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Don't know where or how to claim for anything!
Hi everyone. I have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. I read that I am now classed as 'Disabled' although at the moment I feel fine. It's strange to go from 'Able' one day to 'Disabled' the next day! I can't get my head round it!
I am currently signed off sick from work, my sick pay will run out soon and therefore could somebody please advise me of what my benefit entitlements will be? I will still have household bills to pay, council tax, central heating, water, electric etc. Very worried I will be cut off and repossessed eventually 
(
Can we get any assistance with running a car, extra fuel and car parking charges for appointments etc.
I have worked and paid taxes for 30 years and feel I should claim for whatever I can and will need in the future.
I live alone but had a friend/carer temporary move in with me and my costs will inevitably go up. He is already on Disability Living Allowance for a bad back so can only give me limited support.
What a caffuffel this all is - I don't know where to begin!
Thanks for any advice.
Daysie x
sorry i dont know a lot about benefits, but i do know you are only classed as disabled if you have secondary breast cancer (spread to another part of the body), not primary breast cancer. however, you can claim on critical illness policies with invasive primary breast cancer. also your hosp should give you a car park pass for rads appts and a grant for petrol from macmillan.
hi daysie / lolly
i work for DWP, but generally deal with jsa claims, so have a bit about benefits if your company sick pay has run out you could be eligible for SSP, which your employer should advise you on. on top of SSP you could make a claim for income support as a top up to SSP(as you are living alone you may be eligible for this)
you can also claim council tax benefit, contact your local authority and they'll be able to send you a claim form out, if you were in rented accomodation you could get help with rent.
income support and council tax benefit are means tested therefore you'll have to provide details of any savings etc
the only other thing i can think of is cold weather payment, the temp needs to drop below a certain temp for a number of days and you would get that if you received other certain benefits, this is paid automaticlly. hope thats of some help, go onto the directgov website, and it should all be on there.
right off with my work hat, i'm supoosed to be off sick too!
i didn't know about the petrol grant though so that could be useful for me
Daysie - you are not "disabled" unless you are registered as an RDP, HOWEVER you ARE protected for life by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which has been re-named the Equality Act. So you can consider yourself covered by disability legislation.
This gives you a number of types of protection, some are in the employment arena; for example I was once relieved of a job due to being off long-term sick (I was in breach of contract by being off ill with sick notes) but now that can't happen to someone with cancer.
Further info on the DDA/EA can be found on the directgov website, which is clearly written and easy to understand.
That doesn't help with benefits, however, they are a different turkey entirely. I'm now on SSP myself, my employer stopped paying me some time back. It's a major worry.
Make sure that you've got your prescription exemption card - get it via a form from the GP - I only found out about it on here - free scripts for 5 years.
Good luck.
For me, in a nut shell. Nothing! Not a penny. SSP ran out, treatment continues. Mortgage interest only, blah blah...
If I had a £ for every person that tells me i'm disabled I wouldn't have money problems, but right now I have OH working and supporting us.
Oh aye, Elttiks.
SiL insisted that everyone with cancer is entitled to a brand-new mobility car with car tax paid for 3 years. Cos someone told him so.
It's not true.
Wish it was!
You've got it Ninja.
I don't get help because i've not paid ni because I was at home, with my youngest who's now 13. I wanted to be a good mum and not juggle a young life about with baby sitters etc, but now she goes without at an influencial age.
It's very worrying I know Daysie
Why don't you give the BCC Helpline a ring on Monday and speak to someone. I think they have a leaflet about financial help too.
http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/breast-cancer-information
Also MacMillan give financial/benefit help and advice:
http://www.macmillan.org.uk/HowWeCanHelp/FinancialSupport/FinancialSupport.aspx
Ask your BCN dmp a referral to the Macmillan finance people. They know all the possibilities and are very good. They'll make am appt and advise you one to one. Good luck. Jane
Hi
My ssp runs out this weekend and as from monday I will be getting ESA
which is £67 a week a macmillan advisor gave me the number to call but I also think its on the direct.gov.website took about half a hour to make the claim on the phone.
Rhona.
Ninja "relieved of a job" LOL sometimes it's a relief to be out!
Elttiks, Did you not get Home Responsibilities Protection in lieu of NI payments for those years while you were being a fulltime mum, if so it's worth getting that checked as it was intended to prevent this situation and also to ensure that women could still get a full state pension - whatever that is, and if you live long enough, that's even if any of us will live long enough at the rate it's going....
Course I didn't. Cancer would never happen to me! I was also the person with no payment protection plan either. I can't bolt the door after the horse has bolted, just hope that hugs and positive thinking will see us through.
Hello Girls,
Can I please direst you to the ESA thread? It was brought to bear by women going through this insane system.
I am at odds with this website as they seem to be aware of the abuses being dealt upon cancer survivors (by the DPW/ATOS - the French IT outsouring company, who this - and the previous government -awarded £100m to ask if you can wash your torso, and if you can watch tele)
And if you shop in your wee Tesco Express, which might be your 'local' shop - you might be judged to be able to walk 800 metres, the length of 2 football pitches, without dicomfort. Because that is in The habdbook, the bible of the nurses, physiotherapists or doctors (12 of whom are currently under investigation by the GMC)
We cannot get the level of complaints against nurses or physios are the are not under the onus of GMC.
For any of you concerned, please log onto "worried about esa"
There are forces fighting back. not with a big fluffy pink featherduster.
BCC will not respond to any on line debate.
Annie - with lots of love and hopefully, USEFUL support.
Not if you spend most of the day in pain, or being sick
Google disability living allowance. If you have secondaries that affect your mobility etc you can claim this. Your Oncologist should be able to complete this for you or your GP. Also try claiming your pensions early on grounds of ill health early retirement. Don't do what I did and resign from your job because of the pressure on you to come back to work before you are ready. If your work want to get rid of you they will have to early retire you or give you redundancy. It's taken me a while but I now get my pensions early (I am 46) and DLA which all helps. Good luck with this. I think there could be a lot more help for bc patients with financial problems like this as no one at maggies centre or McMillan ever told me anything. I could have been getting help for the last 3 years instead of the last 6 months. Don't forget you can also get free prescriptions with an NHS exemption card, you might be able to get a blue badge for parking and I have just been told recently you can also get a disabled bus pass. Good luck I hope you get something sorted out..
What is ESA?
"Elttiks, Did you not get Home Responsibilities Protection in lieu of NI payments".
Sorry, I've been lurking for several months, bit shy about posting. But have found this site invaluable. Just wanted to add something to your comment Elttiks. I work for HM Revenue & customs (for my sins) and I am as sure as I can be (more than willing to be corrected) that any woman claiming Child Benefit automatically gets Home Responsibility Protection in lieu of NI payments. Can remember this as clear as day when I started claiming CB for my DD 10 years ago. Hope this helps.
X Bobtail
My local MacMillan was absolutely useless over the whole benefits thing.
Point blank refused to help me when I was on Herceptin because they said it 'wasn't chemotherapy', even though I was very ill all the time I was getting it.
In all fairness I get pissed off with the lack of help i've had. I have tried to claim. I don't like having no money, it's not me sitting on my arse here, believe me.
My SSP has been taken into account as an income this year. That's £81 x 27 weeks I think, you'll have to work that out.
I have written documentation that says I don't have benifits owed to me. My husband works and that gives us an income which i'm told is enough.
Inland rev say, no money Mrs P. Job centre say, no money Mrs P. My employer says, no money Mrs P, can you get the idea now? I think sinse Feb i've looked into it as far as the eye can see.
Anyone who has paid NI contributions for the previous 2 tax years is eligible for ESA regardless of whether partner works or not. If you haven; paid NI contributions or have only paid Self Employed contributions you can apply for Inconme Based ESA but that does take into account partners wages and or any savings you may have over £16k. Contribution based ESA lasts for 12 months ( Ithink) 6 months longer than contribution based Jobseekers allowance. HOWEVER the rules are changing in the not to distant future so may not be paid for as long. If you do have a partner who work it may be worth trying for working tax credit if now only one wage coming in but agasin you only get it if income is under a certain amount. You can also apply for help with rent and council tax. They have to be claimed through local one stop shop as they are a council based benefit but again it depends on income into the house. To get ESA you need a sick note from doctor. If you are undergoing chemo you would be put into the support group and would not have to go through a work assessment whilst undergoing treatment. If you are claiming WTC you can also apply for the disabled extra payment whilst undergoing treatment.
Everyone has the right to apply for ESA but obviously that doesnt mean you will get it!!!!!!
Hope this helps
Thank you Tollibelle. Far more nicely said than I could have put myself.
I didn't get a penny in Invalidity Benefit as I'd taken a short time out of work to care for my late father. This involved moving 450 miles from London where I'd lived for nearly 20 years. I didn't get a Disabled Carers Allowance until about 6 weeks before dad went into care as the local Jobcentre kept telling me I had to try and claim JSA which I knew I wouldn't get as I'd given my job up in London of my own accord). It was eventually sorted out by somebody who had been at the Jobcentre for 30 years, she knew more than the rest of the staff put together. Unfortunately this left me with a 3 month gap in NI which the then DWP wrongly told me I could pay to get Incapacity. Prior to this I had worked since 1977, no breaks for maternity leave or anything. Both of us were higher rate tax payers when we lived in London.
The DWP then didn't bother to tell us my OH could get Working Tax Credit as we had a start up business, we found this out by chance through Macmillan when I was enquiring about something else. To cut a long story short we missed out on 8 months money at £96 a week. It just makes me really angry when I see people in my area who have never done a days work, yet they are being kept very nicely by the state. The entire system disgusts me and I will vote for anyone who gets tough and reforms it so the deserving get fair treatment and the lazy get cut adrift to fend for themselves.
It's horrible isn't it cherub?
If I pop to the post office, past the pub I see all the single ladies with the children in pushchairs soaking up the sun. Lager and lime on board unsupervising their fat little nappies waddling about, and sleep soundly that night knowing my husband is paying for that. Happy days eh?
Happy days indeed. I see them in my High Street all the time, hanging around smoking outside Greggs with their toddlers in tow. Sadly they are not much more than kids themselves.
Disability Living Allowance is available for anyone who 'has been ill for at least 3 months' AND 'Is expected to continue to be ill for at least 6 more months'.
I'm thinking that should apply to ALL of us, as Herceptin can be at least a year on after the Chemo.
Have been told I will only be entitled to the lowest amount, but at least that's £20 in my back pocket :
Time to get MY claim sorted.
Good Luck and <<>>
June
"Disability Living Allowance is available for anyone who 'has been ill for at least 3 months' AND 'Is expected to continue to be ill for at least 6 more months'."
It's not quite that simple. I have two serious and incurable disabling conditions (not including the BC) and I have been turned down for this in the past. One reason was because I could carefully get up and down stairs by myself, even though I have fallen down stairs at times due to my dodgy balance brought on by one of the conditions.
It's not for "illness" alone, that's what Statutory Sick Pay is for.
Having said that, I'm busy applying again!
I got turned down for DLA because the DWP contacted a GP at my practice who said in his opinion I wasn't sick enough. When my OH asked the surgery about this he was told to get DLA you had to have lost the use of all of your limbs. He was absolutely furious with the surgery and gave them the whole spiel about how we've paid our taxes etc. I was advised to apply for DLA by the local Jobcentre as I couldn't get Incapacity. Believe it or not, the woman I dealt with at the Jobcentre was in her 30s, about 20 odd stone and she was packing her job in to go on benefits as her knees were giving out under her. She sat at her desk eating chocolates all the way through talking to me.
It just made me want to give up.
Hi all you do know you can get a grant from macmillans, I got one to help with taxing car and travelling back and forth to hospital
Jo xx
Breast care nurses can usually help you apply for the grant. We couldn't get it as back in 2007 you had to have under 8.5k in savings in the bank and we had more than this. We used the savings up when I couldn't get any benefits.
Hi everyone
Isn't it crazy how everyone's claims are treated differently. I recently took ill health retirement after nursing for 33 yrs due to bone, lung and now liver secondaries. Although i am grateful for my pension it is half the amount i was earning as a salary. I went to the Maggies centre and spoke to the benefits advisor and the nippy cow told me just because i had secondaries didnt mean i was entitled to benefits, so i left with my tail between my legs. However i sent of for a form for DLA and filled it in but was knocked back because i could walk the length of a football pitch. The breast nurse put me in touch with the MacMillan advisor, a lovely girl who came to my house and filled in the forms for me and my claim was successful so obviously its the way your application is worded that counts. I also now get contribution based ESA as i am about to start more chemo, just finished a course in June so am going to give this stuff a bash but if it makes me feel as crap as the last lot i dont think i will complete the course.
So good luck to everyone who is waiting on decisions for their claims, i hope you are all successful. Funnily enough i still feel a bit guilty about receiving benefits as my husband and i have always worked so it is alien to us but we would be finding it very tight financially if i didnt get these benefits.
Love Trish
Trish, the Maggies advisor sounds a bit like the conversation I had with a DWP call centre guy in Edinburgh when I was trying to chase up my IB claim 5 years ago. He actually said to me "breast cancer is no excuse for trying to access the benefits system". Believe me had he been on the other side of a desk from me I probably would have slapped him. The claim I made which was rejected was sent to 5 different offices around the north of England and Scotland, including my 2 local offices because nobody wanted to make a decision on my claim. About 4 months later I traced it to Glasgow. The office there told me I had been turned down for benefits 2 weeks earlier, but they had forgotten to send a letter out! No wonder people end up really stressed out with it all.
hi ladies,
I'm a regular visitor to the website mainly for information but today I need a rant! I' was diagnosed last July with
bc and have recently had my last chemo wahey!! now waiting for info regarding rads and tamoxifen, I can't say it's been easy but I'm getting there thanks to friends, family and a sense of humour, my rant is this- I'm 42, I'm a single parent and I have worked full time since I was 16, obviously I've taken lots of time off over the past few months but I've worked the odd day when I felt ok, in January I applied for all the relevant benefits( having never done this before I was clueless! ) I received a letter yesterday to inform me I'm not entitled to anything, oh sorry I get £6.24 towards council tax! my question is this- I personally know people of my age, able bodied, who choose not to work as they get by quite happily on tax credits, housing benefit bla bla bla, why then should I now be put in a position whereby I have no choice but to return to work early because I cannot afford to live on my ssp, ps the law states we are able to live on £67.50 a week! am I the only person who thinks this is wrong!!! pss I don't have a plasma screen tv, fancy car etc!!!!
any advice welcome x