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I don't know if this is news worthy, but my 30 year old stepdaughter who was born blind and has MS and other health issues moved to Southport from Wigan 6 weeks ago and was told she had to apply for Universal Credit.

She has been receiving disability in some form for her parents since she was born and directly once she lived on her own had a carer until she moved to Southport.

She has had no money for the past 6 weeks and was told that she needs a medical to prove she is blind because they can't take her 30 years of medical records and doctors notes as she may have had a change in her medical condition in
the past 6 weeks....like moving to Southport cures blindness and MS.

I have had to give her money to get to her Neurologist appointments and she has had no money for food or electric and with her fragile condition, her social worker from Wigan was able to get her a 2nd hand scooter in hopes she would
be able to get to a food bank as she struggles to walk and carry items.

She asked about getting a medical but they aren't scheduling medicals because of the virus and until she proves that she hasn't been cured of blindness and MS she needs to go out and get a job if she wants Universal Credit.

The worker at the DWP actually told her to go out even with the current ban and start submitting her CV's or she wouldn't qualify for Universal Credit unless she proved she was actively seeking employment.

Now the government is promising all the workers who are affected by the stay home order that they will process Universal Credit quickly and none of the 950,000 that just applied need to have anything medically wrong with them, but she has now been without any money for 6 weeks and told it could be months until they can schedule for her to come to the office for some to "check" that her blindness and MS haven't been cured by moving to Southport.

Firstly, where you live has no bearing whatsoever on what benefits you are claiming. While you would have to tell the DWP your new address, the money you are entitled to is paid into a bank account.

However, they may have wanted to move her from any disability benefits onto Universal Credit.

UC applications are performed online, but I expect there is telephone support for those who are visually impaired. She would then have been given an appointment to attend Southport Job Centre. Six weeks ago, Southport Job Centre was still open, so she would have been able to attend. When I moved from ESA to UC, I was given an advanced payment immediately, so I don’t understand why she didn’t get anything – the new rules were brought in months ago.

The lady will be entitled to the basic amount of UC including any housing costs. If she (or anyone else with a health condition) has a disability, as I do, it is just standard practice to have a medical assessment, carried out in Bootle. Once this assessment is made, she could be entitled to extra help as I am.

The complainant says her daughter is “blind”. How blind or visually impaired is she? Why would a social worker be trying to find her a second-hand scooter? Surely this would primarily put her personal safety in danger should she be unable to negotiate around objects and people or ending up in front of traffic on the road.

She will not have been told to “go out and get a job” but all claimants who haven’t had a medical assessment are required to do a job search which is mainly done online now. If she is able to drive a scooter, she must have enough sight so she can use a computer adapted for someone with a visual impairment. I try and find suitable part-time work I could cope with, but it’s very rare I need to leave the house to submit a CV, it’s done online now.

During the lockdown, no-one will have sanctions placed upon them for not being able to attend an appointment or unable to do a job search.

I have found, that despite some reported difficulties in the press, I am much better off on Universal Credit. Due to the fact I have limited capabilities for working and looking for work, if I could get some part-time work, I would be allowed to earn an extra £297 a month without deductions. Earning more than that you still keep 35% of your earnings.

One difficulty is making the switch from being paid every fortnight to being paid monthly – that could be tricky, but it can be done, just make sure all your bills are changed to monthly and not every two weeks as that’s where difficulties can arise.

Finally, under the present difficulties with the Coronavirus and lockdown, all Universal Credit claimants will be getting £1,000 in the coming year, which equates to an extra £83 a month! Something I don't believe is available with older legacy benefits!

Or is this article just someone trying to stir up trouble and knock the benefits system?

If you are claiming benefits and you move you don’t close your claim and start a new one in the new location you simply inform them of a change of address and your claim continues.. Why does she need a doctors note if she has already been receiving disability allowance?, Surely this should continue at the new address unless it’s time for a new medical in which case they would send for you to go for one and if for any reason that was not possible ( virus ) they would tell you and keep paying until they got to see you.
Why is she claiming unemployment benefit if she is disabled, shouldn’t she be claiming ESA?. Did. She actually make a claim 6 weeks ago cos it takes about 6 weeks for them to process it, if you have to change to UC they do that for you with your current claim that should not have stopped when you moved , generally they bunch up all your benefits together and give you just a bit less than you thought you would get.
The dwp generally don’t ask for you to look for work if you are not claiming unemployment benefit so if they are asking her to go through the motions and tick the boxes pretending to look for work then she must have made a claim and if she has made a claim already it’s probably still being processed. Does she live with you or is she waiting for housing benefit to be processed, there’s too much wrong here scooter, blind?.
The whole thing is a mess and needs a proper advisor or an MP To help.
All the best of luck with it hope you get it sorted but it doesn’t make sense
Also if you made a claim 6 weeks ago your claim will be backdated and you will be paid from the date of your claim. And don’t worry if they send you to bootle for an esa medical or Ormskirk for a disability allowance medical just tell them you can’t walk far (scooter) and can’t see well enough to use public transport and ask for a home visit ... they don’t like doing this so they will send a taxi to pick you up and send you home in one.

Originally Posted by roving-eye

Email sent to Qlocal.



I don't know if this is news worthy, but my 30 year old stepdaughter who was born blind and has MS and other health issues moved to Southport from Wigan 6 weeks ago and was told she had to apply for Universal Credit.

She has been receiving disability in some form for her parents since she was born and directly once she lived on her own had a carer until she moved to Southport.

She has had no money for the past 6 weeks and was told that she needs a medical to prove she is blind because they can't take her 30 years of medical records and doctors notes as she may have had a change in her medical condition in
the past 6 weeks....like moving to Southport cures blindness and MS.

I have had to give her money to get to her Neurologist appointments and she has had no money for food or electric and with her fragile condition, her social worker from Wigan was able to get her a 2nd hand scooter in hopes she would
be able to get to a food bank as she struggles to walk and carry items.

She asked about getting a medical but they aren't scheduling medicals because of the virus and until she proves that she hasn't been cured of blindness and MS she needs to go out and get a job if she wants Universal Credit.

The worker at the DWP actually told her to go out even with the current ban and start submitting her CV's or she wouldn't qualify for Universal Credit unless she proved she was actively seeking employment.

Now the government is promising all the workers who are affected by the stay home order that they will process Universal Credit quickly and none of the 950,000 that just applied need to have anything medically wrong with them, but she has now been without any money for 6 weeks and told it could be months until they can schedule for her to come to the office for some to "check" that her blindness and MS haven't been cured by moving to Southport.

With the greatest of respect, how does the lady manage to ride a scooter if she blind?

Originally Posted by justbecause

With the greatest of respect, how does the lady manage to ride a scooter if she blind?

Exactly! While I'm not saying this is "fake news" perhaps we could say the story has been embellished and coloured somewhat more than it should have been!