Please help

[toodles]

Hi!

Hope someone can advise because I'm sick with worry. I have suffered with a severe anxiety disorder/mood swings/social phobia/ chronic fatigue syndrome for quite a few years. I am a single parent with one dependent child at home but luckily get support from my older children. I've been on income support for years after my divorce and around a year ago was advised I needed to have a covering of incapacity benefit so that i would no longer have to go to lone parent meetings and embarrass everyone with panic attacks and also because a law was coming in that anyone with a child of 12 or over would have to come of income support and go onto jobseekers allowance etc. I got my incapacity covering so that would not happen due to my condition.

Anyway, around 1 week ago I received a letter that said that my son had just reached the age of 14 [which he did 2 weeks ago] and so i was going to be no longer entitled to income support. I have trouble concentrating and remembering things etc so forgot about it. Yesterday I received a letter saying the following:

About Your Income Support

Following my letter of 5th October, I am writing to tell you that as you are no longer responsible for a child under the age of 14, you have ceased to be entitled to income support. You should claim jobseekers or Employment and support allowance instead.



I have no idea what to do. How can they give one weeks notice that they're stopping your money? They gave me an incapacity covering so I wouldn't have to have interviews etc and said my condition was one that mean't I didn't have to. This letter has come out of nowhere. Nobody has ever said that once my son reached 14 I had to apply for something else. I've gotten this notification a week before I get my income support and now will have no money this week as i guess i won't get paid.

Also it is complicated even further because on the 18th of september i was awarded higher care tier disability living allowance and lower care mobility and have had letters from income support saying i am entitled to backdated severe disability premium. I realise i will still get moneys backdated while i was on income support but why bother sending me forms for ongoing premiums if I'm not going to be on that benefit. I'm ok typing here, but i know i wont' apply for any new benefit and will simply go without because I cannot go through yet another interview/medical with yet another stranger. Is it possible for me to just live on child tax credit and child benefit?

Does anyone know what's happening and why i was given no notice of this?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[trombone_babe]

The Citizens Advice Bureau is good for things like that and may be able to help you make any new applications you need to. They have some information online but it's probably best you speak to someone personally. I understand that you may find that difficult with your problems but maybe one of your older children could go with you? If you're not sure where your local branch is, you can find them in the phone book or go online to http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index.htm

I hope that's of some help and that you get things sorted soon.

 

[toodles]

hi

It would be impossible for me to do that. I'm actually upset now at the thought. I've never heard of this and have never had any warning that it was going to happen. I rarely leave the house and am upset that all the letters i've been receiving recently from income support re disability premiums have not mentioned this. Also, surely being awarded DLA higher rate care is enough. There is no way I can attend interviews and have some unqualified person discussing my mental health with me and I could never go to citizens advice and humiliate myself even with someone going with me.

Sorry, I'm really upset.

 

[trombone_babe]

I'm really sorry to have upset you, I was just trying to make some suggestions. Would you be able to phone the benefits office or get someone to do that for you?

 

[toodles]

Hi

I can phone with no problem but was asking advice before i spoke to someone on the phone tomorrow so that i would hopefully know what to expect. It's odd because i don't get distressed talking via telephone or online. I just wondered if anyone else had come across this?

Thanks for the help

 

[shywolf]

i hate the goverments theyre always talking about targeting the poor and cutting theyre benefits while theyre claiming expenses on 2nd holmes and watching porno films in hotelrooms drinking champagne and having gardeners trim there hedge and cut there grass for them someone who gets benifits cut may have to resort to crime to steal food and clothes then get put in jail which costs far more money the system is a farce and goverments an arse