Benefits for cancer patients

Urgent advice needed please. My sister is currently in cancer treatment, for the third time in eleven years. She is 42 years old, had a mastectomy & complete auxilliery clearance. She has had chemo & radiotherapy twice. Had an oopherectomy, with complications. Has little use of her right arm due to lymph gland clearance. Has nerve damage & referred pain to her back legs and feet due to radiotherapy & suffers from clinical depression. She has been turned down for ESA because her husband works. He is a low earner. They have two children. One of school age. She has also been turned down for DLA and is taking this to appeal. Her mortgage arrears are mounting and is distressed beyond belief. No-one seems to be able to help her. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance

borgequeen wrote:

Urgent advice needed please. My sister is currently in cancer treatment, for the third time in eleven years. She is 42 years old, had a mastectomy & complete auxilliery clearance. She has had chemo & radiotherapy twice. Had an oopherectomy, with complications. Has little use of her right arm due to lymph gland clearance. Has nerve damage & referred pain to her back legs and feet due to radiotherapy & suffers from clinical depression. She has been turned down for ESA because her husband works. He is a low earner. They have two children. One of school age. She has also been turned down for DLA and is taking this to appeal. Her mortgage arrears are mounting and is distressed beyond belief. No-one seems to be able to help her. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance

Hi BQ,

When you say that your sister "has been turned down for ESA because her husband works", is this because your sister does not have enough NI Contribution/Credits to be entitled to Contributary ESA, and does not qualify for Income Related ESA because her husband's earnings place their income above the level allowed under the IR ESA Means Test?, or has your sister been found "fit for work" after going through the ESA Works Capability Assessment?

bro58

Hi BQ,

Whilst you ponder your response to my previous post, has your sister been in contact with Macmillan?, they really are excellent on giving advice, and helping cancer sufferers claim any benefits that they may be entitled to, see their website here :

www.macmillan.org.uk/HowWeCanHelp/HowWeCanHelp.aspx

bro58

She hasn't enough credits for contribution based ESA. She worked as a carer for 12hrs per week, therefore her employer didn't deduct NI. Her husband works in a supermarket so she's been told she can't have income based ESA either. She has not had an ESA medical.

Thank you for your swift response. Macmillan were approached some time ago & were unable to help. I worry about the impact of the financial stress on her cancer. She has never defaulted on a mortgage payment in 23 years, yet no-one seems able to help

borgequeen wrote:

She hasn't enough credits for contribution based ESA. She worked as a carer for 12hrs per week, therefore her employer didn't deduct NI. Her husband works in a supermarket so she's been told she can't have income based ESA either. She has not had an ESA medical.

Hi BG,

In that case, your sister really does need face to face advice, or if she is not fit enough, maybe you could make enquiries for her.

It is not possible for me to give any constructive advice, as I could not possibly gain access to your sister's personal details and monetary situation.

Please see :

Why can’t you answer a question about my specific claim?

And this link for potential sources of advice :

Where to get advice?

See also :

Crisis loans

I refer you back again to Macmillan, they truly are very good :

www.macmillan.org.uk/HowWeCanHelp/HowWeCanHelp.aspx

As it appears that you are new to the forum, the information on the links below may help, especially with the DLA Appeal :

Welcome to Benefits and Work

You can access our FAQ’s in the yellow Spotlight Area, at the top above the forum, from here :

FAQ’s

You can search the forums for previously posted topics from here :

Searching The Forum

You can access our ESA Guides from here :

ESA Guides

You can access our DLA Guides from here :

DLA Guides

You can access all our B&W Guides from here :

All B&W Guides

Information on Personal Independence Payment, (PIP) can be found here :

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

I hope that the information above is of some help, please repost here, if you have any further general queries, regarding ESA or DLA.

bro58