Can people really be expected to live on nothing?

[debt4get]

The government figures are already very flawed, basic living costs like food and electric are going through the roof.

 

I currently have 1 ready meal a day and snacks to go with it. Not even 1 proper meal a day.

they would probably say 'you would be much better off in work' uh yes..providing your not sick, ill, disabled, and there were actually any jobs..

[Slatted]

They will probably also point to the fact that we all clearly have computers and can afford internet connections.....so are having more money than needed if can afford "luxuries" like that!

[debt4get]

Concerns ranged from callers describing children going hungry and begging neighbours for food, to worries about children being left home alone or outside in the cold.

NSPCC wales reports a 61% rise in calls for children being neglected...well what did they expect..if people are losing their benefit or being forced to work as many hours as they can then this can only get worse....

[RaeUK]

... The wording states that this is the money that the law states you need to live on ...

 

So, if that's what the law states, if the DWP forces you below that figure then the law has been broken ...

 

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation says that we need to live on much more than what the government currently give.

 

I'll vouch for that!

 

... the fact that we all clearly have computers and can afford internet connections.....so are having more money than needed if can afford "luxuries" like that! ...

 

I would argue that, nowadays, the internet is no longer a luxury. As an oven is no longer a luxury. Or washing machine. For those of us forced to spend more time at home then we would like, the internet is often the only social activity we get. Apart from the occassional phonecall, I can go many days without speaking to a person at all ...

[worried33]

So, if that's what the law states, if the DWP forces you below that figure then the law has been broken ...

 

 

 

I'll vouch for that!

 

 

 

I would argue that, nowadays, the internet is no longer a luxury. As an oven is no longer a luxury. Or washing machine. For those of us forced to spend more time at home then we would like, the internet is often the only social activity we get. Apart from the occassional phonecall, I can go many days without speaking to a person at all ...

 

yeah its a utility.

 

some key examples is without it I wouldnt be able to buy food by myself and soon it will be needed to claim benefits.

[Slatted]

I agree about the computer. Just meaning that it may be seen as our fault if we would rather eat less and go on the internet.....

 

Not sure about you all but I dread my laptop getting old and having to be put down....

 

It isnt as if we will get any help with replacing the computer...other than perhaps in a budgeting loan (or whatever is available...some Social Fund items are being stopped are they not?) but I bet they wont give much towards it....

 

And remember that the Govt think we should be out looking for work and not isolating ourselves in our homes......after all any disability or illness is all in our minds according to them apparently......

[rocker60]

A PC is essential for me as im housebound 90% of the time and have no family or friends. The only way i have anyone to chat too is through chat rooms online. I cant get to the shop for food so have to order it online and get it delivered.

 

But im going to have to disconnect my internet at the end of the month as my benifits have stopped cause my appeal failed. I also have to return my tv to the shop as its on credit. I cant pay my landlord the bills i owe him so i will end up getting kicked out. I still get my DLA money which means i still get my rent paid. But my DLA is only £82 a month. My HB has been cut by £24 a month so have to take that out of my DLA. Plus £30 to the landlord for the other bills. That leaves me with £28 a month for food and clothes and other bills like TV license.

 

I need the internet to try and claim JSA as its now done online unless u want to spend hrs on the phone on hold then 40 or more mins answering the questions. But if u had an ESA payment in the last month then u cant claim online and have to ring them.

 

My appeal got turned down today. As a result my EESA which is what u get while the appeal is going through stopped as of today. As i was payed up till monday i have to pay back the bit im not entilted too. I rang The JSA after finding i cant do it online only to be put on hold for 2hrs. Then told i cant claim JSA as im unfit for work and i need to ring ESA. Another hr on hold only to be told i cant claim ESA cause ive been passed fit for work. I have to wait 6 months before i can put another claim in.

 

This is the 2nd time ive had this done. Last time it was when labour were in. Ive been on some kind of benefit most of my life due to health problems. Ive tried to work but have always either ended up in hospital after collapsing at work, or been fired for taking to many days off sick. I even got kicked out of the army on medical grounds.

 

Its bloody hard to get a medical discharge from the army. I wanted to stay in but they wouldnt let me. I hated the army but i met a nice girl in Germany and needed to stay in the army to be with her. But after getting gang raped by the NCO,s when i was 17 and just joined my unit. I spent 6 months in hospital after that. Then getting wounded in Ireland by an IRA car bomb then geting wounded again in the falklands war they had no choice but to kick me out.

 

Now i cant get any benfits to help live my life. I can live on £71 a week and usually have a bit left over. But i cant even get that now. Mind u i only have 1 cooked meal a week. The rest of the time i just eat bread and cheese cause i cant stand up long enough to cook a meal. I order about £50 worth of food online. But that usually last me 3 or 4 months. But my freezer is now empty and no money to get anymore food.

 

I have to tell my landlord that i cant pay him anymore money. So he will probably kick me out. I have nowher to go which means living on the streets. I suffer from agrophobia so it will be a living hell. But the DWP will be happy cause its one less scrounger they have to pay. I cant move into another homles hostell cause i will have to pay rent to them which includes food which HB wont pay for. The rent is over £200 a week to live in a hostel and HB will only pay a max of £115.

 

Ive contacted CAB and a few other charities that help with ppl who have benfit problems or disabled but they cant do anything to help. S.A.F.F.A and the british legion can help me find a new home but they cant help me out with money to pay the bills. So unless i can get money to pay the rent and bills its pointless me even looking for somewhere else to live.

 

I have mental health as well as physical health problems Mental helth due to all the abuse i suffered at the hands of my mum and foster mum when i was little and the rape in the army. Physical due to abuse from my mum and wounds while serving in the army. I only just passed the army medical to in. Thats when i found out i had i spine problem which had been hidden from me by social services and my foster parents. Ive been trying to find out whats wrong with my spine since 1977 but no one will tell me. All i know its not the right shape. Ive been denied access to my medical records to see if i can find out myslf. Social servises r refusing to tell me why i was put into foster care. All ive been able to find out is i was born in prison cause my mum was in prison for child abuse on my older sis. But when she got released i went with her only to end up in foster care when i was about 2. My little sis claims she witnessed my mum throwing against a wall and broke my back and then left me their for weeks before taking me to hospital. But as my sis is 5 yrs younger than me meant it would of happened before she was born. But ive heard rumours that it was true. So i know ive had a life long spine problem that is causing me a lot of trouble. So why am i not getting told what the problem is or getting any treatment for it or even counsciling to help me live a normal life as possible. No nothing.

 

Now i cant even get benefits for something i have no control over and was not self inflicted. PPL overwieght, drug addicts and alcoholics r classed as disabled and dont have any trouble getting ESA and their self inflicted. So why cant ppl like me get the help we need when its not our fault. I would love to be able to go out and work and live a normal live but i cant. Ive tried. Ive been trying all my life but always end up in hospital. My ribs r fused together so i cant breath very well. My left shoulder is not attached where it should be due to my spine not being where it should be so have limited movement I pass out a lot due to not enough oxygen getting into my lungs. My spine seizes up when im asllep so cant sleep for more than a few hrs at a time which resukts in me always being tired. My left knee buckles if i stand up to long due to my spine being in the wrong place. I cant sit for long cause my spine locks up. I have a lot of problems trying to sit down and stand up again. yet they have decided im fit for work.

 

My appeal got dismissed cause i tried to tell the panel that my assement was not done according to the law. But the judge was a friend of the dr who did my assement and refused to let me give any evidence that proves she was wrong in her report. The judge even told me that she usually sat on the appeal panel. But cause the appeal was against her she was not allowed to sit in. That tells me the appeal was rigged from the start. Its supposed to be independant. But as ATOS do the assements why r they also sitting on the panel in the appeals against their decisions? The judge was a dr of law employed by ATOS. The other person was a medical dr also employed by ATOS. That is not an independant tribuneral at all.

 

I could not get any medical evidence to support my case as my GP went sick just after my assement and still has not returned 6 months later. Accoding to my dr surgry only she can give me the evidence i nedd as no one else is authersised to do it.. the same thing happened 10yrs ago when i had the same problem with benefits getting stopped after an assement. Thebit of evidence i did have to prove the assement report was a lie they refused to even look at. The judge told me to shut up and get out when i tried to give my evidence. He just didnt want to hear anything bad said about his friend. I want to take it to a higher court but i have been told i dont have the grounds to appeal again to a higher court. My advisor said he will help with the appeal never showed up. I spent 2 weeks trying to contact him to tell him the appeal date was set but i couldnt get through to him as he never asnwered his phone and didnt reply to any emails i sent him. So think somthing fishy happened to deny me any benefits.

Edited June 13, 2012 by caro

[Consumer dude]

Not only are u expected to live on nothing, the way things r going could mean that in the future you will be charged for the pleasure..

[SWLABR9]

I believe it's six months from the date of the decision about you being fit to work that you have to wait till you can apply for ESA again. So it may have already been six months, yeah?