People shouldn't judge anyone until they have walked a mile in someone else's shoes.
My UC has been a cock-up from the word go. I had been my Mum's carer and got CA and IS, but after she died I had to claim UC. At the time I didn't have access to the internet so it was a telephone claim. So far so good. First payment received, then I got a letter from local council saying that as I was no longer in receipt of qualifying benefit my council tax benefit was being stopped. I rang UC who told me that because I had not attended a meeting in town they had cancelled by benefit. I didn't know about the meeting, they said it was on my journal - I said it was a telephone claim and I don't have a journal, they then said they left a message on my mobile, I asked them what my mobile number is and they didn't know because they didn't have it. They then said they left a message on landline answer phone, but I know that they didn't because the phone was in the lounge and I checked any messages 2 or 3 times a day and there wasn't one from them.
I therefore didn't have any money so they paid me a loan (which months later they didn't know if I had repaid or not)! They were so long in reactivating the claim they said it would be better if I made a new claim. This I did, but it meant that at the qualifying dates for the cost of living payments I was not in receipt of UC so I lost out on that.
Because of problems relating to my Mum's death my own health had deteriorated and I ended up in hospital. There were at least 6 different ways I should have died including sepsis, pneumonia, blood clots, several TIAs and major problems with both legs leading to the plastic surgeons telling me that the right leg would be amputated and possibly the left (happily I still have both, but ironically if they had been taken off I wouldn't have been bed bound for as long as I was). Unable to sit up, never mind stand and walk, I was transferred to a care home (against my will) and paid for a private physio once a week as the NHS physio was so long in happening and when it did couldn't promise weekly sessions.
I can now walk unaided on the flat, struggle with stairs, have nerve damage in both arms meaning I can't lift right arm, get out of breath just getting dressed, can't stand for more than 5 mins as pains in both legs and have to keep them up for a lot of the time because of swelling.
Had a work capability assessment and guess what? I am capable of work!!!!!!!!!!!!
If it wasn't so serious it would be fucking hilarious. The lead clinical nurse at the care home nearly wet himself when I told him, he couldn't believe it.
If I was an employer and I turned up for an interview, even I wouldn't employ me.
The GP had just given me a new sick (fit) note till mid July and I don't think they write those out just for fun.
New benefits take years to sort out, are badly funded, staffed with people who don't know what they are doing and just when the problems are ironed out are scrapped and replaced by another, so back to square one. I know, I worked for BA in early 90s when DLA was introduced. Dis-organised chaos is the polite term, total shitshow is how it was. The powers that be couldn't understand why so many people were applying for DLA and so few for DWA (the little known disability WORKING allowance). Probably because they are DISABLED and cannot work.
So I feel your pain, but I also feel sorry for the call centre staff who take the brunt of the calls and are generally not qualified to deal with the problem which is why you get different answers each time you ask the same question.
There are rumours that UC may be scrapped and replaced with something else. God help us, I'm just glad that I'm in my 60s so have fewer years left to put up with all this shit, I would hate to be in my 20s these days, at least we had decent music in the 80s.
If Putin has his way we'll all be nuked by Christmas and all our problems will be over. I find its always best to look on the bright side eh!