I have been on work related ESA for about a year or so, my adviser has been pusihing me to volunteer at a charity shop and I have. But it isn't my anxiety that's effecting me. I have trapped wind(very painful and makes me sick) so had a blood test and was diagnosed with a failing thyriod, no medication given yet. When I first went onto ESA before the interview to determine where I go, I wrote down trapped wind. But was not allowed to put that down on my sick note. With my thyriod problem it has casued me to suffer from on/off depression, I have anxiety which makes me sick. I am due for another blood test for diabetes as my blood sugar was high last week. I didn't know that my thyriod was the reason why I am always tired and sometimes depressed. Can I add these to my ESA claim? My adviser thinks anxiety is curable and I should get over it. Not in that way, but she thinks I'm ready to work. I have never worked and I never pass an interview.

Hi, My uncle is about to retire from a skilled manual job. He's been in this job for 50 years but his intended retirement date in October has had to be brought forward due to ill health. My uncle had a stroke and a heart attack just over a month ago. He's worked all his life has never spent anything other than basics. He hasn't done any repairs on his house (he doesn't even have heating) other than the bare essentials (when my mother moved in for a few months about 7 years ago and made him do it to stop the place falling down). So he's very ill, living in an unheated damp house. (The smell of damp hits you as you walk in, there is no wallpaper and barely plaster in places. The plaster is falling off the walls and there are huge cracks. Persuading him to do anything is difficult. Enter the financial adviser. This guy has persuaded him to put one pension into investments. He has another one due and this man is coming over to see him next week. My mother got his name and telephone number and begged him to delay but the man told her that this was urgent. She explained that the situation had changed, that my uncle was sick and undergoing treatment. Representatives from the council told him that the house was uninhabitable and he must move and my mother told this man. Last week my mother and I visited my uncle (we live over 400 miles away.) Mum had been there after he got ill. She's managed to get the council and other relatives living nearer to keep an eye on him and do some essential work. A valuer has visited and given him and us an idea of the possible auction value of the house and an idea of what it could be worth if it was done up. He has options but won't make a decision (he has always looked to authority figures to tell him what to do). So we explained that he could either sell the house and get somewhere smaller or do it up and hope he gets more. Either way he will have to move. He can't do it up himself he will have to pay someone. Meanwhile he does not have any idea where this man has invested his money, he has no list of investments or outcomes. He has little paperwork at all apart from a glossy folder. I have looked this man up and he doesn't have a website. His business name is different from the name on the glossy folder. Uncle tells us that the man told him it was all rather complicated and he would deal. Last week some forms arrived. As we weren't there the adviser's wife came round and collected the forms. We don't know what they were. Of course the adviser won't and can't discuss it with us without my uncle's permission. I get that. Mum has got CAB's pensionwise to try to intervene but my uncle won't deal with them. He trusts this guy. Frankly, I don't but without his permission I seem to hit a brick wall. The red flags are screaming at me; The absence of a list of investments The haste to get this next pension invested The refusal to delay the next meeting The fact that after a lifetime of thrift my uncle has only a small amount in his account (he showed my mother his bank book) The "it's all too complicated for you, I'll deal" that he seems to be saying. My uncle hates change, he doesn't travel, has never even had a passport. As I said he fixates on authority figures (real or perceived) and is really in a vulnerable situation with his illness. As an example he will get the bus to a big supermarket rather than shop locally as he knows where everything is. I think he will convince himself that he can update this house as selling it would upset him but for that he needs savings that he can access. If anyone can advise on anything I can do from a distance bearing in mind he'll not agree to intervention?

Yes everyone my family has a lot of bad luck. I never mentioned this before because I forgot. About two years ago my adviser at Ingeus put me on self employed, because I found a leaflet job. Which I never went for because I didn't know how to do the self tax thing. Last year I got a letter asking for £30, I phoned back up and said 'I am not self employed my adviser did this for me'. He said it was OK and everything would be sorted, well it wasn't. Last week I receieved another letter now asking for £100, my dad said instead of phoning them we can send the letter attatched and I filled out the form, saying I hadn't worked in over 5 years and have been actively seeking work with the help of the Job Centre. Two days ago I got another letter now asking for the £100 and no reply to my form. I will call them and explain the situation, when I see my adviser at JC can I bring in the Self Tax letter asking for the money? I don't know what to do, what happens if it's not solved?

What is the procedure for job centre advisers to check your private email account on your phone to see if you've actually applied for jobs and have proof of it? I currently have proof on my email account of jobs which i've applied for which I can retrieve on my phone but what is the actual procedure for job centre advisers to physically see these emails which counts as my proof in looking for work? Can the adviser demand I hand over my phone then open each email to read them or do I just need to turn the phone screen to the adviser and show them the emails listed without actually going into them and showing them every single email. The reason I ask is because I was informed by an adviser this week while signing for my JSA that they have the authority to ask me to hand over my phone so they can check through my emails themselves otherwise I may well be sanctioned. I know there will be a data protection breach in that somewhere and know they can't force you to hand over your phone so they can rake through the emails but I'm just asking around for a little clarification before next signing day.

Well I have had my second appointment with INGEUS, what a total waste of time and space this 'organisation' is. My CV is excellent, I need no help with applying for jobs or interview skills or confidence building. I worked for a high profile company in London for 18 years and was made redundant - I am by far more skilled and organised than these people. So no, I don't want to see you every week and I just want to be left alone to look for work - I don't need your 'help' as you give NO HELP at all - you play tick box exercises, my adviser was shocked at my planner/tracker in WORD format and perfectly done and didn't say much as I am not an idiot! Anyway, as a bit of a researcher and someone who follows things up I decided to look up my adviser on Facebook and the girl who 'advises' who is around mid 20's has an open account for all to see - daft to say the least. Anyway, her last entry "fed up with work and dealing with idiots coming to see me daily" and the best one (guess referring to me) "Had one bloke in today only his 2nd appointment who has a perfect CV and does everything he should and I don't know what to do with him as he thinks he knows it all but still can't get a job so he is obviously not that good" Maybe I will keep these screenshots as ammo should she try anything with me like saying I am not trying hard enough etc. Loaded gun ... wonder what her bosses and DWP/JCP would think!

Hey guys, first time posting, so apologies if I've doing something wrong. I'm here to ask for some advice about how to deal with my adviser. She's been pushing me to do thing lately for no reason what so ever, and it's not the most ideal time for me to do pointless courses and programmes right now. Recently she put me on a course for employability skills which I don't need. It's only once a week, so it's not too bad, but even the guy there that gave me the induction told me that it's a waste of time. This isn't why I'm here though, I'm just trying to explain that she's doing things for no particular reason. She told me after this course I've been on that I'm going to have to go do some work experience for 8 weeks for 40 hours. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but lately I've got enough on my plate that I'm getting plenty stressed without it. I've tried telling her that it won't help me and that it's only going to cause problems for me, in turn making it harder for me to get my life together. The thing is when I last saw her she was very reluctant to let me leave without signing me up for it. She tells me that it's mandatory, that she's talked with here line manager(?) and that they've both decided this is what needs to be done. But during my time with her she actually asked me if I would agree to sign up for it. I was confused and asked her if she was really asking me this after all I've said to her, telling her it would hurt me more then help me, but then she turned around and told me I have no choice anyway. Me and my fiancee are trying to sort out her disability benefits (she's been on the wrong thing for quite some months) and I'm going to be looking at being her carer as we live together and she doesn't have anyone else that can help her. She's really not well and many people we've talked to have agreed that I should be there for her. So my problem is I don't want to be away for something that is completely unnecessary and leave my fiancee behind on her own. I know I've dragged this post out for a long time, I'm sorry. I also know I haven't supplied the best information, so if you need to know anything then please, let me know. Thank you in advance for and advice.

I am on ESA but today I received a letter here for a 'ESA personal adviser interview' at my local JobCentre for next month. In October I won my ESA appeal and I was recommended that I do not get re-assesed for another year. Does anyone know what this interview is about and what is expected?

Hi, do the JCP job advisers have any sort of weekly/monthly targets to meet? i.e. number of claimants removed from benefits, got back into employment etc; I am trying to get back into the financial services area from which I have recently just lost my job, I have a JSA set of job seeking targets to meet each week which I exceed, yet my adviser doesn't seem happy with that and complains that I am not focused enough! However he now seems to be pushing me towards applying for much lower paid jobs, outside of my work history/experience, which may involve shift work. Any suggestions as to what is going on? Should I be concerned?