DWP

Again similar paddyann. The medication and the brain fog were major reasons for her inability to drive. However when she occasionally had a remission phase she was able to drive and be involved with her children. As it is she has had to get herself to several hospital appts with taxi cost of £30 each way.

Your DD can get a blue badge without PIP or ESA. My mother had one for years before she had to give up driving. Speak to the council.

Galen we know nothing about benefits we've been lucky not to ever have to claim anything from the state .Its definately PIP she was claiming,at her doctors advice.To be honest she wasn't concerned about getting money thats why the minimum wasn't an issue ....she DID want a blue badge for her car though so she could at least take the girls to their swimming lessons etc and park close ....no half mile walks she cant manage .Again on the advice of her doctor she has been seeing someone at Citizens advice and he went with her to her appointment .She was advised to "try again" in October !!At the moment shes on a huge cocktail of drugs which aren't really doing much to help.Her worry is that she might have to give up driving if she takes any more pills as some are causing what she calls brain fog,but she lives in a very rural place and needs her car

Thank you. I don't think employment support is relevant any longer but given the criteria you've mentioned I'd say she qualifies but we'll see!

PIP care at standard rate is fairly easy to get
If you need an aid for a lot of things it's two points each time.
E.g. Perching stool in kitchen =2
Grabbing something to help you off toilet=2
Help or aid to bath or shower=2
Help or aid to dress =2
. Mob side is more complicated.
Make sure hat someone goes into the assessment with her and if appealing ESA get GOOD legal help

Thanks galen apparently she has been taken out of the ESA group (for want of a better expression) and having had DLA removed, is waiting for a PIP assessment in the hope that it will be awarded. It's taking a long stressful time and as you'll no doubt appreciate, stress is very likely to trigger fibro attacks. She has been well supported by an excellent gp and 3 different consultants for her other ailments. She has now been recommended for counselling to aid the depression which is inevitable given her situation.

Paddy what on earth region are you in.? It is acknowledged by the medical profession colleges that fibromyalgia is a condition that is partly physical and partly mental.
Don't think age has a lotto do with it. I suppos I could be described as an old doddery retired girl, but, I can assure you my brain and medical knowledge are all still functioning.
The tribunals are more and more being held in courthouses and they are supposed to be disabled accessible
By the way both of you. Don't confuse PIP with ESA.
PIP is about ability to perform personal bodily functions and ESA is about capability for work. The legal tests for both are completely different.
E.g. ESA if you can mobilise with aids ( including wheelchair) 200metres you score no points. PIP on the other hand is about walking and following routes.
They changed the rules when they replaced DLA with PIP. the distance to qualify for a car changed from 50metres to less than 20metres

Oh paddy I fear this is what we're about to face. DD had DLA taken away earlier in the year and thereby lost her car. She's rarely able to drive it but sees it as a lifeline.
It's been about 3 months now with the appeal lodged immediately but no feedback. Hoping she'll have the strength today to tackle the phone calls. Hasn't been fit to do much recently but is now home after an op last week which we hope will help. Other chronic conditions including fibro. Her gp and several consultants are backing her but that in itself doesn't seem to help.
No-one in their right mind would employ her as she can only function about 10% of the time and then with a struggle.

it was definately a tribunal the doctor was an old retired boy who thought Fibromyalgia was "in all in her head and a bit of positive thinking could be a good approach to it" The other two she says were more helpful they awarded her the minimum she could get ,which she was happy about ...she really cant work most of the time ( has her own business and has worked since she was 14) she would love to be able to get back to her life instead of the pain and necessity to depend on others for the simplest of things .As I said her husbands job takes him away most of the time and when he is home he spends as much time with the kids as possible .Changing his job isn't an option

Doesn't sound like a tribunal to me.
A tribunal comprises a judge, a doctor and a disability expert.
If it's being appealed, it's because the DWP didn't like it and they have a right of appeal to the upper tribunal ( as. Does the claimant)
The award is not withdrawn but paused until the result of the appeal.
Tribunals are usually heard in disabled acccessable buildings.
Are you sure that this wasn't just the HCP assessment ? In which case she has a right to a mandatory reconsideration followed by an appeal if unsuccessful

That is disgusting. My guess is that they hold the tribunal in such an awkward place deliberately. If you can get there then you obviously don't need any help and if you don't manage to get there then you obviously don't need any help because you didn't bother to turn up.

my daughter has fibromyalgia as well as two other chronic illnesses,she can barely lift her head off the pillow for weeks on end,she was refused PIP ..although her doctor advised her to apply foor it ,he was furious and wrote letters and advised her to appeal it ,it has now gone to appeal twice ....last week she had to go to a tribunal ..she walked from the train which is normally a 10 minute walk ..it took her 45 minutes and she then had to climb stairs to the tribunal office.She was in agony,luckily a lovely young man from CAB went with her for support and she was awarded the lowest benefit rate they can award.However on Tuesday this week ,not even a week after the tribunal they informed her they were having a rethink and would be appealing the decision..so the award was withdrawn .These people are not medical professionals yet they can make decisions about her health and the welfare of her children.The doctor only told her to apply because she needs assistance with her two youngest ..the eldest child (14) helps all he can with his sisters and his mum but its not ideal when he is facing exams this year .Her husband works away from home 10 out of every 14 days and family is to far away to help daily .Its heartbreaking .

If you know anyone who should claim benefits and doesn't please ask them to.

theconversation.com/britains-massive-unclaimed-benefits-failure-and-how-to-fix-it-75816

And who owns the shares in the arms industry?

Exactly. We can't afford the NHS, proper education, social care etc. but somehow we have billions to pay for Trident.

It doesn't matter any longer as long as you say the right things and convince the media you can do what the hell you like and people believe you. -We really can't afford the NHS any longer can we????? (Especially if you never wanted it in the first place)

Exactly, vampire, but nobody cares about that any more. They are allowed to do what they want regardless of how many people end up homeless.
Laughing all the way to the tax haven, missing out the bank on the way.

Let all their friends fiddle the tax and cut HMRC funding to catch them at it. Why am I not surprised?

my.labourlist.org/page/m/2c9aecc4/13fa0d4e/6379cd18/34acd896/2937175522/VEsHAQ/

This is why we can't fund social care or the NHS properly.
The government cuts funding to HMRC so they cannot follow up the £36 billion tax loss.

The whole lot are corrupt.

Capita worries me tremendously. It has its finger in so many pies. I knew some of them but googling it and looking on Wiki I couldn't believe how much stuff they are mixed up in. Everything from the NHS to criminal records. The whole thing stinks to high heaven. If you are interested
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capita

All the work done trying to get people off benefits and into work has not saved the government any money. They just pay private companies more to hound people instead of paying benefits. Typical Tory style of government.

voxpoliticalonline.com/2017/04/15/proved-it-costs-more-to-hire-private-firms-to-run-hated-disability-benefit-tests-than-they-save/

What a total moron. Do these people come from this planet?

Theresa May has appointed an idiot to head the DWP.

politicalscrapbook.net/2017/04/tory-minister-root-cause-of-poverty-is-not-financial/

That's interesting, vampirequeen. I'm pleased I don't know anyone who reads the Express. Not one positive article.
Only thirty five articles, but 80% of them use ridicule and scorn, 40% personal attacks.
Mind you, the % would be a bit higher on here from some people.

Corbyn never lost an election. He wasn't leader when labour lost the last two elections.
The council voting leaflets have been delivered in this constituency. Not one mention of Corbyn, which is right, as local elections leaflets should attack the Tory record on cutting services.
Apparently in Durham we get less per household than those in Surrey.
Of course, that must be my fault for supporting the Labour party.