I'll pop over to direct.gov and see if things make more sense this time. Unfortunately despite being reasonably intelligent ME likes to mess with my brain so sometimes I miss things that are right in front of me, hence the holding out for help. I think my brain is ok today, although I thought it was may day bank holiday this morning things have improved over the day!

I'm so confused when it comes to benefits that's why I rang the council. No one in my family has ever claimed so I had no idea what was out there never mind what i was entitled to, seriously I didn't even know the job centre dealt with claims, I'd never been in one, I'll admit my complete naivety in regard to these matters. I'll take your advice and wait it out and look into CTB. Thanks so much

Thank you for clarifying! I'm sick of being told whatever the airhead of the day seems to think will annoy me most! I'm not after anything I'm not entitled to but I rang the PDSA to check then the monster on the reception desk stunned the waiting room into silence by being very rude, then I rang the head office back and cried (blush)

I did receive student finance but that has now stopped as I'm not well enough to continue the course. I don't have any kids. The PDSA explained that I had to be paying a discounted rate but not exempt, either way the council were wrong. At the moment my income is 0 as i wait on ESA and DLA, I've got to wait weeks to see the disability advisor to help though. I really want to just get the forms filled in but everywhere i look everyone says never fill them in yourself as they're a minefield. My partner only earns £200 a week so with a mortgage of £700 a month things are pretty crap. Should I just bite the bullet and do it myself or would I end up, like so many, appealing a bad decision?

Does anyone think it worth mentioning to the council that i suffer disruption at 2am every friday and saturday night when a group of their staff leave the pub across the road after a lock in? These are the same staff I barred when I managed the other pub in the village after I discovered serious drug use and they fought with each other and caused damage. I often had to pick one of them up out of a gutter in the morning or intervene when there was 'lewd behaviour' (full on intercourse) in the beer garden. For my efforts to keep a country pub peaceful I was warned that 'I work for the council and can cause you hell'. That particular person was in charge of sending forms to the correct departments, maybe that's where my 5 went??

PS: I'm going to request a copy of my file notes which I know they must provide in order to comply with the DPA, then I should be able to work out who it was I spoke to and when. In the meantime I'll call tomorrow and ask to speak to the last person I spoke to in the collections department and make sure I get her details after she was openly rude to me.

Thanks id6052 I do have the original letter, I've so far sent 5 copies with the standard form and they keep denying they have it. Uni sent it direct once too, but they claim that didn't arrive. I will have to go in face to face but as I live rurally and am the only driver in the house unless I'm well enough it's difficult. I live with my partner who works full time, and yes my course is full time so according to their own info I'm entitled to a 50% reduction, although I've been told anything from 0-50% depending on who I spoke to at the council. I therefore should have been entitled to PDSA help but instead they told them I was exempt and I spent my next council payment on his treatment with another vet. As they are still charging me 100% why they said I was exempt was beyond me! Have I got a case if the PDSA have it in writing, from the council themselves, that my house is exempt? That would be a kick in the teeth to the lot of them! bye bye arrears lol!

Thanks for your reply ploddertom. The only in writing evidence I have is the letter confirming I'm a student dated 2009, which doesn't exist according to them. I have bills and notices from them but I always had to call to sort things out. I was told by a debt helpline (could have been CCCS) that a) my council has more complaints about it than any other (no surprise there) and b) that all calls to a council office are recorded, is that true? If it is they're screwed! If not it might be difficult. When I called to ask about benefits I was put through to a welfare officer who advised me that I was unable to claim as I was a student, so it came from the horses mouth so to speak. CAB and the jobcentre actually told me off for trying to work or claim work related benefits and have booked me in with a disability advisor so things are getting sorted but what still remains is that after going to the council for help about things I have no knowledge of I was mislead and that has lead to a destroyed credit rating and a relapse. I'm seeing CAB after I see the DA at the job centre, should I sort the benefits out with the jobcentre and then see CAB purely to address my issues with the council? I need the property next door sorted but obviously I need money too, typically since I've not been able to get home insurance my pipes burst in the kitchen over winter and my electric blew, my dryer and fridge were destroyed but I can't replace them. I had no fridge for 9 months until my parents bought me one for my birthday. I need to replace the broken window too (huge, double glazed stained glass), but that was caused by next door so I shouldn't be liable. I called the council again since writing this and all I got was that they have not been able to contact the owner for 18 months, and I must understand she's disabled, so they cannot help further. No amount of arguing got me any further even when I explained I'm disabled too, and so what? I'm disabled and skint but I make sure my house is respectable, to me this over-mollycoddling of disabled people is disrespectful. I want equality not to be fawned over because I have difficulties, but, in the case of my errant neighbour she seems to use it to her advantage.

I really really really sympathise with you pixelpower! I suffer from ME, fibromyalgia, and a few other nasties and am too in my 20's. The last 2 years of my life have been spent suffering, being ignored, being told one thing then another and generally being quite confused and annoyed by the nhs and the government. You need and deserve financial help. I agree with the other replies, go and see another GP. Mine actually told me to speak to someone else to get a different perspective. Take in everything you can find about your illness, write lists of symptoms you experience, things you can no longer do etc to reinforce your situation. Also print off the NICE guidelines for your conditions and go through them with a fine tooth comb before you see your GP then ask why the hell he hasn't done what is expected of him! nice.org.uk What also might be useful is to visit direct.gov.uk and print off the info that tells you who is eligible for ESA/DLA etc, tick off what applies to you and then go back to your GP. It's not easy getting help with conditions like ours, it's an uphill slog and we don't have the energy to get through it alone so speak to anyone who will listen and give advice. And remember you can complain about your GP if his attitude warrants it and reminding him of that may help.

Hi guys! I really hope someone can help me as I'm stuck in a massive pickle thanks to my local council! The first problem came in september 2009 when I had to leave work due to ill health (fibromyalgia, ME, anxiety and depression, arthritis, asthma) so I decided to go back to uni as a mature student so at least I was being productive. I was advised, by uni and my GP, to contact my local council about benefits and/or financial assistance to which they answered 'students are not able to claim benefits'. So, none the wiser, I took that as fact. Now I know differently but for months I believed them and got myself further and further into debt including amassing council tax arrears. To this day they are yet to reduce my bill, which they have admitted then denied then admitted again etc that students are eligible for. They tell me my bill wont be reduced but then when I tried to get help from the PDSA for my cat the council told them I was exempt so I couldn't get my cat treated there. How can I be exempt if they keep harrassing me for money!? Money that I haven't got but would have if they had advised me correctly about benefits. I'm really confused! When i ask them about my reduction they deny having received the evidence that I am a student and on the last occasion I was told that I would receive a court summons as that 'may finally motivate you to sort yourself out'. HOW DARE THEY SAY THAT! Especially to someone with ME! I also have been in contact with them about the property next door. It's dangerous and is in such a state I cannot get house insurance as it is effecting the structure of my property. Bricks, roof tiles and window panes have fallen off and when the roof collapsed it broke a window in my property. I also have cracks appearing daily but all the empty house inspector woman said was 'it looks ok inside', the fact that you cant see through the windows and there was a leak last november that tore through the house from top to bottom it cannot be in a good state inside and like i care about the carpets anyway! I had to take 2 days off uni to sort the leak out including getting the police to break in and clearing up the mess they left outside my house. The stress of it all has lead to a full blown relapse of my ME and now I'm housebound, unable to work or continue uni. Nice one council, i thought you'd do anything to stop people claiming benefits and get back into work (irrespective of ability in many cases) but in my case you've managed to put a stop to that for quite some time in my case. Should i complain? I'm concerned that because i'm in arrears I'll get no where fast but considering I'm in this mess thanks to their advice I think something should be done. They're public servants after all and are supposed to help us not cause me a 2 year headache!