Thanks. I’ll give them a call.x
I looked El Kat, and they define disabled as being entitled to benefits such as SSP and ESA as one of the qualifiers ‘after’ 28 weeks. I’m at 28 weeks today, hense no more money for me as I can’t have ESA.
I will phone and talk to them, but can’t see much further than this page.
Oh, that’s changed in the last few months then.
It’s worth anyone checking if they can get credits though, everyone is an individual.
Hi El Katrano
Thanks for posting this. Is this just for people who aren’t receiving any income from their work? I’m lucky enough to be being paid throughout the whole time I’m having treatment. I’ve rung the benefits line but I’m not entitled to anything in the way of benefits, but I"m trying the tax credits route. I can’t believe I qualify though.
Thanks
I think it’s worth the cost of a phone call to find out isn’t it? I’m no expert on WTC - I just didn’t think we’d get it because my OH is working full time and I’m getting ESA (I wasn’t working when I got diagnosed, I’d just finished a temp contract) but we did. It’s to top up incomes of people on a low income.
My OH earns £16k, ESA I get is the contribution based as I’ve worked solidly for years so had enough “stamps”. I don’t know if I’d get income based ESA.
Hi Guys
I rung Macmillan cancer helpline and the rang me back to chat through my personal cirmcumstances and said I could poss claim DLA as I’ve had lymph nodes removed and also muscle from back so cannot carry anthing heavy with this arm. Also I can claim Employment support as was made redundant on 3rd July and diagnosed 11th July (great eh)!!! and the will back date it 13 weeks. He’s also sending me the free prescription form. Really helpful so thanks for this link. Any money at this time with 14 year old twin girls and no job is welcome.
I remembered late yesterday that I did look into this after I was first diagnosed and spoke to someone at HMRC. They advised that my salary was over the threshold for the year and so I did not qualify.
I think what has happened now is that the calculator calculated this on the assumption I would continue to earn what I have done so far this year but assuming that I go back to work full time in the next couple of months I will go over the threshhold again. Bit of a bummer really as I don’t get sick pay and and so when I was not able to work at all (have been doing some part time hours from home on and off) all I got was SSP. Having paid into the system for 35 years I finally thought I was going to get something back but there we are.
On the positive side (and thanks EK for motivating me to do so) I had to gather up all the piles of papers that have accumulated over the last 9 months and sort them out so I could find the info to complete the calc, it is all now filed and my halo is shining nicely!
Good luck to everyone with their claim and I hope you have a bit more luck than me!
DaisyGirl xx
I was turned down for benefits after my diagnosis in 2006 as I had a 3 month gap in NI which was incurred when I had to pack up and move 450 miles to look after my late dad. At that time I didn’t want to apply for Disabled Carers Allowance and when I eventually did my dad went into care 8 weeks later. Never mind the fact I had worked since the 1970s with no maternity breaks or anything. Even when I did my degree as a mature undergrad I had a p/t job.
At the time of diagnosis we had just started a small business and were living off our savings. About 8 months later we found out quite by chance through Macmillan that my OH could apply for WTC, but the DWP had not given us any info on this. He applied and was refused on the first go, so Macmillan told us to reapply and what to put on the forms. We got £96 a week, backdated for 3 months and it was a godsend for us. Just irks me that we were higher rate taxpayers before we moved here and we missed out on 5 months tax credits. The DWP don’t give you half the story and I find it disgusting, especially at such a stressful time. They didn’t send me a letter telling me I had been turned down for Incapacity Benefit and I had to track my application through 5 benefit offices to find out, it kept getting passed on. When I complained about getting turned down the guy on the other end of the phone said “breast cancer is no excuse for trying to access the benefit system”. Had he been on the other side of a desk I would have slapped him. I also got turned down for DLA because a GP who didn’t know me said it was his opinion I wasn’t sick enough! Well, the first cycle of Taxotere changed that situation overnight.