Whats in the brown envelope?

So what’s the significance of a little brown envelope ?

Not much really, it more concerns the contents within it. This little brown envelope can bring either security or throw you down into the depths of uncertainty & fear.

Also talking to others, they have experienced the same feeling & some were left feeling petrified of the day that this little brown envelope will land on the mat & what news it might bring.

Of course I am talking about benefits & the question that many a spoonie ask “have they assessed me fairly & correctly this time".

You see I had a reassessment.

So they sent me a dissertation of a form to fill out, which with a lot of time, effort & support took me over two months to complete. There are countless questions to answer on these types of forms & I even had to use separate sheets of paper to answer some of them.

So I sent it off & waited for the enviable, that I would have to battle this, that this would just mean even more form filling & such, which just thinking about makes me feel tired & sore.

But the envelope landed on the mat & I was awarded (makes it sound like I won Wimbledon, whoop! whoop!) my benefit. Well, they do send out certificates (for a free tax disc :P) which I find very odd.

It did come as a shock that they got it right, because every single time with this benefit they have refused me first time around. When I’ve challenged these refusals I have found out that they have used inaccurate or incorrect information & I have always been awarded on a reconsideration.

And I think that’s it.

Disabled people understand the need for checks to make sure that the people are getting this support are entitled even with the fraud rate being so low.

But the thing I think makes it hard is that the amount of people that get awarded on a reconsideration or appeal. This shows that there are significant errors & this means that people that often have a great deal on their plate (hence applying) having to fight for their entitlement. This can cause a great deal of fear & uncertainty especially to those struggling with mental illness & I think that this is a big problem. I have read my own refusal letters & the accompanying information & the letter read like its someone else they’re talking about & the information is either incomplete or out of date.

And I know I’m not alone in this & it shouldn’t be down to luck, are you going to have a decision maker that reads your form properly or skip over it? Because if you have two people with nearly identical conditions, one can be refused and the other one granted which makes it seem like a lottery.

I’m obviously glad that I had my benefit renewed without issue, with the way my health is I’m grateful not to have that added stress.

But how I wish these letters would change into my acceptance letter to Hogwarts because that would be AWESOME!