Cheryl M
Senior Member
- Messages
- 120
- Location
- North-west England
I need some yrgent help though I don’t know if anyne can hep me. I suspect I have too much money and the Department of Work and Pensions (the ebenefits organisation) are ging to find out. Idk if I'l be made to repay it or punished. Sorry about all this.
I tried repeatefly to get a benefit called ESA many years ago. Finally succeeded in getting it though the DWP make it as hard as possibe;; it is means tested but I was poor enough. I then developed progessive memry loss and got trapped in a domestic abuse situation.
I was naive enough to think people would help me, and as far as I cna see, I did enverything Iwas supposed to do. I let the doctor know I had memory loss that was getting worse and said i thought it was dementia. I let social services (etc) know about the domestic abuse because, I thought, they had a responsiblity to protect vulnerable adults. I was absoltuely baffled when the doctor did nothing abut the memory loss and nobody else did anything abut the abuse (it turnes out they do not protect vulnerable adults0). So I just sat there waiting, and I can;t really keep track of time so that turned into years I suppose. I kept thinking “Well, at SOME point someone will do smething?” and then I hoped the abuser who is elderly would die. She didn’t.
Money started piling up in my current account because whyen you can’t leave the house it’s difficult to spend it. I need care, but for years I could’nt find a care agency in my earea so I wasn’t paying fo rcare. The abuser also forgot to charge me for rent or utilities so there was more money coming in than going out. So I sort of watched heplessly while I was trapped with the abuser, not getting any help with the memory losss, but with more and more money arriving and I had nothing to spend it on. I did think “this is ridiculous” but the whole thing was ridiculous. I thought, "Well, at leeast if the abuser kicks me out on the steert (she has thratened to) I have this money I can use."
To my horror, discovered recently that ESA CARRIES ON being meaans-tested. I mean that you’re only allowed to have so much in savings and when you go over that amount you have to tell the DWP (they had not bothered tho explain this and I have no supprtive fmaily members and no friends, so no one else had either). I am well over the amount. I panickedand thought “If I tell them, I imight go to prison,” so didnt know what to do. I askef the CAB (free advice people) who were virtually useless, but they did say “We must advise you tht it will have to be paid back”.
THe DWP then write and said that ESA is ending and I have to transfer to a different ebnefit called Universal Credit. I was actually reivlieved because I thought, “I just won’t transfer to Universal Credit - it’s really hard to get hold of your beenefits even when you really want them, so if I don’t apply for UC they will just stop paying the ESA, they’ll hopefully neer realise they overpaid me, and I can reapply for benfits when my savings go low enough. That way I won’t get in trouble.”
It hasn;t worked like that because it turns out they won’t award you benefits when you need them but they will fight like crazy when you don’t want them. SO they bombarded me wth calls and leters (for weeks) which I didnt answer, then they called the landline and the abuser of course told them exactly where i was and what i would be doing that week. I unplugged the landline but i’ve now got a letter saying they’re going to come round to my house on Tuesday, and i can’t even “be out” when they call because the abuser wil be there and will imediately tell them excatly when to call back. (It's not that she wants me to lose the benefits, she just can;tthink sensibly or do anyting right.)
I dont get it. Ive done everyhting I was suposed to do. I told the doctor I havd serius memory loss and i told everyone about the domestic abuse. Why am I maybe the one in trouble? I always thoguht that this would be the money I could use if she kicked me out but now I won't eveen have that. The shock and the streess are putting me in a crash and I’m more tempeted than usual to hurt myself. What sould I do?
I tried repeatefly to get a benefit called ESA many years ago. Finally succeeded in getting it though the DWP make it as hard as possibe;; it is means tested but I was poor enough. I then developed progessive memry loss and got trapped in a domestic abuse situation.
I was naive enough to think people would help me, and as far as I cna see, I did enverything Iwas supposed to do. I let the doctor know I had memory loss that was getting worse and said i thought it was dementia. I let social services (etc) know about the domestic abuse because, I thought, they had a responsiblity to protect vulnerable adults. I was absoltuely baffled when the doctor did nothing abut the memory loss and nobody else did anything abut the abuse (it turnes out they do not protect vulnerable adults0). So I just sat there waiting, and I can;t really keep track of time so that turned into years I suppose. I kept thinking “Well, at SOME point someone will do smething?” and then I hoped the abuser who is elderly would die. She didn’t.
Money started piling up in my current account because whyen you can’t leave the house it’s difficult to spend it. I need care, but for years I could’nt find a care agency in my earea so I wasn’t paying fo rcare. The abuser also forgot to charge me for rent or utilities so there was more money coming in than going out. So I sort of watched heplessly while I was trapped with the abuser, not getting any help with the memory losss, but with more and more money arriving and I had nothing to spend it on. I did think “this is ridiculous” but the whole thing was ridiculous. I thought, "Well, at leeast if the abuser kicks me out on the steert (she has thratened to) I have this money I can use."
To my horror, discovered recently that ESA CARRIES ON being meaans-tested. I mean that you’re only allowed to have so much in savings and when you go over that amount you have to tell the DWP (they had not bothered tho explain this and I have no supprtive fmaily members and no friends, so no one else had either). I am well over the amount. I panickedand thought “If I tell them, I imight go to prison,” so didnt know what to do. I askef the CAB (free advice people) who were virtually useless, but they did say “We must advise you tht it will have to be paid back”.
THe DWP then write and said that ESA is ending and I have to transfer to a different ebnefit called Universal Credit. I was actually reivlieved because I thought, “I just won’t transfer to Universal Credit - it’s really hard to get hold of your beenefits even when you really want them, so if I don’t apply for UC they will just stop paying the ESA, they’ll hopefully neer realise they overpaid me, and I can reapply for benfits when my savings go low enough. That way I won’t get in trouble.”
It hasn;t worked like that because it turns out they won’t award you benefits when you need them but they will fight like crazy when you don’t want them. SO they bombarded me wth calls and leters (for weeks) which I didnt answer, then they called the landline and the abuser of course told them exactly where i was and what i would be doing that week. I unplugged the landline but i’ve now got a letter saying they’re going to come round to my house on Tuesday, and i can’t even “be out” when they call because the abuser wil be there and will imediately tell them excatly when to call back. (It's not that she wants me to lose the benefits, she just can;tthink sensibly or do anyting right.)
I dont get it. Ive done everyhting I was suposed to do. I told the doctor I havd serius memory loss and i told everyone about the domestic abuse. Why am I maybe the one in trouble? I always thoguht that this would be the money I could use if she kicked me out but now I won't eveen have that. The shock and the streess are putting me in a crash and I’m more tempeted than usual to hurt myself. What sould I do?
