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The system is fucked up

I've recently applied for Employment and Support Allowance as my employer is no longer paying me Occupational or Statutory sick pay. 

Last week I received a phone call from the benefits office asking if I had sent in my SSP1 form with my claim. This form is issued by the payroll department detailing why they can no longer pay SSP and the date from which you no longer receive it. I informed the advisor at the benefits office that yes, I had sent in this form but said that they couldn't find it. They also said that my medical certificates had become detached from my claim form. Bloody brilliant. 

Yesterday I received 2 letters from the benefits office. The first saying that I needed to provide medical certificates to support my claim and the second saying that my claim for ESA has been refused because I have not paid, or been credited with enough national insurance contributions. 

What the fuck??!!! 

So they've lost my medical certificates and apparently I haven't paid enough NI to receive benefits. I've worked since I was 15 apart from the year I claimed ESA after I had my colon removed so how have I not paid enough NI? How do all these people that have never worked a day in their life get benefits then?

So this morning I call the benefit office. And oh my goodness it's a painful conversation. They confirm they don't have my medical certificates even though I sent them in. I had my husband copy them before I sent them off but no, they won't accept copies. I must get the GP to provide duplicate certificates. If they charge me for those will the benefits office reimburse me for the cost I ask them? Oh no, they don't do that I'm told. So they've lost my medical certificates and if I'm charged to get another copy I will have to foot that charge even though I haven't been paid a bean since November last year. Great. 

Then when I asked why I wasn't eligible to receive ESA the advisor said that wasn't the case. I'm looking at the letter that you've sent me telling me exactly that I tell her. The computer doesn't have a record of that letter she tells me. Well I'm bloody looking at it. It's not a letter I've written to myself or imagined I felt like screaming down the phone. 

The advisor tells me that my claim won't be processed further until I provide the required medical certificates. I have provided them, I correct her, you have lost them. I can almost hear her rolling her eyes. Well until we get duplicate copies then no decision will be made regarding your claim she tells me, getting a bit huffy now. 

But you've sent me a letter saying my claim has been processed and refused already I reply. There's no details of the letter on the computer she retorts and I realise that we are just going to go round and round in circles. I decide to give in before I lose my temper (or my sanity) and tell her that I will be calling my GP to ask for duplicates which if I am charged for I will be passing the cost onto the benefits office. You can try she tells me before I hang up. 

The benefits system is seriously fucked up if you're entitled to nothing after working and then being so ill you can no longer work but whole families can choose not to work and live off the state claiming every benefit going. Benefits shouldn't be a way of life, but a helping hand during a time of need and I don't think I'm asking for much. As it is, if (and at the moment it's a big if) my claim is approved then I will only be entitled to just over £70 a week. I'm hardly going to be able to live it up on £70 a bloody week but it will pay for the kids school dinners, put a bit of diesel in the car and contribute a little bit to the food shopping. 

I swear they make the whole process so difficult in the hope that people will give up and not bother to claim. Well I'm not giving up. I've worked, and I will fight to get what I'm entitled to. I've just got to find the energy from somewhere to keep fighting. 

NB x
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