women with visible and invisible disabilities
A volunteer writes: “If you have ever been sectioned on a section 3 of the Mental Health Act (and other sections below) once you are discharged back to the community and have needs relating to healthcare, social care or supported accommodation, then these should be provided by what is called Section 117 aftercare. A … Read more
Info about the rules for getting a Freedom Pass, and how to apply, is here. Disabled asylum seekers and other immigrant disabled people ARE entitled to the Freedom Pass. When they talk about resident, this means living in the borough. You do not have to have won your right to stay in the UK to … Read more
Background to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) PIP was brought in under the Welfare Reform Act 2012. The purpose was to cut Disability Living Allowance (DLA) spending by 20%. For this reason, the then Chancellor George Osborne was booed at the 2012 Paralympics. With PIP, they abolished low rate care component which a lot of people … Read more
Check you are getting all your benefit entitlements and transport concessions: www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/ Transport for All (London)
DLA stays the same for children under 16 and for pensioners who were aged 65 before 8 April 2013. Note: The Scottish Government has announced that teenagers on DLA can stay on until age 18. This is one of the benefit improvements they have made under their devolved powers. See here Can my child get DLA? Care needs … Read more
Getting Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) depends on the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and a points system. The massive UK-wide campaign against the WCA and Atos (the multinational company which used to carry out the WCA) and successful legal challenge against the WCA has had a huge impact. The British Medical Association, representing doctors, and many MPs, voted … Read more
“I am a 53 year old woman who suffers from PTSD, severe anxiety, depression, panic attacks and insomnia. I also have problems with my eyesight and previously had cancer (my PTSD stems from the cancer and its treatment). I am on ESA ( Support Group) and currently still in receipt of DLA. I am in … Read more
Read our leaflets with guidance for professionals on the rules you can quote in letters and reports, for your patient or client to be exempted from the face-to-face exams: ESA or Universal Credit — read or download and print here Based on the regulations built into ESA/Universal Credit on “substantial risk to health” — mental … Read more
“There is a huge problem with benefits causing crises in women with mental health problems. It all started with the new ESA forms and has now been compounded by the PIP fiasco with many women being driven into panic by being denied benefits and then having to face long processes of challenge leading to tribunals … Read more
People are told that everyone has to have a face-to-face interview for PIP. This is not true. Official DWP guidance sets out exemption from the interview, where there is enough evidence on paper to establish your daily living needs and mobility needs, and/or where the face-to-face interview is likely to be stressful to you. (The … Read more