Incapacity benefit (or whatever it is called now)

[rocketman]

OK. So here's the situation.

I've developed a problem which means I can't realistically pursue my career. It's a nerve problem that's been diagnosed and for which I'm taking physiotherapy.

I have been trying to continue in what I do, but the income has fallen by at least 70 per cent, leaving me with very shaky foundations.

In related news, the cost to me of living where I live has recently doubled.

So - I want to learn how incapacity (or whatever it is called) benefit works, as I'm beginning to think that even trying to do what I do is utterly pointless, as not only does it contribute to the nerve damage, making it harder to heal, but I'm also only earning maybe half of what I need to earn to live on. So I can't win.

I've paid my taxes for the last 15 years, so I don't see why I shouldn't take something out of the system, and I do need help - or at least knowledge that my rent and council tax will be covered for a while, as I recover from the nerve problem.

So - what's the rules on this kind of state benefit, what must I do, what can I ask for and what will I get? How do I go about it, and so on?

Please?

 

[pengaleng]

you get yourself signed off sick and ring em up to claim init, dont really know how the whole having a job thing works, I had resigned when I started claiming, but I think they allow you to have a part time job too now because they are forcing all the disableds back into work. That would be based on how much you actually earn / how many hours you work a week etc.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DG_10016082

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

there's also some good information on employment and support allowance (ESA) (which is the name of the benefit that has replaced incapacity benefit and income support paid due to incapacity) here - whilst there isn't an intrinsic problem with claiming this if you simply feel that you have to give up work because of your medical condition, you do need to be aware that the test of entitlement has been made much more stringent and if you fail to qualify for ESA, you may have to claim jobseeker's allowance instead which would be problematic if they decided that you have left your employ without good reason.

if you're renting, you might also want to look at housing benefit and council tax benefit claims (you usually make one claim for both of these benefits, which can be claimed in or out of work).

there is also a benefit called disability living allowance, which is paid if you have care and/or mobility needs, and again can be paid to you whether you are in or out of work - it's a complex benefit to explain so if you think you may have an entitlement, i would recommend going for some advice at local CABx, Law Centre or similar indepedent advice centre.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Try to get an *urgent* referral to have the carpal nerve thingy released. If your GP writes a referral letter, the hospital will treat it as routine and deal with it at their leisure, unless your GP marks it as "urgent." Explain to your GP and the hospital consultant that your livelihood is dependent on it and it's causing your considerable difficulties, not just practical, but financial and causing all kinds of problems relating to your being able to work to support yourself.

Is there any way you can take a complete break for a couple of weeks? Or at least in the meantime, cut down all non-essential computer use, including Urban

And really, try not to use your mouse for any reason whatsoever. When my problem was at its worst, I bought a handheld trackball mouse. Because of the underlying problem, I'd broken my wrist in eight places, I had problems with 'supination' (rotation of the wrist), so I couldn't actually use the handheld mouse with my dominant right hand and I ended up using my left (even now, I still send txt msgs on my mobile with my left hand).

Oh! Awesome! There was a bit of a fashion for handhelds, but they all went out of stock when wireless radio mouses became the next 'new thing'.

I've just Googled and they've started producing them again. Get yourself one of these and most importantly, use your left hand (or at least until your right gets sorted):

http://www.roleepolee.com/

It will be a bit of a faff while you get used to it, but you really shouldn't be using your mouse for much, for highlighting things or cutting and pasting, you should be using keyboard shortcuts. The roleepoleeXT was the upgrade, which I switched to after I broke my original x 2. I think the original is better. Buy two if you can. Because they do get gunked up. You can remove the bezel and de-gunk them, but eventually, I broke them with continual use.

I promise you, it will make a big difference, especially if you get used to using it with your left hand (and I'm not one of those fancy ambidextrous people, so if I can do it) it will relieve the pressure that is causing the problem with your right wrist.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

BTW, I don't know if it would be ultimately necessary to have the surgery, whether it's possible with rest to reverse the damage?

Another tip: If you don't already have one, I don't know if you can get your GP to prescribe one, or whether you have to get it from hospital, or whether you can buy one, but get a Futuro splint. It's one of those orthopaedic jobbies, it has a metal strip that lies underneath your forearm, and it has a bend, which means that your hand doesn't lie flat, and can't bend down, around a mouse for example, it's angled slightly upwards, to relieve the pressure on the carpal nerve.

*Don't know if these come with the metal insert.

http://www.twenga.co.uk/search.php?q=futuro+right+wrist&b=23407&s=5&vm=1&k=1

http://www.westons.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Futuro_1756.html

It's got a pocket on the underside that the metal strip slips into. You can remove it so you can wash the splint. The rubber starts to smell after a while and it gets a bit sweaty and stinky. I used to wear a simple stocking bandage under it, which helped.

 

[tufty79]

get everything documented with yer doctor.
as soon as humanly poss.

i'm having to fight with the dwp for backdated ESA (employment support allowance - the new name for incapacity) -the nice lady on the ESA phone suggested that they could do this, and it was her idea that i applied to backdate my claim. i've been told repeatedly that my doctor should be able to fill a form out no problem, from looking at me medical records... unfortunately i've not been able to get an appointment with my regular gp, and am currently putting a formal complaint in about the 'emergency' doctor at the surgery. she tried to intimate that i was asking her to break the law and lying about what the dwp have told me (the dwp also suggested getting her on the phone to them from the surgery - she flatly refused to speak to them and insisted she knew what she was talking about. even though she had no idea which form they needed filling out)..



instead, i have to obtain a copy of my own medical records (which might take 28 days, and my old surgery won't update my address as i don't live there any more. my address won't be updated til i register with a doctor in brixton. that's today's task ), go through them with a fine toothcomb and make a triple length dr's appointment (i've just moved borough so can't go back to my original GP), explain every little thing for the fifty thousandth time (complete with dated letters from me shrink confirming where me head's been at)... they have evidence of where i was at in october and december (clinical depression), but appear to think that because i couldn't face *going* to the doc's in november, that i was perfectly fine (nobody told me that i could request a medical cert while not claiming or working, so i didn't even *know* that i was supposed to...)

blah.

so yes.

/rant. more or less...

sign off with yer doc as soon as humanly possible. get as much documented on yer medical records as you can, keep notes of who you speak to re benefits/when/what number etc, and fingers crossed you won't have to fight for two month's worth of money that, frankly, yer entitled to.

still, i get four weeks' worth tomorrow - that's me rent covered. ish.

good luck rocketman.

 

[panpete]

you get yourself signed off sick and ring em up to claim init, dont really know how the whole having a job thing works, I had resigned when I started claiming, but I think they allow you to have a part time job too now because they are forcing all the disableds back into work. That would be based on how much you actually earn / how many hours you work a week etc.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DG_10016082

A woman I spoke to on the train a few weeks ago, was returning from an incapacity assessment, and she never got forced back to work.