it will change for the better again. 

Pippa_Alumni

Thanks for sharing this with us @Annabelle26. As Mike says, it sounds as though you're doing all the right things, so fingers crossed things will be resolved as soon as possible. Scope's DWP appeals guidance may help you to prepare for the tribunal, too.

BenefitsTrainingCo

Annabelle26,

I've given you some advice on your other post about JSA & the fit note. As Mike says, you are doing everything you can. The only thing I'd suggest is that you contact your MP too, because MPs need to know how the welfare system isn't helping disabled people. It has to be changed! The more evidence they get, the more we might perhaps one day see a better system.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping JSA will allow you to claim & not to have to look for work whilst you are signed off.

Will

Annabelle26

My MP is already involved in some sort of campaign about the DWP & how they are treating the disabled. He was a signatory to a letter sent to the Minister.  

Jazzguitar

Sorry to interrupt. I am a 63 years old man in Whitleigh Plymouth Devon. I have received a bill for £2,716.32 from DWP I cannot possibly pay it. What can I do? Neville Pearson email [email protected] .

mikehughescq

If this is an overpayment of a benefit you still receive then you ought to have had 2 decision letters, 1 will be a supersession of your original benefit award. The other will be the letter telling you that you’ve been overpaid and whether or not it’s recoverable. If you have the latter then you start by doing a mandatory reconsideration. You don’t have to use this but it’s good starting point.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683380/if-you-disagree-with-a-decision-made-by-dwp.PDF

If you don’t have one or both of those decisions then you need to contact DWP in writing and keeping a copy and ask that they cease all recovery until such time as you have both decisions.