The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was apparently doing this a few years ago. They would book people in for appointments in an upstairs room and put out of order signs on the lifts. Anyone who made it to the room was automatically denied their benefits.
I say apparently because I didn’t personally know anyone who went through that one. The office that I had to visit had a car park, but no spaces near the door. I was dropped off by the door while my wife parked the car, but another person drove themselves and walked from the car. Their claim was denied, based on the distance they walked.
I say apparently because I didn’t personally know anyone who went through that one.
👋
They tried that shit on me my first assessment, the whole “lift hasn’t been working properly”. I explained that my pain was too much to go up 2 flights of stairs, and eventually they got it “fixed”.
They denied me my benefits anyway, it took about 2.5 years, a load of appeals, and a tribunal, the first time before I got what I was entitled to.
They’ve denied me every re-assessment since, too, which they’ve given me every 2 years on average, despite my conditions being either from birth or chronic and progressive, and me winning every appeal and tribunal they’ve put me through, and being in receipt of the highest rates for over a decade now. I’m actually waiting for another re-assessment as I type since my benefit expired again.
Their goal is for us to die, either from our conditions while we wait, or by suicide after being denied or pushed too far by their process (or from the trauma and the feelings of being a useless burden they cause that last long after the assessment is over), either way, the more of us die, the less money they have to spend on us (never mind that disability benefits are an absolutely miniscule fraction of tax spending). So yeah, their MO is to automatically deny all claims. The fact that once appealed, over 70% of decisions are overturned goes to show just how deliberate it is.
I’ve only got this far because after that first assessment I started looking for help with the appeal because I had to get that benefit to survive, and discovered just how bad the system I’m up against is, but also that there are people out there dedicating their time to helping others get through it. I literally owe those people my life.
Of course not taking into account that sometimes you can push yourself harder if you really must, but you will pay for it later. Like having to recover in bed for hours or days later.
I am also avoiding marriage because any spouse with a job can make me lose my benefits. The welfare office even made it clear my request for a live-in aide would be denied if I so much as dated the person who was doing the service. They (aka the government) really don’t want me (aka poor disabled people) to be in a relationship. What working-class couple can survive with only one income?
That’s the position that I’m in. I get PIP, the non means tested disability allowance, but because my wife works, we’re not entitled to anything else.
I can’t really complain, as we’re doing better than a lot of people, but it doesn’t exactly feel great knowing that we don’t qualify for any other help.
“Visit our office at the top of three flights of stairs to be assessed for disability funds”
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was apparently doing this a few years ago. They would book people in for appointments in an upstairs room and put out of order signs on the lifts. Anyone who made it to the room was automatically denied their benefits.
I say apparently because I didn’t personally know anyone who went through that one. The office that I had to visit had a car park, but no spaces near the door. I was dropped off by the door while my wife parked the car, but another person drove themselves and walked from the car. Their claim was denied, based on the distance they walked.
👋
They tried that shit on me my first assessment, the whole “lift hasn’t been working properly”. I explained that my pain was too much to go up 2 flights of stairs, and eventually they got it “fixed”.
They denied me my benefits anyway, it took about 2.5 years, a load of appeals, and a tribunal, the first time before I got what I was entitled to.
They’ve denied me every re-assessment since, too, which they’ve given me every 2 years on average, despite my conditions being either from birth or chronic and progressive, and me winning every appeal and tribunal they’ve put me through, and being in receipt of the highest rates for over a decade now. I’m actually waiting for another re-assessment as I type since my benefit expired again.
Their goal is for us to die, either from our conditions while we wait, or by suicide after being denied or pushed too far by their process (or from the trauma and the feelings of being a useless burden they cause that last long after the assessment is over), either way, the more of us die, the less money they have to spend on us (never mind that disability benefits are an absolutely miniscule fraction of tax spending). So yeah, their MO is to automatically deny all claims. The fact that once appealed, over 70% of decisions are overturned goes to show just how deliberate it is.
I’ve only got this far because after that first assessment I started looking for help with the appeal because I had to get that benefit to survive, and discovered just how bad the system I’m up against is, but also that there are people out there dedicating their time to helping others get through it. I literally owe those people my life.
Of course not taking into account that sometimes you can push yourself harder if you really must, but you will pay for it later. Like having to recover in bed for hours or days later.
It’s too true. Yet the person who has a spouse (to help them get to the appointment) can lose benefits because of their spouse’s income.
I am also avoiding marriage because any spouse with a job can make me lose my benefits. The welfare office even made it clear my request for a live-in aide would be denied if I so much as dated the person who was doing the service. They (aka the government) really don’t want me (aka poor disabled people) to be in a relationship. What working-class couple can survive with only one income?
It’s why despite being with my husband almost 20 years, we aren’t married. He’d lose everything.
That’s the position that I’m in. I get PIP, the non means tested disability allowance, but because my wife works, we’re not entitled to anything else.
I can’t really complain, as we’re doing better than a lot of people, but it doesn’t exactly feel great knowing that we don’t qualify for any other help.