Cloudsailors

I was a carer for my elderly mum and received something like £40 as carers allowance.. then £40 was deducted from my mums money so we were no better off, it just made me feel i was robbin my mum even though i was on hand 24/7.

yes they do and you can bet they will have misinterpreted something you've said and done. so read the notes carefully and get yourself an expert in p.i.p terminology if you need to appeal. remember you may be able to appeal more than once.. good luck.

The communal bit in Fitzy Square has been levelled, although the statue is still there. What's happening?.. thanks forum for moving my post and revealing the answers.

Music magpie would be a nightmare and you'd probably get 20p a disc... not worth the effort of typing the barcodes or titles.. If you take a really good photo so that the titles are legible you could offer a bundle of say 100 and open up a listing on here to "offers".. too many to list etc. stating that you have others and people are welcome to view... Good luck

Green Tea: well i've had a nosey around t'internet thanks for the heads-up. I read that chelators found in the detoxifying properties of the tea may in fact slow down or reduce the accumulation of iron in the brain. So that's a positive and deserves further surfing to see what clinical trials are saying about it. Maybe a decent supplemental treatment, so it could be worth a go. I have heard it tastes a bit yuk but I'll add it to the shopping list. Thanks:thumbsup:

I reckon i should have started a blog about all this, if only for others in a similar predicament to peruse and hopefully find a few pointers to follow. Thanks for all the ongoing interest, surely we must have reached the brow of the hill by now? An appeal letter was sent to the ESA, albeit a late one.. but as I had been informed by Parkinsons uk, it IS true that a person can be given upto 12 months to make an appeal IF the reason for the tardiness is a genuine one. I have had an interim letter in response from HM courts & tribunals. Basically saying “we’ve received your appeal.. and.. because it’s a late appeal the ESA has the chance to challenge your reasons for the late reply.” My “reasons” Having Parkinsons is one.. the stress, anxiety, confusion,.. the wobbly hand!!. Others include the ambiguity of the DWP departments, for which I had to book appointments 7-10 days in advance, same with the C.A.B, they can’t deal with things on the day you “drop-in” So we’ll see. Anyhoo, an email has been sent to the local M.P. but I don’t hold out any hope there personally, I’ve never had a reply from my M.P before. I just want to highlight the problems of certain people who seem to tumble through the net of the benefits system, qualifying for nothing or very little. Emphasis too has to be placed on the unknown.. what I mean here is the average joe can be unaware of the correct benefits to claim for. All too often I’m hearing, “why aren’t you claiming for this” or “you could be claiming for that”. For a solid 8 weeks, maybe longer, I wasn’t taking any medication.. they all ran out and I was left cold turkey purely because ESA was sending me to JSA and they were sending me back again. I wasn’t on a benefit that would qualify me for NHS treatment. Sure, the C.A.B said “just tick the box on the prescription”.. eh?…Pretend I’m on benefits?.. oh right, and line myself up for a fraud case as well. No, if there’s one thing I am, it’s as honest as the day’s long. Yes the appeal could have been sorted by the time anyone looked twice at my prescription but.. it wasn’t and still isn’t. Going back to an earlier point, I was told I could apply for help with my NHS costs by filling in a “Low Income” form. Yeah ANOTHER damn form.. but Parkinsons UK did all the filling in for me and I just had to make a mess where the signature should be. So now I’ve got my coloured sweeties, 6 times a day with food…lol I rarely accrue over 1200 calories a day.. which in itself doesn’t help my wobbly hands either but… neither do the tablets. With valentines day looming and my fiancees birthday on the horizon, being skint is not where I want to be. She deserves something to smile about, heaven knows I love her to bits but I’m burdening her with all this mess… On a day to day basis, I feel like the last carp in an overgrown forgotten pond, or a struck once golf ball left in the rough waiting for another go.. y’know? The plus side being I have got P.UK on my side who have helped me spark off another appeal. Looking forward, either the appeal goes through or I need an understanding future employer.

Well I went to the citizens’ advice for the meeting on Tuesday, after spending time filling in a 63 page online form for income support as they had suggested, then wasted my time and precious resources printing it out. They spent time working out what extra additions and premiums I may get and I was beginning to think things were getting sorted until they actually rang Income support … They were told that I couldn’t claim income support on a disability, even though one of the premiums mentioned WAS a disability premium… and guess what? I had to appeal the ESA verdict that they told me I COULDN’T appeal last week. Failing that I’d have to let 6 months lapse from the date of the last payment I had received before being forced to make a “fresh claim”… it’s all very well saying payments can be backdated… but having to suffer six months without payment is beyond a joke. So that’s yet another appointment for next Tuesday… and they reckon you only get thirty days to appeal unless you can give good reason why you haven’t managed to do so in the allotted time scale… Waiting a week for an appointment, then finding out even the C.A.B needs advising.. and then consequently having to wait another week for another appointment…. Those 30 days soon get swallowed up.. add that to the inability to fill in forms in one go and having to allow for my tremor and anxiety to subside… 30 days is a joke. The same can be said of the jsa/ esa scenario .. you have to book an appointment with one, then they turn you down so you have to book an appointment with the other and hope you’re feeling well enough to sit in a tiny room for two hours being fed the wrong info… C.A.B did say they would help me write a letter to the local M.P detailing the confusion within the benefits system and pointing out the grey areas where some people fail to fall into any group and duly get overlooked or pin-balled around the system. I guess one good point to observe here is that if the c.a.b can get confused to a point where I’m advising them… then what chance has the average joe got of knowing what help is actually out there?

which would explain why their tech support is shut... it's appalling. i guess they'll be on the job somewhere fixing cables then. we'll have to hope they find the prob.

i'm tryin to help out my elderly neighbour . he's on virgin telephone and theres no dial tone. ive no credit on my mobile so i couldnt ring them for him. ive tried online help.. it says if you cant get a dial tone. RING 150 ??? so i tried the online chat thing, thinking i could alert them that way and it said the service was closed.. even tho the opening hour is 9am... my neighbour slipped on the black ice on thursday.. and hasnt been able to contact family until today when i contacted them on facebook and asked if they would ring MY mobile so i could let him speak... any suggestions please

A candle in the tunnel comforts for as long as it takes us to see the light at the end... Thank you

Keeping the thread updated... Parkinsons uk said give citizens advice another go. Although a refusal at the mandatory reconsideration stage has to be responded to within 30 days, there are exceptions where they will allow you up to 12 months to get a case together. so off i went, stood in the snow for 40 mins to queue up.. and was told NO.. you didnt respond in 30 days.. they knew nothing of the 12 month thing. so they advised me to claim income support online and come back next week to discuss any problems i faced (it would be too late then cos i would either have filled in the form on not)... but they also said they cant understand why i'm not on one benefit or the other so they would help me write a letter to my M.P explaining the impossible scenario .. one where i cant afford to pay 8.50 per item on my prescription..! P.uk did a home visit, bless em, and asked how i got on.. i had told them i've rarely had any positive results from our local c.a.b previously. Needless to say they were not impressed with my latest visit either. They offered to attend next weeks visit to the c.a.b with me to share their knowledge.. so there's a little hope in there somewhere. I'm in a similar situation where seemingly the only way out is to put my home on the market , or risk getting it repossessed for my inability to pay the mortgage... Whereas if we were on Universal credit, we would have interest payments paid for a short while... now that would help, why cant we apply??? We're not in the catchment area to qualify. As for my partners wage.. well i mentioned she was on a 12 hour contract. After snaffling a shift last week she came out with £101... Couples on the dole get more than that without getting out of bed. It's a strain on our relationship where she makes the effort and we end up far, far worse off. I'll keep you all posted. (hey, the sun's out)

Hi Zach. I'm havin another kick at the ball. I tweeted a link to this thread and Parkinsons uk got in touch. They're going to assist me to fill in a form or two and attempt a court appeal with the ESA. Like you say, keep on trying however mundane and frustrating. it just seems odd to not be on either JSA or ESA with so much restriction on actually obtaining some sort of employment. oh i'd give something a go but i'm thinking how long would i be in employment before i get sacked for errors or not meeting deadlines. In the long term i'm thinking negatively again, laid off, back to filling in forms, square one... i know i can do things but am i employable, when there are so many qualified people out there needin a job. keeping my ears n eyes open and if the chance arises i'd take a punt on getting some sort of interview, then i guess it's up to the employer to give me a trial. There are people with qualifications that put them ahead of others, yet some are in and out of a job because they want more, or the job is tedious or below their capabilities. Get me in a job and i'll make it mine. We'll see.. but the ball is rollin, again.

Robert Peston on the news.... & how he drags out sentences in his reports.. spit it out man.. the bear on the muller rice advert.. announcers between the programs who have strong regional dialects.. what?.. Ben Shephard tripping over his tongue on tipping point as he repeats the same phrases day after day.. those ads that are backed by a singer who has seemingly been told to record the song while they're going to sleep... yawn...and yeh. Keith Lemon constantly spewing sewage.

Hi Apple.. Thanks for your post. I was referred to Parkinsons uk and had a similar experience with them. They helped me through the frustration and hassle of filling out many many forms. I got to the state where I was fed up of repeating myself filling in the same information countless times and the wobbly hand would kick in and I’d just think sod it… and end up casting the forms to oneside ending up with a mountain of unanswered post and consequently getting nowhere, except deeper and deeper into the void. Parkinsons uk sorted it all out for me for a time and got the wheels turning but like many unfunded organisations their resources and precious time are limited. I find myself back at square one now, hundreds of pounds in debt, with no jsa and no esa and the dwp taking money from my PIP for “overpayments” which I believe to be their fault. My fiancee was ordered to attend a jsa interview with me cos it’s a joint claim, even though she’s working part time???.. she immediately felt the pressures and frustrations and left the jsa building in tears. Why should she have to sign on when she was in work?? But because she didn’t then my claim couldn’t be taken any further. It’s not like we would get any money from jsa. Her fluctuating hours of employ means on some weeks she earns “too much” for us to even qualify for council tax benefit.. yet her contracted hours are only 12 which on some weeks is a reality.. meaning she earns less than £100 .. yet the jsa rate for a couple is well over that.. IM just fed up of batting the ball and banging my head on the wall. I cant even afford my medication which I don’t get free anymore and I’d be damned if I’m fillin in another flippin form just to prove we’re BROKE. Sorry for the rant peopes.

Tina has taken time to add a bit of depth in her answer for clarity and she has made some good points for you to ponder over. if you do "..take up a tenancy and decide you don't like it after a while.." There used to be an option of "a mutual exchange" whereby council tenants can propose to swap their homes for homes in other areas of the city but i'm not sure of the technicalities on that option.. anyway all is not lost if you feel forced to take a home and then don't get on with the neighbours or bus routes or schools etc. We wish you well in your search... get your foot on the ladder