Medical assessment farce !

I’m wondering if any of you have found yourself being mentally messed around with even before a medical assessment / interview exists? I am chronically ill , I’ve been bed bound with many illnesses for 6 years now ( medically retired for 10 ) . My pain specialist along with others has written that I can never work again…my health is deteriorating fast, and I’ve just been told I have FND on top of every thing. I was put support group over the years… and I assumed that was it. I filled in a DWP esa form September 2017, and my whole Christmas was marred by stress of wondering whether I had an interview coming. …Eventually I find out I didn’t need to attend an exam. . But in November 2018 ( before Christmas just gone ) I was told to fill in another application form , with only 2 weeks notice. Sadly my dog was dying from aggressive cancer, and despite the overwhelming stress of everything I still had to get that dreaded form completed…again …

My husband sent it off next day delivery and signed for, so it arrives 2 days earlier than deadline. A week later , we start getting hoards of letters saying that our form never arrived at all, and my benefits were being stopped. I even received my p45… and was told and given pamplets lets how and where I could get help to get back to work . For a good few days or so , I was left in tears , angry, upset and confused. Even though we knew it was signed for, they still claimed it never arrived. By now we were both pulling our hair out…especially when we could not get through to anyone ( phoning the DWP dept ) , as we kept being cut off, left with a computer animated voice that didnt understand us, and told to wait in a queue…this wasn’t helped by the fact my husband had to work…( .I cant use phones ). Anyway, after being passed from one department to another, a few days later they found my form, and they apologised. The receptionist told us we were the third person that happened to within a week. It took a while before the awful ’ you have failed to prove you are too ill to work " letters stopped arriving at our door. It was amazing how much stuff they sent us. During this time, our dog is put to sleep after she deteriorated so much with in days. Poor thing. But the last thing we needed was insulting and stressful mail. We were in turmoil even after they put the problem right.

A week later, we receive a letter saying they are satisfied with our explaination and reason for OUR delay / why WE hadnt handed it in on time ( the cheek of it ! ) and that they had accessed the form. They had reviewed my condition and I had passed theis initial stage , so I could now start recieving benefits again. No written explanation or apology for the mess up they made. Never mind, at least the panic was over. I was informed to ignore all previous letters they sent me. By this time I was exhausted and severely depressed. It didn’t stop there…just 2 days before Christmas, ( oh , how nice and thoughtful) I was sent a letter from DWP saying they wanted to assess me in person in 3 weeks time. So as you can imagine , I completely lost it for a day or 2 , wanting my life to end. …but I eventually resigned to it all…I was fed up and tired of all this…but what could I do?

Today, I received another letter from them saying they made an error and that I was no longer no longer required to attend the interview. My interview was cancelled. No explanation , nothing… I’m not even happy it’s over, and that my benefits will continue. .I should be …but I’m not. … I’m just disgusted with the farce of it all. It made me very ill over Christmas… to be honest I decided not to celebrate as I was so ill and depressed. So now , I’m left wondering what they mean…does it mean my interview will be sprung on me at a later date or what,? Why put me through all that , when my health is clearly deteriorating fast and I have incurable illnesses… ? What the helll happened?

Has any one else been through this? I know the interviews are awful, I’ve had a good few and even fought them in court twice, so I know how bad things can get… ( much much worst) …but to not even need a interview and they still managed to mess me around and make me ill…was just unbelievable… I’m sorry I wrote so much, but I wanted you to hear the whole story … ridiculous or what ? I wouldn’t wish it on anyone…

oh almondOwl

what a ridiculous farce it all is.

the government claims they will recoup money from fraudulent claimants but how much do they waste when the DWP go though such a long winded procedure?

i tend to use profanities muttered under my breath in my house to help me through.

i really hope that you can put it all behind you now.

write to your mp about it.

if it is a conservative mp, then s/he ought to know what a faffing palaver it all is.

if it is a labour mp. then let him/her know.

keep well (to spite them!) and have many good days.

carole x

Thanks Carol.

Good advice. I will contact my local MP. If it helps others in some way, then that will will be good.

Husband just phoned them, and they explained they found new evidence for why I can’t work. That’s why they changed their minds. Just wish they investigated my medical notes before calling me up. Still baffled , but hey it’s over now. However I’m still expecting another Christmas of mayhem filling in forms again this year…

Seems like they don’t do their homework, and certainly don’t act professional or do their job properly. We all know they are not considerate or wanting to help people…but hopefully in time things will change …for the better for us all.