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Urgent help needed about Jobcentre appointment UC booked less than 2 days
- cascade
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1 day 8 hours ago #310766 by cascade
Urgent help needed about Jobcentre appointment UC booked less than 2 days was created by cascade
Hi, I hope that someone can help with some advice on this issue I have, because after recently submitting my UC claim to migrate from ESA (Support Group) to Universal Credit, today someone on the UC online account left me a message in my journal that said that I need to attend the jobcentre for an appointment this Wednesday morning at 9am (so only 2 days time and it is in the morning also).
I phoned up the UC helpline and said to the lady that I spoke to on the UC helpline that even just reading that message about the appointment at the Jobcentre caused me severe distress (I had a panic attack as a result) and so I said to her that I should be getting reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act given my disabilities/health conditions and how it should be obvious to the DWP that making me go to the Jobcentre for an appointment would be clearly be putting me at a “substantial disadvantage” as defined by the Equality Act, due to my disabilities/health conditions, and in addition to that, the DWP already have detailed information in the last PIP assessment that I had, where the Health Practitioner who did my assessment for the Assessment Provider noted in her assessment report of me things such as how I suffer overwhelming psychological distress for the “Planning and following journeys” activity, as well as other PIP activities clearly showing that it really should be obvious to the DWP that asking me to go into a Jobcentre for an appointment is not something that should be asked of me due to my health and disabilities that they are well aware of and how they negatively affect me in my daily life (such as how the PIP Health Practitioner also wrote how she believes I suffer from severe paranoia, as well as other mental health related issues that affect my interaction with other people and affect my daily life negatively).
The lady on the UC helpline I spoke to said that I would need to write a journal entry to ask for a phone appointment to confirm ID (I could not do the online ID verification since I do not have the required ID they asked for the online ID verification), so surely they should have given me a phone appointment or if they really wanted to see me, they could do a home visit.
So she didn’t write anything for me, she said I would need to write it myself, which I have not yet been able to do due to me feeling overwhelmed today and I do not know how to write the journal entry (I do not know how to word it exactly).
I am not sure if I should say for example that I want reasonable adjustments and that I am fine with doing a phone appointment and just leave it at that, or if I should also mention that I am fine with them doing a home visit if it is absolutely necessary and they for some reason feel they can not do the appointment over the phone to verify my ID?
The thing is that I do prefer the phone far better than a home visit, even though a home visit should be bearable, but since I have severe OCD and severe Psoriasis it could become overwhelming for me and make me distressed depending on how the person who potentially visits me at home behaves in front of me, so without writing too much going into details with how that exactly causes me anxiety and distress, there are potential issues with a home visit that could arise depending on who does the visit and their personality and professionalism with how they treat me, as it can be stressful for me with how I feel when someone is in the same room as me and around me with my OCD behaviours that I am self-conscious about and I fear people thinking I am crazy or weird for my OCD compulsions that I perform like where I tap my leg in sets of 10 and odd OCD related things like that and with how my Psoriasis looks and their reaction to it (which people can not see these sort of OCD behaviours and how inflamed my Psoriasis skin looks when speaking over the phone obviously which is why I prefer the phone appointment option).
But if they are not happy to do the appointment over the phone, then sure I can try my best to endure the appointment if I get a home visit and it is potentially doable as long as the person is not going to be looking at me weird for my OCD or my psoriasis which is severe and on my face and neck which is visible and embarrassing.
I am fine with doctors visiting me since they are professionals who deal with health matters, so it just depends on how the person behaves around me if they visit me at home basically.
How can I word the journal message so that I can make it clear that I do understand that this ID check needs to happen, and that a telephone appointment is by far the best for me and causes me the least issues, with the home visit being potentially bearable if the person they send is respectful towards me and not aggressive or judgmental or or giving me weird looks because of my severe Psoriasis and OCD?
I am fine with uploading them my bank statements to the UC online account journal thing if they are fine with this method, and I can take a photo of my passport photo page to send it to them electronically also if they want.
I am also worried that I read online that it can take up to 48 hours for them to get back to me when I send a journal message, but the appointment is set at the Jobcentre for 9am this Wednesday the 19 November 2025, which is really not much time, and I worry that they may not get back to me in time, and it is making me worry endlessly about this.
Should I just ask for the telephone appointment to verify my ID and not even mention the option of a home visit, and just leave it to them to suggest a home visit if they want to?
Kind regards,
cascade
I phoned up the UC helpline and said to the lady that I spoke to on the UC helpline that even just reading that message about the appointment at the Jobcentre caused me severe distress (I had a panic attack as a result) and so I said to her that I should be getting reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act given my disabilities/health conditions and how it should be obvious to the DWP that making me go to the Jobcentre for an appointment would be clearly be putting me at a “substantial disadvantage” as defined by the Equality Act, due to my disabilities/health conditions, and in addition to that, the DWP already have detailed information in the last PIP assessment that I had, where the Health Practitioner who did my assessment for the Assessment Provider noted in her assessment report of me things such as how I suffer overwhelming psychological distress for the “Planning and following journeys” activity, as well as other PIP activities clearly showing that it really should be obvious to the DWP that asking me to go into a Jobcentre for an appointment is not something that should be asked of me due to my health and disabilities that they are well aware of and how they negatively affect me in my daily life (such as how the PIP Health Practitioner also wrote how she believes I suffer from severe paranoia, as well as other mental health related issues that affect my interaction with other people and affect my daily life negatively).
The lady on the UC helpline I spoke to said that I would need to write a journal entry to ask for a phone appointment to confirm ID (I could not do the online ID verification since I do not have the required ID they asked for the online ID verification), so surely they should have given me a phone appointment or if they really wanted to see me, they could do a home visit.
So she didn’t write anything for me, she said I would need to write it myself, which I have not yet been able to do due to me feeling overwhelmed today and I do not know how to write the journal entry (I do not know how to word it exactly).
I am not sure if I should say for example that I want reasonable adjustments and that I am fine with doing a phone appointment and just leave it at that, or if I should also mention that I am fine with them doing a home visit if it is absolutely necessary and they for some reason feel they can not do the appointment over the phone to verify my ID?
The thing is that I do prefer the phone far better than a home visit, even though a home visit should be bearable, but since I have severe OCD and severe Psoriasis it could become overwhelming for me and make me distressed depending on how the person who potentially visits me at home behaves in front of me, so without writing too much going into details with how that exactly causes me anxiety and distress, there are potential issues with a home visit that could arise depending on who does the visit and their personality and professionalism with how they treat me, as it can be stressful for me with how I feel when someone is in the same room as me and around me with my OCD behaviours that I am self-conscious about and I fear people thinking I am crazy or weird for my OCD compulsions that I perform like where I tap my leg in sets of 10 and odd OCD related things like that and with how my Psoriasis looks and their reaction to it (which people can not see these sort of OCD behaviours and how inflamed my Psoriasis skin looks when speaking over the phone obviously which is why I prefer the phone appointment option).
But if they are not happy to do the appointment over the phone, then sure I can try my best to endure the appointment if I get a home visit and it is potentially doable as long as the person is not going to be looking at me weird for my OCD or my psoriasis which is severe and on my face and neck which is visible and embarrassing.
I am fine with doctors visiting me since they are professionals who deal with health matters, so it just depends on how the person behaves around me if they visit me at home basically.
How can I word the journal message so that I can make it clear that I do understand that this ID check needs to happen, and that a telephone appointment is by far the best for me and causes me the least issues, with the home visit being potentially bearable if the person they send is respectful towards me and not aggressive or judgmental or or giving me weird looks because of my severe Psoriasis and OCD?
I am fine with uploading them my bank statements to the UC online account journal thing if they are fine with this method, and I can take a photo of my passport photo page to send it to them electronically also if they want.
I am also worried that I read online that it can take up to 48 hours for them to get back to me when I send a journal message, but the appointment is set at the Jobcentre for 9am this Wednesday the 19 November 2025, which is really not much time, and I worry that they may not get back to me in time, and it is making me worry endlessly about this.
Should I just ask for the telephone appointment to verify my ID and not even mention the option of a home visit, and just leave it to them to suggest a home visit if they want to?
Kind regards,
cascade
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- BIS
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12 hours 38 minutes ago #310782 by BIS
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by BIS on topic Urgent help needed about Jobcentre appointment UC booked less than 2 days
Hi cascade
There is no 'perfect' way of writing your request, so please try to stop worrying about that part of it. You have written here what you would like to happen, so use some of what you have written here. It can acutally take them 72 hours to respond to a journal entry. I would ring the UC helpline and tell them you are cancelling the appointment on Wednesday, as you are too unwell to attend and you need them to make reasonable adjustments in order for them to verify your id. I don't know why the woman would not inform the job centre - they can do this and they did it for my family member when I phoned at the last minute.
After you have made that phonecall and noted the person you spoke to - you go onto your journal. You repeat that you are cancelling the appointment for Wednesday and you spoke to X and give the date and time. You say once again that you would like them to verify your ID over the phone because you are unable to attend in person and you need them to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act. Leave it up to them to see if they will do it over the phone or whether they insist on a home visit. I have not heard of anyone having a bad experience of a home visit.
BIS
There is no 'perfect' way of writing your request, so please try to stop worrying about that part of it. You have written here what you would like to happen, so use some of what you have written here. It can acutally take them 72 hours to respond to a journal entry. I would ring the UC helpline and tell them you are cancelling the appointment on Wednesday, as you are too unwell to attend and you need them to make reasonable adjustments in order for them to verify your id. I don't know why the woman would not inform the job centre - they can do this and they did it for my family member when I phoned at the last minute.
After you have made that phonecall and noted the person you spoke to - you go onto your journal. You repeat that you are cancelling the appointment for Wednesday and you spoke to X and give the date and time. You say once again that you would like them to verify your ID over the phone because you are unable to attend in person and you need them to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act. Leave it up to them to see if they will do it over the phone or whether they insist on a home visit. I have not heard of anyone having a bad experience of a home visit.
BIS
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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