Hi everyone,
I haven't posted since my husbands journey with prostate cancer began April last year.What a year it's been, highs, lows and everything in between! Now we have started another phase where our family business has disintegrated, our savings have all but gone and we find ourselves, for the first time in our lives,applying for state benefits.That in itself has caused friction because it should have been done long before now but my husband refused to 'give in.' We battled on until May, when we just had to bite the bullet. Anyway, my question, for which any input would be welcome. To cut a long story short we applied for Universal Credit, as novices we knew and still know only what we have read. We approached our first meeting at our local office with dread, it was nothing short of degrading, embarrassing and emotional, the advice was sketchy and in the end totally incorrect and set us up for a huge fall. We were told that paperwork being completed in the office 'should' bypass the need for an HC50 having to be completed and we should ignore future messages on our 'journal' that called for it. On 10th June that is what my husband did, he read the entry that said he should expect a HC50 in the post, to complete and return. However, every day we checked the journal for our 'things to do,' which we promptly did, until there was nothing more to do.
This week we found ourselves out of our depth because, after being told our statement would be with us on 1st July, it did not materialise until the 11th and showed that we were entitled to £0 this month because the HC50 was not completed. I rang Universal Credit to be told that because the form was not completed my husband must be fit for work. I seriously wondered what had happened on the 2 occasions we visited the local office and were told that due to my husbands diagnosis, stage 4 (advanced) the information we gave would bypass the need for the HC50, they had even cancelled his appointment with the back to work advisor (sorry no real idea what their title is). So, dear friends, my question, now we have the dreaded HC50,does my husband complete ALL sections, or as the form appears to suggest, or just personal details, the 3 questions about whether he has cancer, then move to section 24?
Any suggestions would be welcome because we seriously need to get this form completed urgently.
Kind Regards.
Hello Millie (MillieM)
If you contact our support line on 0808 808 00 00 between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday if they can’t put you in touch with a financial advisor they will arrange a call back.
Citizens Advice are also great for advice on benefits.
I do hope you get sorted.
Best wishes - Brian.
Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm
Strength, Courage, Faith, Hope, Defiance, VICTORY.
I am a Macmillan volunteer.
