Worried sick

miss_saxby
miss_saxby Online Community Member Posts: 6 Connected
in Current affairs

Is anyone else terrified about what was said yesterday regarding the disability benefit cuts? I'm on lwrca for my OCD but it very much sounds as though they are going to make it impossible to claim pip for mental health reasons alone. Requiring 4 points is absurd. I struggled to get onto pip in the first place they kept denying me and took two years & a tribunal before i got it. A few other things that concerned me:

-they say they are going to use the impossibly difficult pip assessment process to determine eligibility for disability . So basically if we can't pass pip assessment we can't get the UC health element either?

-they have made it pretty clear anyone on mental health disability won't be getting pip. Needing 4 points would be practically impossible, especially as there are NO questions relating to mental health on the pip assessment form

-they have mentioned NOTHING about changing the pip assessment form. Only that they will change Eligibility. If the form stays the same, all mental health claimants will be denied as there are no questions and therefore no points to gain for mental health disorders on the current form

-they keep going on about supporting people back into work, there was no mention of exactly what this is going to entail yesterday however it implies pressure and possible trips to the job center will become mandatory. However if someone is unable to work what is the point? They are literally wasting everyone's time because no one is going to take on a job if they can't work! I am going to have to refuse this as I am cleaning for 6-8 hours a day and literally won't have the time or energy for anything like this. So what happens if I refuse?

-its quite clear the whole point of this is cutting costs. They don't give a damn about the repercussions this will have on people who are already struggling with life. Expecting people who are already unable to pay all their bills to live on less has got to be a joke?

I'm suicidal at the thought of this and I'm sure many are feeling the same 😥💔

Comments

  • Holly_Scope
    Holly_Scope Posts: 1,463 Scope Online Community Coordinator

    Hi @miss_saxby bless you, you're not alone with the worries of the recent announcement. Please know that this is just their initial proposal, and we're about to enter consultation allowing us an opportunity to respond which this community is very much ready to do 💪

    Please don't let this get the better of you. You have a community here for support. I'm going to pop you an email imminently, please keep an eye out for it. 💛

  • DonCamillo
    DonCamillo Online Community Member Posts: 1 Listener

    I think Miss Saxby speaks for so many with mental health conditions. We support our adult daughter who after many years was

    able to live independently. There will be a substantial number whose progress will be undone by this. Heaven knows it's so difficult to get professional mental health support from the NHS. Liz Kendall hasn't a clue of real world experience of mental health conditions unfortunately.

  • LouCie61
    LouCie61 Online Community Member Posts: 24 Contributor
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/131457/worried-sick

    Big virtual hug coming your way (for what its worth).

    This is making us all ill. I didnt sleep last night, I've felt sick all day and can't focus on anything.

    They haven't got a clue what the impact will be. Do they they think we're all just suddenly going to get a job? It's just unbelievable.

    I do understand how you feel. Let's just hope and pray it doesn't get through in its current state (or hopefully at all).

    I know it's a silly thing to say but try to stay strong and we can all get strength from each other and keep our fingers crossed x

  • Lostandconfused
    Lostandconfused Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener

    I'm also worried sick. I went and looked at the points I scored. I got 2 on 4 of the different sections within daily living but not the 4 I'd need in one section. Apparently, the proposal is that we would need 4 points on one aspect of daily living. I scored 10 points on Moving Around/Mobility.

    I am a solo parent to a traumatised child. We both have PTSD due to domestic violence. My child has sensory processing difficulties also.

    I have a long list of chronic physical health issues and have been ill/disabled since I was 10. I kept trying to work up until I had my child. From 2009 until 2018, the only way I could work was from my bed and by doing my own hours. I couldn't earn a full-time salary.

    Even if I could work from my bed, I'd need to stay on benefits as I wouldn't earn enough money to come off them. I'd also need to pay for wrap around childcare, a cleaner, help to do the washing and would have to rely on even more ready meals etc. I don't see how I'd be able to financially afford this.

    Just the thought of it is making me feel extremely vulnerable.

  • ElizaRose
    ElizaRose Online Community Member Posts: 440 Empowering
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1002479#Comment_1002479

    I really feel for you and I am so sorry for what you and your child have been through. I am suffering from ptsd too after escaping an incredibly emotionally abusive man. All this green paper stuff is making my anxiety a lot worse and I had an awful flashback/ptsd attack a couple of nights ago. I thought my ex was in the room with me which was terrifying. I know it is all linked to the stress as it just makes me feel so powerless again. My eldest who has autism and paranoid schizophrenia is currently in hospital and I am terrified about what all this will mean for him as they are targeting that age group. My youngest son who is now 21 also suffers from bad anxiety because of the abuse and is very nervous and jumpy. He is working through things slowly and luckily he is managing to hold down a part-time job so at least he will be free of any pressure for the time-being.

    I have to spend a lot of time in bed because of my disabilities and my son helps with things, but there is no way I am going to be able to go to work or do face to face assessments etc. If they try and force me I will end up being sanctioned and then if they cut everything I will end up homeless. Life is so stressful as it is without all this.

    We just have to live in hope that there is enough backlash and that things at least get watered down, especially that 4 point rule as that is going to be so damaging to so many people.

    I really wish you and your little one well. Please take care x

  • Passerby
    Passerby Posts: 35 Contributor
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/131457/worried-sick

    What's insane is that Liz Kendall said to Andrew Marr on LBC Radio that "PIP was never set up for people with mental health issues." Yet they want to assess people with mental health issues on PIP!

    If you want you can google it and listen to her saying this.

  • miss_saxby
    miss_saxby Online Community Member Posts: 6 Connected

    I have read a few times on here that the last government was trying to remove the mental health element from pip. But it was ruled as going against the equality act so they dropped the idea. I don't think they ever wanted us to claim for it either. If you look at the form it's purely set up for people with physical disabilities. I really struggled to gain any points as there was no question for my condition! It is totally unfair and I thought they might focus more on improving the assessment to include questions for people with mental health issues. Instead they are going to try and make it even harder to pass the assessment so that people like us with mental health issues have no chance!

    😥

  • Danny123
    Danny123 Online Community Member Posts: 19 Connected

    I wrote something earlier , saying that I could see amendments for this as it seems not only incredibly cruel but also almost impossible to implement....i don't think this is getting nearly enough coverage as everything else .... and potentially could be the most seriously damaging of all and will affect a hell of alot of people .... I'm in the same boat and it's absolutely terrifying , I can't eat , can't sleep .... I have serve OCD my days and nights are just a constant circle of rituals and and debilitating intrusive thoughts , I haven't been outside in the fresh air for nearly 6 years .... I had a go at the online pip form and I got a 8 and a 4 in daily living but who's to say that is the case🤷 I've heard so many people say they put done high scores and got nothing , I'm so scared .... Those descriptors are so black and white it's ridiculous !

    There's a question about cooking and preparing a simple meal , now my mum does all my meals as Im pretty much bedbound , stuck in the same position for days sometimes , so I'm absolutely not capable of preparing a meal but that's because I can't move because of everything that's happening in my head , not because I'm paralyzed , thing is though I am paralysed it's just mentally

    There's another question about washing .... Well my hygiene has suffered badly since my OCD really took a hold and I'm embarrassed to even say this but I rarely brush my teeth or shower , maybe once every 3 months .... Literally down to not being able to function .... But it just says can you wash unaided , well I can but it's obvious that most of the time i can't lift my head .... There's so many fluxiating elements to what I have and there just ignoring it , what are people going to do ?

    I thought they may make amendments to it but after just reading something they say they are not consulting on it and it's non negotiable.... Let's face it the best we can hope for is them to use the existing criteria for pip for existing clients of lcwra but even that is near enough impossible to get , and worse ways there going to make it even harder to get by making the criteria even more hard. ....

    Im on CBESA or new style not Sure , and LCWRA .... From what I can tell most people on this thread are too ....

    So ....

    I think march 2026 new claimants of lcwra get 50 less a week .…

    Where as us existing claimants don't get a cut but do get it frozen ....

    November 2026 the new pip criteria starts for claims .... So will know what to expect

    March 2027 mandatory conversations start with the job centre for claimants of lcwra , about the prospect of trying work .…

    Then 2028 pip takes over from wca ....

    They said reassessments will start back up again for lcwra soon and with haste 😫 I mean if that's not hard enough ....

    There really stacking the deck this time , they should be ashamed for the suffering they are causing and the immense suffering they will cause ....

    I suppose all we can do is try and pass the ESA/UC50 , stay in the lcwra group and hope that in the 3 years until pip takes over maybe challenges will come and they have to make amendments ....

    But after reading this it doesn't look great .... Everyone look after yourselves ❤️

    Screenshot_20250320-043833.png
  • Loulou82xx
    Loulou82xx Online Community Member Posts: 24 Contributor

    I am so sorry you are feeling so much stress over this. I have always felt that a doctor is the expert when it comes to your health conditions and issues of disability not the government. If a doctor decides you are disabled by your illness whether physical or mental health then it should be respected by the PIP assessors.

    I would rather they reduced all PIP by say £30 per month for all claimants to make the savings they need rather than exclude people with mental health conditions. My disability is physical but I have also suffered clinical depression due to extended hospital stays and being in severe pain and know how vulnerable it makes you feel.

    All I hope is that this can be challenged in some way, I really worry that this is going to cause serious harm to people.

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