Claiming ESA, have never worked before or claimed any benefits, help needed!

joejoe72

I am helping M, my brother in law with his ESA claim. 

He has Cerebral Palsy and suffers from anxiety and depression. He does get DLA but only the Mobility part, he does not claim for any other benefits and never has. 

M is 31 years old and never worked apart from a 2 week period working as a temp worker for Tesco 8 years ago. 

He has never claimed any benefits such as Jobseekers or ESA but is now making a claim for ESA. 

M last saw a doctor 1 year ago...in response to M explaining how he was depressed and suffering from anxiety the Dr told him that he should get married and then he would not have the time to be thinking so much. This response was witnessed by M's mother and the Dr was not joking around as he asked M's mother why he isn't married...he then offered a card with some numbers for counselling and said that he'd heard they were good. It's worth noting that the Dr was a Pakistani Muslim and M's father is from Pakistan, (M's name is Mohammed). The Dr's response has made M resistant to visiting the GP to obtain a fit note - or even if he would be able to get one. 

As he has never earned enough contributions I'm guessing the ESA would be on income related!

There are some areas of the form that he's struggling with. 

He is unable to work mainly due to anxiety and although we have talked about him applying for benefits for a long time it's taken around 5 years to get the point where he's actually starting to fill the ESA form out!

thespiceman

Hello @joejoe72   Pleased to meet you welcome.

Thank you for sharing. I am sorry what has happened to your brother in law. It is great to hear you are giving him support.

May I also add I am shocked about the Doctors demeanour and attitude. The most important thing right now is how as a community can we help and advise

May I suggest have a look at our benefit advice and information. Lots of useful things to know.

Also may I add have you spoken to CAB  for trying to get them to help with form filling in and have a wealth of knowledge and expertise.

Understand the problems with the Doctor and cultural differences and, issues around it. I would seek a different Doctor to help your brother in law

If that is a solution.. Another would be to complain.  If you wish to do that.

We are a supportive friendly community. Care and share.

Hope that helps.

Take care

@thespiceman

Liam_Alumni

Hi @joejoe72,

Welcome to Scope's online community!

I'm sorry to hear about the problems that your brother-in-law is having. As @thespiceman says, Citizens Advice have lots of information and advice available and may be able to help with the ESA claim. They also have a handy page about filling the ESA50 form on their website, which you may find useful.

I've also moved this post into our dedicated ESA category, so other members of our community can offer their advice and support.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions then please do get in touch!