Evening All, I am trying to help out a former colleague who sadly suffered a stroke last December, inevitably his licence was revoked and he is now barely getting by on SSP. Sounds like he may be eligilbe for a benefit such as PIP but this is a complicated application process and he may need some help as the stroke has affected his cognition and concentration. Does any of you know any organisations which could assist him with this, or any other financial assistance available? He was a TU member at the time of his illness but has already exhausted the quite basic support offered. The guy is also a veteran so I am approaching the RBL, any other fellow veterans got any suggestions please?
Last thing I will say is, this was a fit guy in early middle age with no previous issues and this came right out of the blue, if it can happen to him it can happen to anyone. High time there was an affordable insurance policy to cover medical revocation of licence. On that, good health to you all.
I am ex RN myself and had to ask for help in the past to get back on my feet etc …
RBL are a great charity but quite difficult to deal with , the process is drawn out and harder than it needs to be .
If you get in touch with SSSFA they will 100% help out , they are linked to all the forces charities and utilise them all to get as much help as they can .
Another good charity is walking with the wounded , they aren’t just for injured guys they help all ex service people.
I hope that helps , PM me you need any more info .
And I hope your mate gets himself back on his feet soon
I’m not sure if Mind are really set up for his condition, but they might be sympathetic and be able to help or point you in the right direction. mind.org.uk/information-sup … -benefits/
Of course there’s Citizens Advice, but in the past when I tried to use them they were so under resourced for the demand they face, they didn’t really help me.
Hope that’s a start, and you can get somewhere soon with helping. Really disappointed the union wouldn’t help, must be something they’ve encountered before often enough.
I see it as a National Disgrace that a working man has to try to seek out charities because of illness, He is clearly incapacitated and cannot work. We can afford to house an illegal force of occupation in our hotels but cant see to the needs of our own.
I volunteer for Citizens Advice and in my area (County Durham) they have advisers who specialise in PIP forms and the benefits system.
May be worth a look on the CAB website to see what info can be found on there and then make a”Gateway” appointment with a local office which should lead onto more specialist advice.
Tyneside
Slightly off topic, but IF the stroke is medically classed as a “severe mental impairment” albeit temporary. Then he may be able to claim “attendance allowance” and that is one of the benefits that open up other benefits. Including his exemption from paying council tax, and IF him and his wife are the only occupants of the property then they are classed as a single occupant household, and they can claim the single persons 25% discount on council tax. If he is the only person in the house then the whole house is exempt from council tax. However if there are adult children living with them then they cannot claim the reduction in council tax despite the exemption due to severe mental impairment. He will need a letter from the hospital/doctor stating that he is suffering a severe mental impairment. As previously mentioned citizens advice, or age UK have associates who specialise in filling out benefit claim forms and can expedite the claim process
Thanks again everyone - Wheelsofcardiff, what is Ben charity as I can’t find this in a search? Never thought of the UKPDA either so l will approach thhem as well
If CAB can’t help try local council as they do offer some help with forms he maybe able to claim other benefits too but CAB should point him in right direction
Depends of the force he was in as can go direct to them for help
I had a stroke a couple of years ago. Mine wasn’t too bad, I’ve almost fully recovered, Now got two left hands, which isn’t too good for a right handed person but not too bad either.
I can’t add much to what has already been said. My local CAB office has a forces/exforces specialist, so ask if your local CAB does the same. SSAFA is the best place to go for advise and help. So is the Regimental/Corps Association.
A Stroke takes a lot of work to recover from. What you have to do is train your brain to make new neurological pathways. This is done with physical physiotherapy and also brain games. Do the exercises and as they get easier to do, make them harder to do, add further movements. I was given the G.R.A.S.P. exercise booklet.
But also do brain exercises. I do Microsoft Patience and Suduko games. I should also have done word and memory games.
If he does apply for PIP it is highly likely he well get knocked back, they seem to do this as a matter of course. If he does tell him to ask for a mandatory reconsideration and if they knock this back, which they sometimes do, then take it further to a tribunal where more than 80% of cases win their appeal (the government just love wasting money using private companies to try not to pay people what they are entitled to) I would suggest asking the citizens advice bureau with help filling in the form, they do help with this. I believe if you go for an assessment that the questions are binary, so if you say you can sometimes do something, like for example you can sometimes walk 100 metres without aid on a good day, they will just tick that you can walk 100 metres without aid, when perhaps you may only realistically be able to do this once or twice a month, so best to think about your answers.
shullbit:
If he does apply for PIP it is highly likely he well get knocked back, they seem to do this as a matter of course. If he does tell him to ask for a mandatory reconsideration and if they knock this back, which they sometimes do, then take it further to a tribunal where more than 80% of cases win their appeal (the government just love wasting money using private companies to try not to pay people what they are entitled to) I would suggest asking the citizens advice bureau with help filling in the form, they do help with this. I believe if you go for an assessment that the questions are binary, so if you say you can sometimes do something, like for example you can sometimes walk 100 metres without aid on a good day, they will just tick that you can walk 100 metres without aid, when perhaps you may only realistically be able to do this once or twice a month, so best to think about your answers.
My wife and son are on PIP, as you say the government do like to waste money stopping people claiming, definitely get advice on completing the forms, they have to be worded in a certain way for a claim to be accepted!!!
Southpaw1971:
Thanks again everyone - Wheelsofcardiff, what is Ben charity as I can’t find this in a search? Never thought of the UKPDA either so l will approach thhem as well