Not impressed!

I agree with all, they are not on your side, my friend was turned down, she was "not too depressed" as she had managed to decorate her walking stick with smiley stickers and stars!! So  don't even offer a cup of tea, or spill it if you do lol! Good luck! love pat xx

Re: PIP applications

So why does the process vary so much for us? I have never had 2 b assessed by anyone! 

The 1st time this benefit was mentioned 2 me it was by the Macmillan nurse who was assigned 2 me back in 2015 when I was diagnosed. I was signed off work due 2 my chemo treatment. She said the DS1500 certificate from my GP would fast track everything & the only thing I had 2 contribute was my bank account details.

4ward 3 years & my PIP was due 2 expire, mentioned this 2 my BCN who was attached 2 my local hospital. She took over this & my award was again continued.

Am I just the "lucky" one? Are the staff super efficient? Does it vary by local authority? Is it a lottery 4 help?

No one needs the hassle attached 2 getting some extra help. I was brought up 2 offer a visitor 2 the house "a cuppa" - doesn't mean I'm always fit 2 without spilling it as I try 2 serve it. A "smile"? Crikey moses, we haven't got much else 2 make us feel good. "Stickers"? I have smiley face stickers on my little day pouch of drugs that I carry in my handbag cos it's ironic that they will take me 2 a happy place.

Guess who's not sleeping 2nite...

WB xx

I completely misunderstood the process and did my best to present the most positive version of events the first time I was assessed. I think I was also trying to preserve some privacy and dignity because as Lass says, there's precious little of either around these issues.

The second time I was at the Cancer Care Centre and made a throw away comment about the days when I can't get off the couch, and the person I was seeing for advice leapt on that and completed the application for me. I think a terminal diagnosis cuts a few corners too.

Happy to come and open doors and put the kettle on and put in a bad word for you. Be there in a heartbeat.  

xx

anndanv

0 other doctors, just locums. My doctor was the named partner, so now he's gone, there are 0 permanent doctors, just 1 permanent part time nurse.

I don't drink tea or coffee, so I never ask anyone if they want a drink. People that come to my house know this, so if they want a drink they either help themselves or ask me.

It's the DS1500 form that makes the difference. If you have one of those then you are given a pass on the whole assessment side of things, and moved directly to the acceptance stage.

On the 'plus' side, my pain has increased quite a lot at the moment, so for the past week or so I've been having a really tough time of it and am back on the oramorph to cope. So that'll help me look like crap when the assessor comes..... :l

Lass

xx

Oh Lass still thinking of u. I'm still resembling Popeye with my swollen arm & hand still looks like a gorilla (apart from 1st thing in the morning- I sleep with it elevated on a pillow). I have 2 have a top up of pain relief sometimes in the evening despite following all the guidance of wot 2 do with it. Currently its the most annoying thing about my C.

Being aware of the DS1500 is quite horrible as I know the conditions attached 2 it - I also deal with it in my line of work.

Have managed a couple of hours y'day & 2day at work so I feel quite pleased with myself. Will have 2morrow & Fri off & c how I feel in Thurs. 

I'm also not a coffee or tea drinker in any shape or form. Wot did u drink? I'm a hot water or squash drinker (& a cheeky Malibu now & again!!!!)

Ciao 

WB xx

Hey WB, 

Fizzy water is my usual drink through the day, more often than not with ice. As for alcohol, give me a fizzy wine or a g&t if it's an evening. Pint of Lager if it's a pub lunch. Lol

Want to hear something really stupid though?

I got an email last night from my energy company, Green Network Energy, telling me that the DWP had told them I wasn't on any benefits. This then meant that I'm not entitled to the warm home discount. But if I thought I was on benefits, send them proof and they'll look into it.

Called the DWP, spent 50 mins in a queue, gave them my details, they found what I'm on right away, and are putting a letter in the post to me today.

Called Green Network Energy to see what was going on, and apparently they had 700 people turned down by the DWP, because supposedly the DWP had no proof we're on benefits..... I pointed out that it's the DWP who pay the benefits, so obviously they'd have us on the system, but the call operator was having none of it.

So gave up and asked for a timeline, and after 2 days the email will be sent to back office to then be sent on. And this is where I got a little speechless at the stupidity of it all.....

It's being sent on, to the DWP, as proof that I'm on those benefits!!!!

So I've called the DWP for a letter as proof of benefits, to email it to my energy company, who will email it BACK to the DWP to prove that I'm on benefits, so they can then get the OK from the DWP to pay the warm home discount......

I mean.... It's not just me is it? 

Lass

Xx

You couldn't make it up.

Lol

FFS!!!

xx

Hi Lass

The DWP is a law unto itself, to the detriment of hundreds of thousands of people so it doesnt suprise me that they have managed to inform Green Energy that you and others are not on benefits. But to find the energy supplier is as mad is a suprise. Jobsworths come to mind. You seem to be able to laugh at it, but such shennanigans have serious consequences for people and they need calling out on it time and time again. I am sure you found it frustrating and infuriating, who has got time for this crap?

My new Tory MP is going to find I am his constant penpal everytime I find myself in these circles of hell of inane bureaucracy. But I enjoy writing a good acerbic letter, not everyone does.

Hope the saga ends as it should with re-instatement immediately.

Yeh, I pointed out to him that if you're on ESA then it means you're not working due to ill health. Add on to that that someone is on PIP as well, you can take a stab in the dark that it's not just a cold. So making the unwell customer fix the mistake they or the DWP made, is ridiculous. Especially when it turns out to be a circle jerk. 

I also told him off, a couple of times, for speaking over the top of me. If he'd done it again, I was going to sing one long note until he stopped speaking. Because almost every time he spoke over the top of me, it was to say something stupid that had he listened to me or let me finish a sentence, he'd have found was entirely wrong. Cause at one point he was trying to tell me that it'll be because I'm newly on benefits, so their system won't have updated. Then it was that my benefits or my energy was in my husbands name...... I did get angry at that point. It was all just so very very very stupid. 

Oh yes, and it's not reinstatement. The warm home discount is a one off payment of £140 that goes onto your energy account if you're on certain benefits. So I applied back in September, as you need to apply every year, and this is them processing it and mucking it up. But anyone who is on PIP, or ESA, or there are other things, get applying ASAP if your supplier is part of the scheme. 

Lass

Xx