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Your Experience

13th September 2011

I was diagnosed with cancer at the end of June 2011. Operation, appointments at the hospital, lots of missed days at work and chemotherapy followed. In the mid of August I moved from full time employment to part time. I am loosing my hair so badly that I had to shave my head. Since I am a woman and work with general public I get questions like "Is that some kind of statement?" and "What did you that for?". Chemo has side effects on my heart and lungs so for about a week after treatment I have difficulties to breath and strong pain all over my chest. My veins and joints are so sore that sometimes I cannot move my arm. Last time after treatment I could not eat for 3 days. I felt so weak that I could barely walk. I am still going to work next day after the treatments.

On 18th of August I phoned Jobcentre Plus and was advised I can claim ESA. I gave them my details and couple of days later received a list of documents they need to process my claim. I returned what was required on 26th of August and have not heard from them since then. On 13th of September I phoned them again to inquiry about my claim and was told that because I'm still working 17 hours per week I am not entitled to any support and will have to live on my 130 pounds wage per week. They said they will send me some more forms to fill in and then they will look at my claim again. This is going to take another 3 weeks. Soon it will be second time I have to pay rent and bills since I claimed ESA. Couldn't they send those forms together with the list of documents they needed? Didn't they know I am not entitled to ESA when I told them I am still trying to work on 18th of August? Why was I asked to provide a letter from employer if it only confirms there is no help available to me?! I have been paying my NI contributions for almost 6 years. Now I am asking for help for 5 months while I am having my treatment. I was working full time for the first month of chemo but after that I couldn't carry on. I thought it's a good idea to try to stay at least in part time employment and one that should be encouraged by government.

I have no one to support me financially, university could not help me with course fees I am paying, it costs me 32 pounds per week to get to work and my landlord is not going to wait for the rent. It's also possible that I will never be able to come back to full time work if my cancer turns out to be not curable. And there's no help for people in this kind of situation.

18th August 2011

I have been off work for 2 years this September. I went on sick from work at the NHS in September 2009.

It took the NHS 7 months to diagnose my condition of a hip impingement. During this time my sick pay had stopped. I contacted my local benefits office and they told me I was unable to receive any employment and support allowance as my partner earned too much and I had not paid enough national insurance in the last three years.

Considering I am a working mum and during that 3 year period had been unemployed for 6 months trying to find a position to fit around my primary school children I was told sorry that's it. I have paid national insurance all my life and when I need the help its not there!

I managed to get Disability Living Allowance at the higher rate but that’s all I have been able to get. There is nothing else available. I am still off work and now have the hip impingement in my other hip as well. I am 38 years old and feel that I have been stung by my own country.

I have worked full time up until my children were born 9 years ago but continued to work part time. Now when I really need help there is nothing and I am turned away. I feel let down and have no support financially, we are struggling as we are living on one salary and are unable to buy our own home so our rent is very high and we can’t save.

I am not coming to terms with my disability very well and feel very isolated. I have been told I will have to wait until I am in my 60's to get a hip replacement so I have been written off by my own country.

So I am now unemployed as no one will employ me, and I need to find a position that I can do around my disability and that is difficult as people try not to discriminate but they do. When I have parked in the disability parking spots at Dawlish Train station people are tutting and pointing fingers at me in disgust as I am parking in the disabled spot even thought I have a blue badge and it is displayed. Most of the time I wave it in front of the window to prove I have a right to park there.

Just because I am not elderly does not mean I am not disabled. I would like my old life back and have choices but I can’t. I feel disabled people are unfairly treated by the benefits system - and it has become increasingly harder now to get work or benefits as they take into consideration your partners income and not just you as a person - YOU LOSE YOUR IDENTITY!!!

28th July 2011

Being visually impaired my problem is not immediately visible and I get treated awfully by government agencies, and just lately people in the street.

I used to have a Disabled Persons Railcard, my way of geting around; buying tickets. People behind me were muttering and saying, 'There's nothing wrong with him; another bludger". They were pointing and rude to me on the train. The recent press and government releases on BBC and the likes have painted disabled people in the wrong light.

The press seems to think everyone is on the make.

Work Capability Assessments are a bloody joke. You get passed fit or could do some work and get moved onto lower support you have to give up things like travel cards to help you get around and you stay in more feeling depressed. To add insult to injury when you go for an interview and they ask you about your eyesight or your disability you can see the interviewers glaze over and you get the feeling they dont want to know.

DWP told 2 years ago i cant use their job search points, still done nothing about this. I told them to send letters to e in large print the last letter they tried to give me was in small print, i refused it and received an enlarged copy a fortnight after.

27th July 2011

I am 56 and worked for over 38 years.  In October 2009, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  I carried on working untill March this year, when my doctor found me unfit for work. I was a ceiling fixer. My M.S. is progressive. I have regular bouts of fatigue and use a walking stick. There's more to it. I'm just being brief.

We look to our politicians to run the country for us. Over the past eight terms of government all that have recieved good wages and pensions have a very bad legacy.We are 3 trillion in debt. I suggest the wrong people have been doing the job.

The NHS and disabled people should be exempt as targets to claw back our national debt.There are many other soft targets like people's pensions and retirement age that should be out of their sights.Turn them on to tax haven bank accounts and the huge oil and energy company profits. A BIG PROFIT MEANS YOU'RE CHARGING TOO MUCH.The disabled are unfortunate and need money to live on. That's what benefits are for; to relieve the stress and make life OK.