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UC budgeting nightmares
I logged in to my UC journal today to see where DWP-UC is up to with paying me the right amount of money. They’ve made one correction –...
Nov 22, 20182 min read
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PIP appeal – overprepared fraud?
I had a PIP appeal today. I’ve been waiting for it for ten months. I don’t think it went well. There are some points in my favour: the...
Nov 12, 20186 min read
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Missed telephone appointment – might I be sanctioned?
Some moments of sick apprehension today. I remembered, some time after the appointment time, that today was the day for my monthly UC...
Oct 23, 20183 min read
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Some good news – I think
I’ve received some good news. My UC journal today had an letter added to it saying that they have decided that I have limited capability...
Oct 18, 20182 min read
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The Tories have messed up my council tax
Naturally, when I’ve just got in from visiting my church’s office to ask for help because I can’t manage without paying someone to do...
Oct 15, 20183 min read
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Money matters
DWP-UC has apparently now told DWP-ESA to stop paying me. I have received, in three separate envelopes that arrived on the same day, a...
Sep 27, 20182 min read
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Why am I the mediator for ESA and UC?
Having phoned ESA a couple of days ago, today I phoned UC to tell them that ESA had told me that they needed to send a form to ESA to say...
Aug 31, 20183 min read
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ESA and UC aren’t talking
Phoning ESA again. It has a long spiel followed by ‘please press 1 to continue’. Why not just carry on without having to press 1? After...
Aug 28, 20183 min read
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Universal Credit and ESA transfer
I started my claim for UC on 16th July. I told ESA on the same day, or possibly a day or two before, that I had moved house, no longer...
Aug 27, 20183 min read
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Universal Credit and Support for Mortgage Interest loan
I’ve received from Universal Credit a form that I am supposed to complete and send to my mortgage lender so that I can get a Support for...
Aug 24, 20182 min read
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Universal Credit standard shenanigans
After getting a letter from ESA last week, this week I logged on to my UC journal and found that I had – at last – got an award...
Aug 20, 20183 min read
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What they don’t tell you about council tax
Applying for council tax support is nearly as much hassle as Universal Credit. They too want my most recent bank statements, and they...
Aug 15, 20182 min read
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What they don’t tell you about the JobCentre
Yesterday I had three (!) JobCentre meetings. • One to show my housing details – the one that in my last blog I’d had to ask my housing...
Jul 26, 20185 min read
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What they don’t tell you about (applying for) Universal Credit
I didn’t know when I applied for Universal Credit that they would require three meetings to be arranged within that week, let alone why....
Jul 24, 20184 min read
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Work is not a health outcome
A couple of days ago I saw this tweet on Twitter: “Work as a health outcome is a fundamental principle for us. There must be a shared...
May 25, 20183 min read
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Not another job miracle: the mirage of full employment
Another quarter-year, another labour market release. Cue the DWP praising itself for record numbers of people in work, and record rates...
Jan 27, 20183 min read
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Chronically sick people don’t matter to the Conservative party
I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted by six years of chronic illness and seven years of Tory rule. It seems like every time I go on Twitter – and...
Mar 10, 20172 min read
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Governments have no right to be ignorant
The government still doesn’t know what its talking about. But this time it’s almost seven years on from when it gained power, and its...
Feb 27, 20174 min read
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The government’s rationale for PIP shows it doesn’t understand disability
On Thursday the government released its response to the consultation on Personal Independence Payments (PIP), the successor to Disability...
Dec 12, 20159 min read
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How successful is the Work Programme?
Compared to previous programmes, the Work Programme is not helping more people into work or keeping them in work longer. As we move into...
Jul 5, 20142 min read
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