sever disability premium..income support

I have copd end stage, I have both lungs stuck to my rib cage, I have a frozen shoulder, I take pain killers 3 times stronger then morphine, I fell asleep in the interview, I can't push a wheel chair or put my hands behind my back, but what I did find out was if your on oxygen you get in the support group, I am not on it 24 /7 just as and wnen, oh yes I get nocternal hypoxia, but it's not all the time . I can't dress, walk, go out, bath, shower without someone helping, I can sit in bed and type that's it, even though I'm in the support group I could still work , I could do some computer job from my bed , on line serveys, but they wrote me off all the same.

At the time I need support group as I was taken from hospital to the medical or loose my money, 5 hours after major surgery on both lungs. There are a lot of people who should be in the support group, but at the same time there are ones in it who shouldn't be. If I can work with all this wrong with me, why is it people with far less want to be in the support group? My next interview I will saying I can work from bed, iv worked all my life, up until a year ago, and I don't intend to stop now, I just needed to recover a bit .

Rachel, different people cope with things differently.

You say that you could work from bed. Being in the support group does not prevent you from applying for jobs, it just means that you are not obliged to engage in work-related activity, so if you feel that you could get back into work, there's nothing to stop you job-hunting.

On the other hand, many people would not have the skills or energy to earn their living whilst experiencing your level of disability, nor to engage in work-related activity, and the support group criteria recognise this.

I wish you every success in your search for work and hope that if in due course you feel too ill to work, you will be able to get back on ESA and into the appropriate group swiftly.

Stephen wrote:

I don't see how you can get Income Related and Contribution based ESA at the same time, they are mutually exclusive, either you have paid enough NI in the past or you haven't!

Stephen

I too receive both Income based and Contribution based ESA as i have paid enough NI contributions and i live alone (divorced) so get IB ESA which enables me to get the Severe Disability Premium.

The system is very complicated and its no wonder we are all in the dark!

Ranald