I have to kind of admire benefit cheats. They actually managed to get benefits.
I am having a nightmare getting anything. I have been turned down for Incapacity Benefit and both my Income Support and Housing Benefit claims have gone AWOL, except, I got a letter today saying I needed to show my final earnings over at the Jobcentre. I have e-mailed and rang my ex-boss to no avail. More delays, with my rent and council tax due in a week, totalling over £600.
I am sick of being in the position where I can’t pay my rent. I put all my claims in at the start of October and they’re still no further on. What the hell am I going to do? Why is this so difficult? Am I doomed to repeat the cycle of get-job-lose-job-stay-ill because of this?
Does anyone want to pay me for existing? Pop stars get paid to exist, so do footballers. Gimme some of that existential cash so I can keep what remains of my Depakote-balding hair.
Filed under: Bipolar Disorder | Tagged: Bipolar Disorder
Stumble It!
Hope it all gets sorted soon! Its a nightmare I remember!Still also think you should be getting DLA too
x x x x
It’s gone from joke to reality in my case, and that of too many friends, that the benefits system is meant to support the longterm ill and unintentional poor, but you have to be well (and often, financially well off) to actually access it.
Good luck with clinging to the safety net.
ps: if you haven’t already sought their help, I’ve found Citizens Advice Beurexs to be very effective at getting the benefits lot to do their job (when one can access CAB that is)
If you have a local Welfare Rights office, try them…they are usually staffed by ex-benefits people who know how the system works and who to call
Best of luck sorting your benefits out. I’ve never actually attempted to get benefits, but have had friends who have and they found it impossible.
I don’t know how benefit cheats do it, but I do know that they don’t deserve to when there are people who obviously need help and support (like yourself) struggling. Sometimes this world makes me so angry.
Ruth
OT:
I know this post is more about your own situation than it is about benefit fraud, but I feel obliged to point out here that the majority of people who are actually commiting benefit fraud are doing so out of need, and not greed. Generally, they’re people who’ve been forced, for a variety of reasons ranging from ill health to childcare issues to criminal records, to work in so-called ‘black economy’ jobs. Jobs where they’re payed cash-in-hand, and so basically have no labor rights. That means they can be payed less than minimum wage, and be layed off at any time, and for any reason. Because of this, they often claim while they’re working, because it offers extra security, and helps them put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads in oft occurring times of crisis. That was the conclusion of a six year study into the issue by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5084648.stm
http://www.jrf.org.uk/pressroom/releases/160606.asp
So in a sense, you could say these people are in the same kind of predicament as you are anyway. But that aside, it’s scandelous that you’re finding it difficult to get the financial support you need, while a bum like me could walk into the job centre tomorrow and have benefit money coming in by next week.
I live in Oz & I was extremely fortunate to get rubber stamped for full a Disability Support Pension (DSP) for bipolar type 2, but then again that was back in 1999. Every year since I believe that the Nazis who run our government, have cracked down on the DSP, to a point where it must be similar the the nightmare that you are experiencing.
Sorry I can’t offer any tips or help on how to expedite the process, but you have my deepest heartfelt empathy & I wish you all the luck in success.
Andy
[...] sufferer (and occasional Mental Nurse contributor) Seaneen is still having lots of trouble with benefits. I am having a nightmare getting anything. I have been turned down for Incapacity Benefit and both [...]
I have suffered from panic disorder and social anxiety disorder all my adult life and I can totally sympathise with your situation.
I tried to claim benefits a few years ago and I didn’t get anywhere either. I’m fortunate enough to have a partner who brings in a comfortable salary, but I’d dread to think what things would be like if I were on my own.
It almost makes me laugh how we’re supposedly living in a time where mental illness is viewed and treated equally to physical illness. Can’t say I’ve seen much sign of that myself.