The title of this post should be Not Living on Benefits right now.
So all of my adult life I have had to receive a state benefit. I hate it. I feel like a ‘scrounger’ or some kind of fraud. Technically I’m not either but it’s because I’m not physically unable to work I feel like I don’t deserve any money. People do point out that certain benefits are there for people ‘like me’, which is true, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about it. And what makes things worse is that people think that those on benefits are scroungers and frauds, and that it’s an easy life. Yes, some people are, but I’d imagine most people aren’t. So here’s my personal case.
I have been receiving Incapacity Benefit for several years. There was another one before that but I had to switch. I can’t remember what that one was called. Anyway, I get paid around £105 a week, paid fortnightly. Some people will probably think that’s a lot, others will think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s a fair amount considering I’m not working. However, I pay my parents £50 a week ‘rent’, which again I think is fair as I am living under their roof, using their electricity etc. This is not taken into account with the DWP who believe that as I’m living with family I’m living rent-free. So that leaves me with £55 a week to spend on food, toiletries, clothes, phone credit (I could never afford a contract) and any luxuries I may be able to afford. On top of that I have to pay for prescriptions, which is five medications every 1-2 months depending on the dosage at £7.20 each. And I have to pay for dental appointments/treatment, and optical appointments and glasses. It’s definitely not an ‘easy life’.
Which brings me on to my current situation. Incapacity Benefit is being phased out and those on it need to move to another benefit, Employment and Support Allowance. But it’s not as simple as just switching, I had to fill out a long form, then have a medical examination, to prove you can’t work (you also have to have one every 1-2 years while on benefits). Which again is fair enough. However, practically all the questions are about what you can do physically, and physically I am fine (other than needing to lose some weight). And the questions regarding mental health are not exactly relevant – for example, am I violent, can I wash and dress myself, can I cope with change. Whenever I have one of these exams I am anxious from the moment I find out about it right up until it’s over. Which can be several months of anxiety which makes me even less able to go out. I can’t go to the medical centre they’re held in so I have to have a home visit.
So I had my home visit, dosing myself up on Propranolol beforehand to try to make sure I didn’t have a panic attack during. My mum was in the room next door as I wouldn’t have been able to do it if I was alone in the house. The guy was nice though English wasn’t his native language so I did have trouble understanding him at times. When it was finished he said he would ‘do his best for me’, which I thought was nice. However, a couple of months later I received a letter telling me I failed the exam. You need to score 15 points to receive the benefit and I scored 6. I had a feeling it would be low as my mum had an exam two years before because she was having chemotherapy. When she had had her last chemo session she had to have the assessment, and she scored 0 points. That’s right – zero. A woman who was still recovering from cancer and (aggressive) chemotherapy scored no points because she was able to lift her arm and wash and dress herself. She also had to prove she had cancer by bringing along all her hospital records, when she had all her chemotherapy and radiotherapy, everything. I think she had to have blood tests too. She had the choice to appeal the decision but refused because she had been through enough, so she had to return to work. She’s a professional cleaner and she works quickly. Two months later (or possibly less) she had a heart attack. She still refused to stay off work and returned as soon as she could, because again she didn’t want to have to go through it all.
I also had the choice to appeal. I did though because going out to work, right now, is not an option. My Incapacity Benefit stopped on 19th October and I had one month (from 27th September) to send off an appeal form, explaining why I disagreed with their decision, and to send ‘evidence’. My CBT counsellor helped me to write it and I sent it off. About a month later, having had no response, my dad called (I can’t speak to people on the phone – unless they’re family) and they said they were waiting for ‘evidence’. I had written on the form my CBT counsellor’s details and my GP’s details and that they could phone, but they actually wanted a medical certificate. This had been holding up my ‘claim’. My GP was very helpful and wrote one as soon as possible. However, the next day I received a letter to say they had looked at the appeal and still hadn’t changed their minds. The letter itself was sent out the day before my dad called them, so I can only imagine they made their decision partly based on the lack of ‘evidence’. So he called them again and they said that they weren’t involved and it was the Incapacity Benefit people’s job. So eventually they sorted it and I had to send my medical certificate to them.
But this was a few days ago and I still don’t know what’s going on. If the medical certificate is being handled by the Incapacity guys does that mean my ESA appeal was still rejected? If so that means it has to go to a tribunal. I can’t attend that myself but I can have a representative. Which then means I have to go over it all again with another stranger and still might get turned down. If that happens I don’t know what I’m going to do. But right now I have no money, but extra anxiety. Brilliant.
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I hope you had a great time, whatever you did.
