Changing to disability benefit from Job seekers allowance.

hoodi90

Hi there. I'm just looking for a bit of advice and would be grateful for any guidance.
I have been on job seekers allowance for the last few months. I suffer from extreme depression and anxiety which has now gotten so bad that I have a fear of leaving the house. I am on a very high dose of antidepressants and see a doctor twice a month. From this I have lost 3 stone in weight and have been diagnosed with anaerexia this week and I am waiting for an appointment with a nutritionist and physiatrist to come through the post.

On top of that I also suffer from high prolactin levels due to a benign tumor on my piturity gland which gives me migraines and the tablet from these have horrible side effects including hot sweats, headaches, sever nausea and sometimes vommitting. It doesn't stop there, a couple of weeks ago I was diagnosed with vertigo, I take vertigon tables which I got percribed which do help a good bit but I still get some side affects.

And guess what...I also have very bad bowel problems which I'm currently being investigated for crohns and colitis, I have been admitted to hospital 3 times already this year due to this condition alone.

Basically I'm going through the wars at the moment and I have been putting this off for a while but I really do not think I will be able to work at the moment until I heal. Does anyone know if I should bother applying, do you think I would be eligible? And does it entitle you to the same thing as JSA? Sorry if I ranted too much. Thanks guys.

George Michael

id give it a go. very hard to get though. make sure you can back up what you say.

hoodi90

George Michael wrote: »

id give it a go. very hard to get though. make sure you can back up what you say.

Thank you! Yep I have medical records, doctors notes and prescription records for them to go through.

K.Flyer

hoodi90 wrote: »

Thank you! Yep I have medical records, doctors notes and prescription records for them to go through.

You need to call into your S.W. office and ask them for an application for disability allowance. They may or may not have a brief chat with you at that point.
If your condition is as you say and you have been attending and have been treated for it by your G.P. he will need to fill out a section of the application form that describes your condition(s) and how it affects your day day life.
You then send off the fully completed application form together with photocopies of any specialists or consultants reports to the address on the form.
If everything is complete they will sent you a letter saying your application is being processed. After a few weeks they will inform you if your application has been successfull or not. If it has not been successful you will be able to appeal it..

George Michael

K.Flyer wrote: »

You need to call into your S.W. office and ask them for an application for disability allowance. They may or may not have a brief chat with you at that point.
If your condition is as you say and you have been attending and have been treated for it by your G.P. he will need to fill out a section of the application form that describes your condition(s) and how it affects your day day life.
You then send off the fully completed application form together with photocopies of any specialists or consultants reports to the address on the form.
If everything is complete they will sent you a letter saying your application is being processed. After a few weeks they will inform you if your application has been successfull or not. If it has not been successful you will be able to appeal it..

do they not check your gps records themselves or do you (the claimant) have to send of printed off gp records (letters)?

i was under the impression that once you get your doctor to sign the form, the disability people then can request the doctors files from the doctor in question. or am i wrong?

K.Flyer

George Michael wrote: »

do they not check your gps records themselves or do you (the claimant) have to send of printed off gp records (letters)?

i was under the impression that once you get your doctor to sign the form, the disability people then can request the doctors files from the doctor in question. or am i wrong?

In the situation that I am using for reference, the gp was ultra effecient in organising the necessary information and provided photocopies of reports to back up the claim.
He said that it could save a lot of time when filling out the forms to provide photocopies of any relevant documents that verified the condition.
But I do presume when processing the claim that they did contact the gp to verify the paperwork was authentic, but at least they then had the paperwork in hand and were not having to wait for the gp to then send it out to them.

livemusic4life

Please dont make my mistake. Ge your gp to write that your "x condition will last more than 12 months" and not indefinitely. They are kinda weird about this rule. I got a rejection for it. Please make sure your doctors have that exact phrase in their letters.

Grab All Association

hoodi90 wrote: »

Hi there. I'm just looking for a bit of advice and would be grateful for any guidance.
I have been on job seekers allowance for the last few months. I suffer from extreme depression and anxiety which has now gotten so bad that I have a fear of leaving the house. I am on a very high dose of antidepressants and see a doctor twice a month. From this I have lost 3 stone in weight and have been diagnosed with anaerexia this week and I am waiting for an appointment with a nutritionist and physiatrist to come through the post.

On top of that I also suffer from high prolactin levels due to a benign tumor on my piturity gland which gives me migraines and the tablet from these have horrible side effects including hot sweats, headaches, sever nausea and sometimes vommitting. It doesn't stop there, a couple of weeks ago I was diagnosed with vertigo, I take vertigon tables which I got percribed which do help a good bit but I still get some side affects.

And guess what...I also have very bad bowel problems which I'm currently being investigated for crohns and colitis, I have been admitted to hospital 3 times already this year due to this condition alone.

Basically I'm going through the wars at the moment and I have been putting this off for a while but I really do not think I will be able to work at the moment until I heal. Does anyone know if I should bother applying, do you think I would be eligible? And does it entitle you to the same thing as JSA? Sorry if I ranted too much. Thanks guys.

You shouldn't be on JSA as you're unfit for work.

It's either Illness Benefit (depended on PRSI contributions) or SWA you should be on right now whilst applying for DA.

Get your doctor to fill out/stamp a MC1 and MC2 (MC2 filled out weekly) and go to your local CWO. Your CWO should be able to tell you there and then if you qualify for IB or SWA.

You can also give the CWO your Disability Allowance application form as well to forward on.

By staying on JSA and signing on you are declaring you are fit and actively seeking work

Best of luck with your application and I hope you get better.