D W taking the P (but maybe a GA for you to take)

Waiting for the unedited, uncut version with concept artwork, deleted scenes and a "Making of" companion documentary.

Welcome back =)

Bump for sweet, sweet internet!

TL;DR : Yeah the DWP can go suck a fuck :P
--

Long-ass version :
I remember back when I was on similar benefits (I don't know what they would be called now with the constant re-butchering of the system), but I was called in for an assessment at one point. The assessor decided to give me lots of side-eye and make constant unnecessary prods and remarks, and whenever I tried to answer her questions in ernest (when I wasn't sure how to qualify my response) she would stare at me for a moment, then half-sighing say "Please answer yes or no". It was great fun for someone with unmedicated depression, raging anxiety issues, and an unknown crippling inferiority complex that had been going on for years.

I ended up eventually breaking into tears because of the sense of powerlessness, and her response was an apathetic "...why are you crying? I'm just asking you questions." The one that set me off was when she initially asked me if I was able to leave my house and engage in normal activities on a regular basis. My reply as usual was to try explain my situation so she herself could glean what she needed to know, where I explained I tried to force myself to leave the house twice a week, to prevent relapsing into total avoidance, which usually included helping my grandfather (who was my effective caretaker at the time) with groceries. Instead of the usual, she took an actual interest in the 'sometimes' aspect of that, and assumed my grandfather to be infirm, and scoffed "So you make an old man do the work.... and you 'sometimes' help. Right." Pretty par for the course with her attitude and far from hidden implications in tone. Funnily enough even when she only wanted a flat yes or no, she still write several lines, and would hush me if I tried to elaborate. Naturally I was booted onto jobseekers allowance and deemed entirely fit for work. Not that it surprises me. When I challenged the ruling (thanks to support from family), I met a guy who had a back injury due to a car accident, which caused him to get muscular spasms and require walking sticks if he wanted to travel alone over anything but short distances. He was apparently only qualified for manual labor, but was designated as fit for work (but offered no further support).

Back then it was fucking bizarre. During my time on jobseekers (prior to the benefits) I was assigned to an employment agency who was supposed to help you get back into work. Their assistance largely boiled down to telling you something general to do, then ignoring you. To be fair, there were some good staff there but I guess I was just unlucky to have been assigned to a largely ignored group. The most laughable example of assistance there was having two groups joined together in an empty room (save for a number of tables pushed together with seats around the outside), then having a member of staff come in, drop two copies of the yellow pages on the desk, say literally just "Apply for some jobs", and then go sit on top of a table in the corner, then noisily unwrap a sandwich and eat it, staring at us all. Yeah, because cold-calling random businesses in a silent room (with a bunch of giggling, quietly but openly mocking teenagers also watching) was real awesome. Oh, yeah, there were about 25 of us, and there were two phones.

Ah well, fast forward a good 6-or-so years, and I got a bit better, managed to struggle out a little bit of progress, and actually got hooked up with a useful agency. Now I have a part-time job that I can actually maintain without utterly ruining myself through my leftover neurosis. It's not much but it's something I guess. Still, that path of benefits was a total minefield for someone with mental/emotional issues, and I'm not sure if it's just me downplaying the shit I had to deal with (my radar for that is utterly broken), but compared to some of the things that people may suffer with, I was trying to navigate that minefield on easymode and still got chewed the fuck up. I hope it's gotten better but when you hear about so many people getting smacked down by blindspots and red tape, it doesn't inspire much confidence.

Sorry for the spam. This is just my long-winded way of giving you a +1 and saying "I sorta know that feel".
But hey, you survived without the internet, if this were a game you'd totally get an achievement for that ;D

Bump for internetfulness!

Bump!

I just read in Guardian about the nonsense called British social services and the problems with the new system of paying benefits in Scotland, which actually gets people into trouble with a ton of bills they are not able to cover. And they say this is a trial of a new system to be implemented nationally, so probably making people suffer without any real need. I can see some similar things in my country. The humanity is going down definitely. All you guys, who had this kind of experience, hold on and try to do the best for yourself.

Kafka inspired indeed... The good thing is you had the energy to take that to court, most people wouldn't, since in these situations it usually requires a lot of energy/time/money or all 3 depending on the system you live in. Hope you will get what is still owed soon enough. Have a bump :)

This is all too common. You will need the county court to enforce the tribunal's decision and get your money. Usually small claims is the easiest route but sometimes they will just pay you without actually implementing the tribunal's decision which can prejudice future DWP decisions because you still have a black mark on your record.

Your local CAB can advise and help you with this. You have to use the paper form and calculate statutory interest yourself which is a bit of a feth. So let the CAB do some hand holding, too often people don't pursue these matters to avoid more stress but it's a simple matter.