So yet again another esa50 form to be filled in thats like 5 in the last 2 years . I just had one 10 months ago . Each time i go for a medical. I cant understand why i am getting so many now, I was retired on ill health by the government , my Disabilities are congenital my spinal cord will not miraculously repair it self I feel like im being picked on.... I am busy appealing my PIP decision because i was 2 points short for the higher mobility even though im worse off than when i was on DLA but a non medical assessor physio was able to asses how my neurological and spinal issues effect me. Any reason why im getting so many in such short periods of time ?

Hi guys just hoping for a little advice. First off I will give you a little background I am disabled and have congenital spinal deformities etc I was Medically retired by Her Majesties government back in 2009 due to my condition serverly worsening etc. in 2016 I had an op on my spinal cord because to release certain nerves etc and the day after my release had to go for a medical for the DWP, passed that but then 4 - 5 months later had to go for another , again another 5- 6 months later into 2017 had to go for another again passed that . Yet again they have decide to send me for another one even though I have sent them all my medical info my medical retirement info which they done yet keep wanting a medical ... I wonder if they know that congenital problems don't fix them selves. My main question is this normal ? I've sent evidence which shows i have bladder and bowel issues which i use devices, i use a wheel chair, my MRI results and letters from consultants etc

Well under the government umbrella when you are retired on I'll health the decision is made on if you can do any job they have available , that means any section from benefits or pensions etc it's not just based on the job you are doing. The reason I know this is the capita guy who does the medical says all government run facilities when considering I'll health retirement must asses if that individual could do any other job and if he/she would in the near future be likely to be fit enough to do any kind of work.

Medical retirement was made due to me unable to do an job, as my job was admin and that they have many other types of jobs the decision was made that I would not be able to do any type of work in the near future.

Sorry to hijack this thread. But would like to ask a question about IB to ESA . I am still on IB and have not had any forms as yet to transfer over but Iam interested if anyone can give some advice. I used to work for HMRC and due to my disabilities etc. I was retired on I'll health via CAPITA health . When it's my time to transfer over to ESA will they take into count that it was the uk government that said I was no longer fit to work ? Capita ill health is not easy to get and must show that you are unlikely to get well in the future.

I was retired on I'll health by our government and receive a small pension and if the pension was above a certain amount my IB would reduce so I think any grants would count. As there are no finance options where courses were paid for if on low income,my ou have to apply for student loan to pay for course . Would this gre counted too?

Anyone ?

Hi hope someone can answer. As Iam currently unwell I am thinking of starting a degree via the OU as you can study in your own home which will not hinder me. My question is can I do a degree while on IB ? I would have though I would be able to but can't seem to find any rules about this any where.

fraud is less that 0.5% on DLA and they say its not a cost cutting measure. Trust me when i say NHS will not be free in 4 years thery have already made steps to make that the case.

soon this government will have no benefit for disabled people and out NHS will not exist and we will be unable to find any insurance to keep us healthy. Its amazing how an unelected government who promised not to touch our NHS and would help disabled people can do this !!! "one must keep out rich selves rich and to shove the poor and disabled in the gutter where they belong"

anyone advise if this sounds like a good offer ? I didnt have much on the card about 3k

Wel would like some thoughts on this matter please Few months back I got a letter from HBOS about my credit card and that people who had PPI may have been missold it and that if you think you have then to contact them. Anyways I contacted them and said that when i had PPI I was told when i got it that it would cover me no matter what if i fell sick from work. Well I did try and claim from that PPI and was told I couldnt because the condition would be classed as pre-existing even though it was a new sympton but it counts a the back so i decided ok i cancell it. so when I got this letter I though ok I will complain because I fell under this catagory. The lady took my details and few days later I got a letter saying they were looking into it and would get back in touch. So few months went buy and I was thinking to my self I never heard anything more but yesterday I got a letter saying that I was missold and they were paying the PPI back with interest and the interest that was charged on my card so total back is around £800. They said it would go back onto my credit card so I phoned up to confirm all this and they said yes everything is correct and it would go back onto my card. Well today I get a letter with a cheque with the ammount on and the letter saying as per our conversation yesterday here is your cheque. Well what do you guys think ? is it a reasonable ammount ? and should i accept it? I think its a fair ammount and didnt have to do much to get it !! just a simple phonecall. would love you thoughts Please excuse the spelling and grammer as iam on my phone as my internet is down at the moment.

bump anyone able to help or advise ?

Hi everyone hope someone could advise me. I originaly applied for a credit card via amazon.co.uk which was underwritten by halifax. Now the apr when i applied was 9.9% which i also transfered from an existing card. Now over the last 18 months the apr went up 12% to then 16% and then 19.9% which i phoned and said i could not afford it to go to 19.9% Are they allowed to do this ? as the reason I got the card was due to the low intrest rate. I do have a halifax one card with apr 9.9% which i have had for many years and the interest rate has not increased once. Anyway back on track to my problem. Due to unforseen medical problems I am no longer in work and teh insurance would not pay out due to pre-existing condidtion which is funny because the condition was diagnosed after years of having the insurance but they say it falls under a bad back blahh blah. Now iam having difficulties paying my bills and withing the next months I may sturuggle to make anywere near the minimum payment. Can I request to halifax to reduce my apr to 9% like my other card as if it was this I would be able to pay this if the apr was at a lower rate. Any advice would be appreciated and directions to what i should do. kind regards

With your disability on higher rate you would get an element for disability , depending on her wage she may have been alowed a certain ammount of working tax credit. again this depends on all the information and probability etc she may have been correct thinking you were possibly entitled to something but at the end of the day the only thing which can give you a gaurenteed answer is the system that takes all your information and calculates everything to see how much you can get if anything atall.

Hi The person you got seems to be a little sharp on the phone. Here is teh facts , he did not have the hpne calls infornt of him on the screen as a advisor is not allowed access to any recorded phone call. The only thing he will see on the screen is the notes from the last advisors. Now as you have said you informed them of this change, if you can remember the dates you phoned, the main tax credit overpayment office can go into your call and listen to it but dont woory too much if you cant remember as all calls are recorded and allocated a identifier number so as part of your appeal request that they listen to all your calls from date x to date x. Now if those conversations prove you told them of this change etc then you have a good chance of not needing to pay the overpayment but again dont take my word for it. get your phone company to give you a full itemised bill with all numbers on so you can get the correct date then write to the tax credit office to request that they look at it , not point asking a adviser over the phone to do this as they dont have any access to the conversation.

once you phone up it normally takes 48 hours for the system to reissue a new payment shedule, so if you change it on the 4th you may get your next poayment on the 13th. Again I cant say for sure as it is normally different for each person and how the computer wishes to issue a new payment date set but i dont think you will wait to long.

HI Your best bet here is to tell the truth but I also suggest you get some legal advice. Under the circumstances you do have a good reason why you forgot initially. Under the rules for tax credits when your receive your award notice they state to read it and to contact them as soon as you have any change etc. Again I suggest you get some legal advice and they should advise you how to proceed. Remember having a sick child is very stressfull and emotional and this supercedes anything else in your life and people do forget.

One of the major problems we have is that people just dont have the energy to do this. For instance: after fighting with my employer for over 4 years which whom were HMRC. I for one have very little physical and mental energy left. They have left me feeling discraced that I have a disability and these are government employers who make the rules about diability discrimination. The only suggestion I can come up with for a major assalt would for everyone to write a letter toteh following people. Priminister Local MP Local News agency National News agency What we should write is a full detailed letter explaining yur own sistuation and how it affects you and explain about how ATOS has treated you and other people with expamples. At the moment I feel it would be like getting a blood out of a stone from a government who seems to be blaming the people on benefits for all out woes and not the actual MP`s and Banks who screwed the system out of almos a trillion pounds and still get stupid bonuses of over 60 billion. What we should also be asking them is how much money have they saved with these medicals ? If you think almost 60% are appealed against so the hundred and odd million ATOS gets each year plus the money it costs for appeals , I would think its costing more money picking om the sick and disabled than the actual plan they made to save money by getting people back to work. My question is who will employ someone who has a disability that will require alot of time off to go to hospital and time off when you are feeling bad ? also where are the jobs coming from ? 1200 jobs were just lost the other week in the north east when a call centre went in to administration.

What is more annoying and scary is how government appointed medical companies tell you your not fit to do any job and then wen you apply for the benefits you are refused based on the same medical companies who are now saying your fit. I hope this new government will do something about this but when you look at the benefit reforms they are going to bring in we may get an even harder treatment. Like me and many others with disabilities, we have struggled over the years to get respect! for expample when I was younger mothers didnt want there kids to play with me for fear they caught something. how do you catch a congenital disability. Are we going back over ?

Make sure you phone up every few days and push them to resolve the issue of the stuck claim as if you dont it can stay stuck for some time. If it is not resolved within 7 days ask to complain then phone or write to your MP and ask him/her to contact the tax credit place and this should make them pull the finger out of certain places.

iam sure some help from others will be along soon. I was refused my DLA and went to a tribunal and won my case. Alot of the time decisions are based on what a computer generates and can be very wrong. I have servere spnal andnerve issues which prevents me from walking very far and when i got my refusal through it stated I could walk 1000 yards without issue but a bit further down the doctor stated that in his view I was unable to walk very far without assistance. When you appeal you should get the full report and what you need to keep an eye on is the inconsistant. Iam sure someone with more knowledge will come and help

you have not stated what the overpayment was for ? did they have you down as on thehighest care component? They dont count DLA as an income as its a tax free benefit.

You just need to lok at the price of food and petrol and energy prices .. you know all the stuff that most of us need and look at how much prices have went up in the last few years they have almost doubled and yet not many peoples wages have increased and benefits have not went up much. Where i live in the north alot of people are paid minimum wage then you have you next group which are on anything from 12k - 17k a year which is no where near the national average of 21k a year. Most people who have not purchased a house or flt will be lucky to do so as the market has our priced first time buyers and has pushed rent up for people who can just manage to pay for it. I just hope this new government is out to help the poor and families who work and earn very little money. Whats more scary is they are going to try and hit the honest people who are on benefits and need it.

The government likes to make these rules but never follow thyem. I have had disabilities all my life all congenital. I worked for our government and fell seriously ill and was unable to do the job I was doing and as its such a big company/government agency I requested a more suitable role and for my job to be held open untill I "hope" to get better. After my operation which was not just a routine operation as not many people have what I have, more so at my age. My government employers tried everything to fire me and at one point they did. I started tribunal case and within 4 - 6 weeks I was no longer sacked but was deemed too ill to work and was retired on ill health. Now I was retired on ill health via the medical company theu use CAPITA. So iam on incapacity benefit at the moment and I would expect to be moved to ESA which I then assume will be sent to a ATOS medical which no doubt will fail me, so which government medical people are correct ? the one that actually did a physical assesment and wrote to all my doctors etc and said i was unfit for work or ATOS the computer generated geek. How our tax money is spent on utter ****