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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Aibu to think if you have worked in thsi country no one wants to help you

90 replies

tjacksonpfc · 06/02/2010 20:45

Bit of background i've worked all my life up until i had my 2 dc eldest one is 6 on july. 2 years ago i started working part time aswell. my dp has always worked aswell.

Any way last feb i had to give up work due to ill health i am going in for shoulder reconstruction surgery next month and am waiting to see an orthopedic surgeon about collapsed vertebrae they found i had in december.

Since i gave up work we have struggled by on dps wages and help from friends and family. when i was at drs 2 weeks ago she asked what benefits we got i said none as we have never claimed not thinking we were entitled.

The dr told me to contact the dwp as we should be entitled to something as dp only brings home £250 a week {i no its more than a lot of people get}.

I done this filled out all the forms to get a letter today telling me that im not entitled to employment support allowance as ive not paid enough contributions in last 3 years. whilst i was being a sahm and working part time so not earining enough to pay NI. And my dp earns to much according to what the goverment think a family of four need to live on.

I was really upset by this as we have always worked and the one time we ask for help we get told no so we have to struggle on paying rent and everything else. when there are people that have never worked get everythinbg handed to them.

AIBU to think the goverment policys are all wrong?

sorry its a long post but need to get it off my chest.

OP posts:

Original poster

tjacksonpfc · 06/02/2010 21:13

lol southseastastra you would make a fortune if you cold wouldnt you.

rainbow the reason i havent paid in the last 6 years is ive been bringing up my dc and working part time around them. not exactly sitting down doing nothing.

I would love to no why the esa is so hard to get when part of the idea of it is to get people back into the work place seems strange to me.

OP posts:

ToccataAndFudge · 06/02/2010 21:13

Southeastra - I reckon you ought to be able to.

Even when you've been "in the system" for a few years it's still an absolute nightmare.........not least because they keep changing things.

rainbowinthesky · 06/02/2010 21:20

I have also been bringing up my children as well as working for the last 6 years. However I guess that's not relevant. If I couldnt work (although I'd get generous sick pay and possibly very early retirement if it were medical reasons) I would be in the same position as you are despite having contributed a lot with no gaps.
I guess it's very difficult to make it fair and look fair.

Trickle · 06/02/2010 21:22

ESA is hard to get becasue everyone complained for years about how easy it was to 'go on the sick'. Now people have what they wanted - the toughest sickness benefit test in Europe (I kid you not) they complain when they are ill and can't get it - stories of people on 24 hour oxygen therapy or dialysis or chemotherapy not qualifying nevermind someone with a poxy chronic pain condition.

Go to a CLAC or CLAN and get some support in appealing the decision.

Oh and it's not help to get you back into work it's box ticking and 6 appointments talking to someone who can do bugger all for you unless you have no work experience and can't read or write.

chegirlsgotheartburn · 06/02/2010 21:33

Expat dont get annoyed. Your post could have been misleading if someone wasnt very au fait with DLA.

Thats all. Just a little clarification. No drama.

Original poster

tjacksonpfc · 06/02/2010 21:34

thanks for all the replys, ill sit down and go through all the advice ive had when dcs are at school monday and its quite here.

im off to have a nice radox bath and take my tablets and zombiefy myself for rest of night lol

OP posts:

cjn27b · 06/02/2010 21:38

Disability Living Allowance can be tricky to get but there are tricks to filling out the form. There are various guides available to help you do this, try googling it. Once you have DLA it acts as a gateway to a whole lot of other benefits.

expatinscotland · 06/02/2010 21:39

'No drama. '

None meant. Don't get where it could be misleading when I said, 'Anyone can apply'.

But whateva.

expatinscotland · 06/02/2010 21:40

At the beginning, DLA is for a finite length of time.

DD1 has it for 3 years just now - up in 2011.

chegirlsgotheartburn · 06/02/2010 21:45

skool innit

expatinscotland · 06/02/2010 22:00

I.hate.that.fucking.DLA.form.

chegirlsgotheartburn · 06/02/2010 22:09

Me too.

I wouldnt even look at DD's. Luckily someone from the hospital social work team was able to do it for us. Couldnt face the whole prognosis thing.

OH got very depressed after filling his in. He is bloody amazing (meant in a non patronizing way of course ) about his disability but writing it all down really got to him.

Ironically I when I filled in Ds's I was expecting nothing. I was advised to do it because his skin condition does cost a lot to manage (all the washing and new clothes etc) so I concentrated on that and put in about his LDs because they asked.

They awarded lower rate for care and mobility for 5 years! Couldnt belive it. They only awarded my DD for 18 mths even though the treatment for her cancer was scheduled to last at least two years.

And poor OH got turned down twice and has MS!

Go figure.

expatinscotland · 06/02/2010 22:24

MIL got turned down for rheumatoid arthritis.

She was successful on appeal, though.

I dread doing DD1's again. Her learning difficulties become more and more apparent.

chegirlsgotheartburn · 06/02/2010 22:53

My sister has had RA since her early 20s. She was getting high mobility for it for many years. Her condition is progressive and incurable.

They pulled her DLA last year and she lost her car .

So apparently she is all better now .

Can you get someone to help you with DD's?

Its just so horrible doing it on your own.

I am really glad DS's got awarded for five years because by the time he is ready for renewal we will have a much better idea of how serious his LDs are, he may have grown out of his severe eczema by then.

He hasnt got SLD. But unfortunately they are beginning to look more moderate than mild. Thinking about special school atm. Didnt think I would but it looks like it might be for the best.

gaelicsheep · 06/02/2010 23:03

I think if you're in a position where you've never been in "the system" so to speak it can be very very difficult. You don't know what you're entitled to and you don't know who to ask. It is very hard to find out (although a bit easier now in the days of things being online).

I sympathise with the OP. DH worked for 20 years. Gave it up to go back to uni and retrain, so missed a year's NI contributions. Nobody would tell him how to go on making contributions to avoid a gap. Things went a bit belly up, he dropped out and started working again. Did his back in, got signed off work for ages. He wasn't entitled to a bean since he was living with me and I had my student loan money coming in, which as you can imagine was a substantial amount . After working for 20 years. Once you have fallen out of the system in that way it is almost impossible to get back into it again.

gaelicsheep · 06/02/2010 23:05

Sorry, I missed the bit where he couldn't get back into work for ages after he was fit again. It was the JSA he wasn't entitled to that really annoyed us. Just to clarify.

Original poster

tjacksonpfc · 08/02/2010 07:49

sorry i didnt get back on here yesterday. we went out on teh woods with the dog and kids all day. im going to make an appointment at CAB for later this week and see what they ahve to say.

OP posts:

ssd · 08/02/2010 08:02

I agree with you op, YANBU

I've found people who seem to get everything going benefit wise and wouldn't dream of working are usually cheating the system. I've known 2 couples who have done this and both of them are better off than me and dh and they both don't work.

But I guess if you aren't cheating the system and are just getting what you're entitled to you won't get much. Its crap.

junglist1 · 08/02/2010 08:45

Maybe if they stopped child benefit for the rich there wouldn't be a problem. The £150 you've got to live on a week is more than someone on benefits gets. But you resent the fact the scum aren't starving to death, don't you?

thesecondcoming · 08/02/2010 09:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

gingerkirsty · 08/02/2010 09:17

tjacksonpfc I THINK that if you are a SAHM you are entitled to 'credits' for NI during that period - see [http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Caringforsomeone/ DG_10018691 here]]. I know this relates to state pension entitlement but not sure if it also applies to subsequent benefit claims.

You can contact the NI contributions office here

Hope this helps.

gingerkirsty · 08/02/2010 09:17

Sorry should have previewed that - missed a bracket off! First link DG_10018691 here

Ivykaty44 · 08/02/2010 09:23

so who is paying for your operation? or are you using the NHS, because if you are using the NHS you are infact "getting something"

As for your compent you only get tax credits - it is a benifit so you are getting something

what exactly do you want to get?

You are entitled to claim for child benifit, tax credits, child tax creidts.

If you don't qualify for them it is due to your income level being to high.

junglist1 · 08/02/2010 09:28

I just hate the idea that benefits claimants live a life of riley. They don't. A lot of them will never know what security means, especially in private rented housing. It's OK people saying they get all their HB paid but what kind of life is it to have to move every 6 months with your children and be at someone elses mercy all the time. If they were to go to work, they'd have to give their house up because working in Tesco isn't going to pay a private rent. Or you can get on the council housing list and rot in a one room hostel for 5 years. Yes I'm talking about things no one has said on here but there is a lot of misinformation and prejudice surrounding benefits claimants that I'm sick of. And I'm not on them but used to be for many years.

junglist1 · 08/02/2010 09:30

I'm pasting that statement onto every benefits thread now to save myself the effort of having a different tantrum every time

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