Hello to all , I am new to the group . I am now on my 3rd battle with cancer , with a mighty fight with Covid thrown in for good measure, since 2015 and am currently undergoing Immunotherapy treatment at the Christie in Manchester .
On my last visit I was on a ward with 3 gentlemen who were discussing how they were all claiming benefits . I explained to them that although I have had quite a lot of time off work these last years the thought that I could claim benefits never even entered my head . They told me that I should be claiming but to be honest it’s a very unknown thing to me . The last time I claimed anything was when I left school and was waiting to start my apprenticeship so I was getting £9 a week . I thought I was a millionaire!! Mind you it was 1977.
Any advice would be most welcome as this current illness has affected me more than previously. Especially mobility wise .
Thanks in advance .
Hi Pitman1961
Sorry to read all your problems, of course there are several Benefits that can be claimed however they all have conditions attached with all Income based ones, depending on where you are time wise etc with your Cancer and also your Age, you may be entitled to Personal Independence Allowance which is a Disability benefit which would also include Mobility Benefits if suited
You can call the helpline number below for MacMillan Support or you can carryout your own Benefit calculation on the Turn2Us website :
https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/
There is also the Government one on Gov.UK
Please try either or as so many like yourself think they won’t get anything, if you are working age then you would most likely get at least Universal Credit as a top up
Hope all goes well
Take Care
We will move mountains to help people with cancer live life as fully as they can.
We'll do whatever it takes. For information, support or just someone to talk to,
call 0808 808 00 00 or visit www.macmillan.org.uk
Onwards and Upwards
Laryngectomy and OC survivor
Lead Volunteer for Hampshire MacMillan Buddy Service
Hi Pitman1961 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
I don't have any personal experience with claiming benefits but Macmillan has this useful information entitled how to claim benefits which might be useful for you.
You could also give the Macmillan Support Line a call on 0808 808 0000 and speak to one of their welfare rights advisers.
If you'd like to talk to other members of the community who have the same type of cancer as you about how they set about claiming benefits then take a look through this list to choose the appropriate forum. Alternatively, if you let me know what type of cancer you have I can give you a direct link.
Once you've joined a forum, you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
It would be great if you could put something about your diagnosis and treatment to date into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
