Would I be allowed to work for him though? I didn’t think you could work for relatives as permitted work?

Hi UncleBulgaria67 thanks for the reply. I’ve read that through but it’s the fact that it’s technically working for my husband that’s the issue as I’m not sure this is allowed. I may just leave things well alone for now until we’re in a position for me to come off ESA altogether. I’ll tell the accountant to leave things alone. As I said, I won’t be working, it’s more something he wants to do for tax purposes which is why I don’t want to rock the boat as I won’t be any better off.

Hi Honeybee13. I’m on Contribution-based.

Morning. I need some advice. My husband owns his own business and he is sole owner and director. I am on ESA Support Group and have been for over 20 years. Up until now he’s submitted his own accounts but we now have an accountant as he is a limited company and the accountant has suggested that he put me down as earning £130 a week and take that off my husband’s wages. He says it won’t affect my ESA as it is within permitted work allowances but will allow us to use up my unused tax allowance. (My OH only draws about £18k). I want to speak to DWP about it but I’m worried it will trigger a review. Having had to go through a PIP appeal before - which I won - I don’t want to rock the boat. If and when the business can afford it I will stop claiming ESA completely but right now we rely on it and we’d really struggle if I lost it. if I can take the £130 a week and still get my ESA like the accountant says then I’ll do it as he obviously thinks it’s the right thing to do. I want to make it clear We wouldn’t be earning any additional money, he’s just talking about redistributing what we already get. Any ideas if this is allowed?

No you're right but they've had such a bad experience that I don't know that they'd trust anyone to go in without them being there. I know it's a learning curve for them and they'll just have to swallow it and move on but as I said, it's a shame.

Thanks Steve. I've done the same thing and can't find anything. Looks like she's not going to budge on the 14th either. They're going to get some legal advice today just so they know where they stand. It's just all the aggravation of having builders in to replace the boiler - taking time off work to let them in etc etc and for what? They'll not get the benefit from it and they've been complaining about it since they moved in in June. It's such a shame. Their first home together and it's been ruined. The pitfalls of renting I suppose

We're not too sure. She's said she intends to move back in but who knows? All seems to be a bit fishy to me.

Thanks for the reply Steve They ideally want to go sooner. She's still planning on replacing the boiler so they'll have all the hassle of the builders etc but then they'll have to move out and they don't see why they should have all the inconvenience if they're not going to get the benefit. It's good to know she can't make them leave this side of Christmas but what you're saying is that they can't leave earlier than the 14th? The letting agents have refunded her all her fees because of the communication problems with them over the boiler and they wondered if they'll be entitled to any kind of compensation. The letting agents have behaved really badly. There are some loose wires which they've repeatedly asked them about as they weren't sure what they were and their answer was 'stick your tongue on it and see if they're live!' that pretty much sums up their experience with them

Thanks for the reply. The landlord has agreed to replace the boiler but has now served them notice to quit. Their ST agreement ends on 14th December and she’s said she wants them out by the 21st. If they find somewhere else before then will they be liable for the rent up until the 21st? The fact that it’s a week before Xmas they really don’t want to wait that long.

Hope this is in the right place. If not, Admin please move. My son and his girlfriend moved into their first flat 4 months ago. They have been very happy there but now the weather is getting colder, they have tried to put the heating on and there's something wrong with the boiler. They have had various conversations with the Letting Agent who sent round their plumber last week who has condemned the boiler, saying it is beyond reasonable repair and requires replacing. The Landlord is refusing to accept this and won't authorise the repairs. The letting agent say their hands are tied until they can get an agreement out of the Landlord. Meanwhile the flat is getting increasingly damp and is freezing cold. They have tried to get hold of the CAB and the local council but to no avail. I've told them to continue to pay their rent but that I would see if I could get them any advice on what they can do. Any ideas?

Will do and thanks again

They sent me an email this afternoon stating that "on this occasion they'd cancel the ticket". Cheeky ********. Oh well, at least one less thing to worry about. Thanks for the advice though.

Thanks for all your replies. The college I was at are sorting it out. They seem to have this problem alot.

Thanks for the reply. In answer to your questions... There was no ticket left on the car The date was 14th March 2017 Got the letter 25th March 2017 It wasn't a permit. It was a Pay and Display Car park and I have the ticket Thanks

Hi all I have received a letter from this company stating that I did not display a valid permit in a college car park whilst attending an event. I did have a parking ticket from the machine which was clearly displayed on my dashboard. The letter includes a photograph of my car but from a distance and simply showing that my car was parked in the car park. I have written the following. Before I send it, is this OK? ******* I write to appeal against the parking charge notice as detailed above. I attach a copy of the parking ticket I purchased and clearly displayed on my dashboard. The photographic evidence you have supplied does not show the dashboard clearly and so does not show whether the ticket was or was not clearly displayed. I was attending a event at the college and was not advised that I needed anything other than a valid parking ticket in order to park my car, which I have provided to you. ******

Yes you have. I was actually saying that those with mental health issues are the ones who are suffering as a consequence. I've suffered serious mental health issues requiring hospitalisation in the past and i was absolutely not blaming them. What I was saying is that because it's an unseen problem, those who cheat the system are able to carry on doing so thus causing problems for those who are genuinely in need. Those with a 'seen' problem are easier to target or so it would seem. I agree that the real culprits here are IDS and the government and the way they are using sweeping assumptions in order to reduce the welfare bill but they're targeting the wrong people and causing real problems as a result. Sorry if you mistook my comments.

Having read all the stuff I have over the past few weeks it seems as though they're targeting people who are purely physically disabled. If you have issues with your mental capacity which I know lots of people genuinely do, then you can add any points you are awarded which may then mean you meet the magic 12. The trouble is that a mental issue is much harder to prove or disprove and those who are cheating the system will just use this to carry on getting what they want. That then means those genuinely needing help will be questioned more and need to prove they are in need which will inevitably lead to them suffering more stress. This is the most unpleasant thing I think I've had to do. Spending hours focussing on everything i can't do and having to try and 'prove' that I'm sufficiently disabled is so painful. I've spent the past 40 odd years fighting to be seen as normal and now I have to think completely the other way. Meanwhile those they're trying to weed out will carry on cheating the system and the rest of us will get tarred with the same brush.....

Yeah that's what I thought. Oh well. They reckon we're going to have a bad winter so I wouldn't be able to go out anyway

Hi All As have many on here, I've been doing battle with the DWP over moving over to PIP. I was re-assessed for PIP and had my medical with ATOS on 15 September. My standard rate care was upheld but they only awarded me 10 points for mobility. I had been on HR DLA since 1994. I have RA and Osteoporosis and have had since 1973 when I was 9 years old. I've had 6 hip replacements, a major fracture to my femur last year from which I'm still recovering and which happened whilst merely standing in my living room (doctors not sure how it happened but think it was a stress fracture which suddenly got worse causing the prosthesis to fail) and I'm now recovering from 2 unexplained pelvic fractures. I've got nerve damage to my leg (from another hip replacement that went wrong) which means I'm prone to trips and falls which have resulted in broken bones. The ATOS rep asked me how far I thought I could walk before I needed to stop. I said I was in constant pain so in reality couldn't even stand without being in severe pain and in any case I wouldn't be safe as I'd broken bones just by standing still. She kept saying "yes, but if you had to walk, how long do you think you could do it for? I said I didn't know as I'd never timed it but she kept pressing me for an answer. In the end I said "I don't know. A minute or so I suppose but I couldn't do it comfortably or safely". She wrote in the report that I could walk 1-2 minutes 3 or 4 times with short stops in between, then added an equation and concluded I could walk 40-80 metres. However, she then said that she thought I could only walk 40-50 metres which says to me that even she thought her equation was being over ambitious! The upshot of all this was that I was awarded the 10 points and not the crucial 12 points I needed to keep my car. The MR was upheld which I wasn't surprised about as they persuaded me to request it over the phone under their "pilot scheme" (if you're asked if you'd like to do this when you ring up in a state after receiving your decision - say NO. You do it in the heat of the moment and don't end up submitting any further evidence to back up your claim). I've now submitted my tribunal papers with the help of the adviser at the CAB. My adviser is pretty sure we can get it overturned. Along with x-rays and medical notes, I'm going to cite this which is from the DWP's consultation papers on whether the 20 metre rule should be upheld. Example 3 – Juliet 4.24 Juliet is able to stand and move with a walking stick but suffers from hip pain when she walks. She can walk about 100 metres, but her level of discomfort increases as she walks and her pace slows down until she has to stop and rest. 4.25 Juliet also finds that walking even very short distances takes a lot out of her. If she walks more than about 10 metres, for the next few hours she is unable to walk more than a few steps without experiencing severe hip pain. 4.26 Although Juliet can walk more than 50 metres, she cannot do so as often as would be reasonably expected because of the pain it causes when she walks again. As such she is not considered able to walk reliably. The furthest she can walk in a way that is repeatable is a few steps using her stick. Therefore descriptor E best describes how she is able to move around. 4.27 Juliet therefore receives entitlement to the enhanced rate of the PIP Mobility component. Does anyone know how long it will be before I hear whether they've granted me the appeal hearing? I've requested medical records from my NHS trust including X-Rays and scans showing the state of my pelvis and hips and I've been evidence gathering but will I have months to do this or is it quicker. I only had to wait 4 weeks for my ATOS medical and 10 days for the decision which seems to go against the timescales reported by others. My car went back today. To say I'm devastated is an understatement. That was the only thing that made me feel normal. I can't walk anywhere but I could get in my car and drive and I felt like everyone else. Now I'm stuck indoors. The £2k they offer you is very welcome but won't buy us another car that is adapted for me to drive as well as pay for the insurance, tax and everything else that goes with it, even with the standard rate PIP I'll get.

Just received an email from my IP. My IVA has failed and she's said its now up to my creditors whether they decide to make me bankrupt. She also included an invoice for £1000 and asked when she could expect payment!! Oh yeah and wished me all the best for the future!

That's a relief. I'll wait to see what happens at the creditors meeting on 4 September and let you know

If we let this fail what is the worst that is likely to happen?

we did. It was at the time of our ill-fated battle with Robinson Way which saw a £6k disputed debt turn into a £25k CO on the house following a court case where the judge wiped the floor with us. After that we just sort of lost the will to try and fight anymore and as I'd got back signed CCAs from my creditors we decided to try the IVA route instead. OH's was refused - by Robinson Way! He thought about Bankruptcy but in the end stayed on a DMP. Mine was accepted but I wish it hadn't been

Quite possibly not for much longer if one of them decides to make me bankrupt :/

No she didn't but I did go down the CCA route before we looked into an IVA. The debts are as follows. Some of them are ridiculously small but she said I shouldn't pay them off and to include them. Barclaycard about 1994 £5285.59 Cap 1 about 2000 £4902.69 EOS 1984 £198.92 Next 2004 £250.78 Natwest 2004 £3000 (overdraft joint with OH) Hoist 2001 £8827.45 (overdraft joint with OH)