Need guidance or advice

bamboo22

Hi I'm a full time carer for my partner we have 3 children
She as early onset arthritis fibromyalgia
Severe anxiety and depression she's only 28
And this has put our lives on hold for over 8 years 
She was supposed to be at a medical for esa 2 weeks ago and saddly she lost a family member at 2am in the morning the day of the medical i spoke with a lovely woman who advised we had missed an appointment 3 weeks prior and i explained we had no letters text or calls to inform us of this
She said everything would be fine my partners reasons were solid enough to hopefully get a third medical date given  
A week later her esa had stopped 
We was then told in the mean time of the appeal we need to claim universal credit
We heard so many horror stories but we had to think of money in the mean time
We then did all the interviews at the job centre and got a advance payment to see us through but we was told not to appeal there's no point we wont win it and if we do we will still have to stay on universal credit
They asked us to bring a fit note in this week her doctor did a 2 week one but they want uc to contact them via fax so that we dont have to keep requesting fit notes
My partner sefl harms to relax herself her g.p in very aware of this and doesn't think she should be put in this position 
After one visit to the job centre she stayed in the bedroom crying thinking she's made our lives worse i try to reassure her things are going to be okay 
We have mental health professionals involved  but uc won't take nothing from them
She receives p.i.p high rate care low rate disability 
I receive carers allowance we was told by our support worker it wouldn't affect us till end of 2020 
Can someone advise me of what i can do to make sure my children and my partner don't feel the pressure of what this awful government is doing 
The work coach said if we get a fit note in by friday then we will be eligible for something called serveredisability disability premium
Sorry to rant on I'm worried but i also need to reassure my partner things will be okay 
Thank you

CockneyRebel

Hi @bamboo22 and welcome

You should get urgent advice from an agency near you, CAB, Welfare rights or similar.

You should not have been told not to appeal but having had to claim UC you will not be able to go back on ESA.

Not sure what your work coach is talking about with severe disability premium

Adrian_Scope

Hello @bamboo22, I'm really sorry to hear how tough things are for you and your family at the moment.

Unfortunately, CockneyRebel is correct - once you've claimed UC, you can't go back on ESA. In this case, Severe Disability Premium would be related to your partner's ESA claim. However, as she's no longer receiving ESA, she won't be eligible to receive Severe Disability Premium and she's also ineligible for it if someone's claiming Carers Allowance for her.

I'm going to ask @BenefitsTrainingCo to have a look at your query as they should be able to help with regards to sick notes and your other queries.

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi @bamboo22 sorry to hear of the difficulties you are all having.  As others have said, you cannot go back onto ESA now regardless of what happens, but I would still advise following through the appeals process against the missed ESA medical assessment.  If you succeed in your appeal, your partner has the status of having limited capability for work which could result in increased ESA and certainly less conditionality from UC for your partner.  The workcoach has got it totally wrong as about the Severe Disability Premium so ignore that.  Get the fit note, it will help persuade the UC workcoach that your partner should not be required to look for work, but what requirements your partner will have is at the discretion of the workcoach at this time.  If you feel they are being unreasonable, put in a complaint.  But certainly continue with the appeal as I say.  If there is a local advice centre near to you, I would urge you to contact them.  Good luck, Sarah