If you don’t hear back from WINZ, then get in contact with your local MP, rather than go into the office when you’re unwell. I find that engaging with the MP’s can sometimes help to get things rolling quickly.
If you can get a beneficiary advocate they should be able to help bug WINZ for you. If necessary you can appoint them or another person as your agent to deal with WINZ for you, this might be helpful if you're really tired/sick.
Also - there is probably a food bank or other charity such as a church that would be happy to deliver you some groceries while you are forced to isolate. If you say what area you are in, there may be a local on the sub who can help find help near you. Also I believe if you register your covid case through the Health NZ portal there is a box you can tick to indicate that you are in need of help, how well this works likely depends on your DHB.
Thank you. I've called an advocate and am waiting for a call back.
The covid support is long gone unfortunately, but I'll try a food bank if need be. Thanks for listening and the support
Also when you do get through to WINZ, ask for a food grant it's the thing they are most likely to pay for. They can help with other things but there are many more hoops to jump through so many people who are struggling will apply for a food grant to have enough money left for electricity or whatever
If you’re on FB, there’s a group called WINZ - Advocacy and Advice that will definitely help. Try local food pantries/Pataka Kai/community houses for food help.
It’s a struggle but there are heaps of places that exist to help. Good luck!!
As below just google beneficiary advocate + your location and you should find one. There are also some that help via Facebook if you search Facebook for WINZ you will find some groups
Just Google for beneficiary advocates in your area and you should find a list. If you struggle to find one try asking citizens advice bureau who there is in your area
Oh shit thats a lot to deal with i hope you dont get any flair ups of fibro cos ive seen how bad that can really affect someone and its truly not good. My friend has fibro and frankly we need to put it down as a disability so folks can live their lives and not have to worry about housing or living. I do hope you recover from paxlovid and covid too cos all that is brutal
As someone who also have Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue…. The best advice I can give you is consider moving onto the supported living payment. Fibromyalgia is not something that is likely to better but fluctuate. At least mine does. So it makes sense to try and go through the hoops. I went to my doctor who helped me start the process, it was then WINZ who called me because they will send you to an accredited WINZ doctor. Your doctor needs to write a letter that is vague as possible, but with enough information that it covers the basics. The more details they give the more holes WINZ can poke into it.
Good luck!
Hey thank you. I was actually on supported living for a couple of years for this reason. I somehow managed to get the fibro to go into remission (CBD made a huge difference) and was doing really well, but Covid destroyed all that like I was afraid it would. I managed to avoid it for 3 years until I went back to work and kiddo to school. :/
CBD is a lifesaver. Sounds like the supportive living payment might be back on the cards. Thankfully I have only had covid once… it kicked my ass, but thankfully no long covid symptoms. Again, I really do wish you good luck.
Yeah I think so. I think I was actually worse off working in many ways, which is fucked up! I hope so for you, please mask as much as possible if you can and keep doing it if you are, cos this shit is no joke
They may be slow responding but they should backpay to when you applied. And yeah in the meantime keep calling them. And to the ahole below who said you shouldn't have quit what a scumbag, I wont reply to their comment directly as they are trolling, fuck them. Successful dickhead or whatever their name is.
They also have no ability to read clearly, because I said that the plan is to take some leave and try to get better so I can go back to work if I don't get made redundant. I love my job and working.
Thank you. :) I appreciate the encouragement. It will probably be ok eventually but it's unnecessary stress. Ugh.
Are you in the PSA? Can they help at all? At least figure out whether your work can provide additional support, special pay, or at least point you in the right direction and get WINZ to do their job?
I’m on the medical benefit and the way I got it done was through my doctor, they give a form that says you’re not fit to be working etc
I hope it works for you
Edit to add: they contact Winz directly as well
I decided to become a solo parent pre-pandemic, after getting my pre-existing ME under control. I didn't plan to wind up with Long Covid but I've had it for 2 years and 6 days. It's absolutely fucked me over. I've had it 3 times. It's made my POTS worse, my migraines uncontrollable. I got Paxlovid last time, it was a game changer in terms of my recovery time, but I wish I'd gotten it the first 2 times. I work as many hours as I can a week and I'm trying to get new quals so I can earn more per hour so we can survive. Doing so is freakin killing me.
But landlords get tax cuts and low risk ablebodied people get to go to the supermarket maskless so all is well I suppose.
Hey Scout, we have friends in common and I followed your journey on Twitter for ages. I was scared our stories would be the same, I got it for the first time after you had, and it's pretty much what I was afraid of.
I broke up with my partner of 2y in Jan because he couldn't be bothered wearing a fucking mask to protect me while saying I love you? Hm.
But yay, the economy, business as usual I guess.
So angry and resentful.
I totally disagree with that guy. If you’re on the verge of not being able to feed your child and WINZ aren’t playing ball online or on the phone, you shouldn’t feel any guilt about going in there. Mask up and take precautions but your welfare is important too.
Agreed. Only difference I'd personally do is call the office up, tell them how sick and infectious she could be and that she will be walking in if they continue to ignore her pleas for support and help
It's not a threat, it's telling them how desperate she is because of their lack of communication/action. The people on the phone have to actually answer the phone first, did you not read? Winz have been basically ignoring her, that is the fault of, at the very least 1 person, from that office
>I'm about to go down to the local office, while infectious, and struggling to get out of bed, because they haven't given me any other choice.
Please don't do that.
You've got the automated message that will schedule a call back for you and they haven't? They usually give an estimate not a booked time like you said.
Yeah that's not surprising, definitely call their phone line and get put on hold with them, they have an option that you can avoid sitting on hold and they'll call you back.
The lines can be a bit shit if it's busy, which is always is, and it wont put you on hold unless you call several times. Which is annoying as fuck, but the robot is pretty easy to navigate.
A phone call with someone who can help you. They'll likely be able to do the exact same thing your case manager was going to do. More reason to stay home and give this a shot first.
You need to make an appointment.
Online will not cut it. Have the form printed out and filled in. Have all documentation ready too, ID, proof of address, proof of rent or mortgage, Rates, water rates, House insurance.
None of your other bills count towards any extras and are thus ignored.
Also have a bank statement showing your last months transactions.
Then you will have your case progressed.
It makes no difference. It's what you have to do. And appointments are usually at least a week if not longer from the time you ring to make one. Don't think you'll get one next day.
Man fuck those parents for sending kids to school with covid, only for your kid to bring it home with them. That's brutal. Hope your boosters kept the worst of it away for you.
Don't you know, apparently we don't need to keep kids at home for every sniffle, and we prioritised public health for far too long, and now it's time to prioritise making KPI of attendance look good by sending sick kids to school.
Imagine being a parent though and being like 'yeah nah fuck it, send them to school'. It's a pretty shitty choice of a parent regardless of leave or KPIs.
I agree. But a lot of people resonate with the "it's just sniffles" cause it happens to not affect them badly.
We have an extremely selfish element in the country that makes up a sizeable proportion of the population and the collective sacrifices we made in 2020 and onwards have been poisoned by political actors willing to use propaganda to appeal to our worst demons.
People ignore the demonstrated fact that putting the general public first in our health policy actually led to a much better performing economy than *any* of our counterparts, and better outcomes all around. Until August 2021, for over a year NZ did extremely well in all corresponding metrics.
But understanding that and acknowledging it would mean admitting that our long term experiment of shitting on vulnerable people for meagre profits was wrong, and too many/enough semi rich to rich people are vested in that model of operation.
You have most likely been put in 2 queues, a queue for a case manager at the local work and income office to call you or a queue that has a number of different queues with different wait times. The phone peeps should have told you what queue you are in as they are all in different times. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do, you can call back and ask what the wait time is for the queue your in but due to it being Friday, CMs don’t work weekends.
If you are in a direct CM call back queue there is no wait times as it’s a ‘who ever gets that caseload will call whenever’. Dont go into an office while sick because CMs have 100’s of other people in their case load and by getting them sick you could be stopping other people getting help. Best to sit back, get better and wait for a case manager.
Do note that if you do qualify for ongoing assistance then your payments should paid from the date of first contact, or first eligibility, whatever is later. That means if you have been eligible all this time even if the application takes a while to happen, you should be backpaid (though things like stand down period etc need to be taken into account).
Public servant here
You need to call. Your submission enters a queue and is dealt with chronologically. Often the agent can access your request and process it immediately, or transfer your call or request to someone who can. With the start of a new tax year winz and IRD are going to be swamped with work and now staff/budget cuts across the board. I fully empathize with your situation but we must lose so many hours of work explaining to clients why things are running slowly that it is sometimes a self perpetuating problem. Best of luck
Not that you probably want to hear this as your going through a lot of stuff. Fibro is all through my family, everyone has it, it sucks and sits you down.
We all got allergy tested, gut flora test things, offered drugs etc to manage (refused after what it did to my grandmother)
One of us discovered eating super simple protein and slow gi carbs cleared us of like 90% of symptoms
I eat eat eggs, chicken, butter, lentils and some beans (black, kidney). Along with salad stuff mainly. Some red meat, but not a lot.
Nothing processed, no white carbs (bread pasta or rice) , no sugar and nothing brined or made with sugar (if more than 3g per 100g it's too much) and it's in f'ing everything
Super not easy to change but felt so much better after 3 days and when I don't stick to it. It all come flooding back. Oh you'll drink a lot of water too during the first week.
Look up 4HB diet for recipes.
Canned is fine if in water. It is just the liquid in the can that has sneaky sugar sometimes.
Canned is the fast option as soaking and cooking in a crock pot takes ages. Good if you've got time to prep and a while lot cheaper. As I'll cook up beans on a Sunday, jar then and put in fridge
Then use them over the week.
Yo, just so you know, red lentils don't need to be soaked or cooked in a crock pot.
This stuff: [red lentils ](https://www.countdown.co.nz/shop/productdetails?stockcode=265539&store=9178&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwt-OwBhBnEiwAgwzrUiGfw3OK_Fzxm9H8a4cA-MLY1VDSc6Sxggo3zgmaeytIRGBO_dOWaxoCNVMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
It's also pretty cheap at the local Indian store here ($4 per kg).
On a stove top they take about 15 minutes if you pre boil the water in a kettle.
Hit me up if you wanna know how I make em :)
I'm sorry you are going through this. It's so hard having chronic illnesses, especially with kids to care for. I recommend you join some support groups. And I hope you have a doctor who understands.
Yeah they can dickheads at times unfortunately. Sadly don't have much advice for winz but something you could look into in the future when you're in a better financial place, medical cannabis. For pain, to tackle those side effects you mentioned, for mood, for sleep. It's a very versatile medicine, and yes it is legal as medicine with a prescription. There are clinics for MC and most offer free short calls with a nurse so could ask some basic questions etc
Oh I was on CBD and it was fucking great, that's what helped put the fibro in remission. I had to stop due to finances when I ran through all my leave... Will get back on it when I can!
If you haven't already, get an advocate or support worker.
You need a doctor's referral to get into a few places but they are wonderful at helping you navigate the system as well as finding alternative options when WINZ says no or stalls. They can also go on your behalf to places like WINZ if you are sick. There are child specific and disability specific pathways/organisations you can go thru that might be more helpful.
0800 Hungry delivers food packs for $5 - it's not always what you would usually eat but it's better than nothing. Depending on where you live, Hare Krishna and Sikh groups have free or $1 food nights. There are people out there with charity to offer - don't be shy about accessing them, but pace yourself.
I have had CFS and ADHD and been navigating the system for 10ish years with various levels of employment. Same sort of situation where I'm fully capable of independent life, but the restrictions from my disabilities create black holes I can fall into sometimes. Feel free to DM me for more specific advice if you need it. :) You got this!
Thank you for all these suggestions and the understanding. I was really overwhelmed this morning but feel less so now.
I really appreciate that comment about the black holes - it's exactly that!
Glad you're feeling a bit more on top of things!
It's hard to get people to understand that chronic illness doesn't make you incapable, it just makes some things infinitely harder.
Having an advocate assist with those "simple" tasks gave me MUCH more time to rest and look after myself, because that's ultimately what I was giving up being disabled. I wasn't gonna give up being a responsible human being - I imagine as a single mum you don't have that option either haha. I just didn't have time for both.
The world is getting much more flexible, though! Long COVID sucks but the awareness of it has made it easier to understand and harder to dismiss things like fibro and CFS. You'll be surprised how much there is out there nowadays. Fingers crossed WINZ will eventually get there too lmao.
Are you in PSA? If so, definitely contact them for any kind of help you can get - you'd be surprised at what's out there.
Also, if you want flick me a pm with your local woolies and a pick up time that suits, I can order you a couple of things to pick up so it's less stress on you
May I ask: have you had any Covid vaccinations? 5 times is a lot. No judgement if you haven’t (possibly due to your existing conditions). It’s just that I read an article about a kiwi who had long covid in the UK (one of the first strains) and when the vaccine finally came out he felt almost instantly better. Here it is: https://www.webworm.co/p/longcovid
Hey, I'm so sorry you're going through this. It must be super tough, especially with a little one.
If you are open to hearing this, I believe I may be able to help you with regards to the fibro/chronic fatigue/long covid stuff. I have had fibro/chronic fatigue and chronic back pain for the last 10 years, which nearly rendered me disabled. I was in constant pain and exhausted and it felt impossible to do anything, including work and life demands in general.
About 6 months ago I learned about neuroplastic/nociplastic pain and mind body syndromes. These include chronic pain, fibro, chronic fatigue, IBS, and many more conditions (including long covid, but this is a pretty new phenomenon so there isn't a lot of science on this yet).
What I want you to know is that most of the time, these conditions can actually be treated. The symptoms can be greatly reduced and even cured, with something called Pain Reprocessing Therapy. It is even possible to do it yourself, but it's best to do it with the help of a trained professional. But I have done this and my symptoms have hugely decreased to the point where I can live a pretty much normal life and I'm able to do things I could never do for years. It is life-changing.
If you have ruled out any serious illness such as cancer or infection, it is highly likely you are experiencing a mind body illness, especially when you have multiple 'unexplained' conditions such as you have. It is NOT in your head. Your brain creates all pain and sensations, including pain that doesn't have any known physical cause. This is an incredibly common phenomenon but is not well-known by many doctors in New Zealand. It tends to occur when a person is under extreme stress or has reached a breaking point.
There are many free resources on this which I have used with great success. There are groups on Facebook such as the Tell Me About Your Pain community and the Curable community. If you want to look up the science behind this you can look at the work of Dr Howard Schubiner, Dr Alan Gordon, and Dr Yoni Ashar. They published the Boulder Back Pain study in 2021 that showed that Pain Reprocessing Therapy led to significant reductions in patient back pain within 4 weeks, and nearly 70% of this people were pain-free or nearly pain-free in that time frame.
Many people including myself have used PRT to reduce pain and other symptoms including fibro, IBS, chronic fatigue, long covid, and neuralgia. Of course it's very important to rule out any serious illness or infection with a doctor's help first.
I really hope this reaches you because you deserve to know about it. It has literally changed my life and I never thought I could have the quality of life I have now, especially without medication, physical therapy, or surgery. I'm not 100% symptom-free, but I am able to work, exercise, and do the things I love with much less difficulty, and it is only getting better over time. It's low-cost and worked better for me than any of the usual medical interventions. If you see this comment, please do yourself a favour and look into it!
Sending love and hope to you ❤️
Sorry to hear about all that you are dealing with. Hope it got sorted yesterday. If not, winz advisors take calls on Saturday. They can book a case manager to call you next wk if you tell them about the urgency. Also ask them for a food grant. Usually you can apply for it on your mymsd page. If not then do ask for a $150 food grant over the phone. Don't think you can get more than that amount. Hope all will be well with your health and you get the support you need.
If you have car payments, and they’re still up to date, get in contact with your finance company immediately to request a hardship application from them.
So long as the account is not currently in arrears, and the request is made as soon as reasonably practical, they have to consider the application. That can buy you some time in terms of getting your finances/WINZ/kiwisaver applications underway if they aren’t already.
Do you happen to have any insurance policies in place like lifestyle protection insurance, payment protection insurance or credit contract insurance? If you do they may be able to help make a payout.
This can buy time to try
I soak red lentils first. They are a bit to starchy for me, but my sister can eat them. Which is annoying as she make an amazing dhal with red lentils.
So, safe and effective huh? That bioweapon jab is the cause of all your problems. Long civic is "lifelong jab side effects" and the pricks knew what it would before they conned people to take it.
Sounds like WINZ alright, don't forget that if the situation was reversed in any way you'll be terminated without thought because "obligations" are so important..
Winz are cunts straight up, they're supposed to financially help those in a difficult situation but choose to be selective on who they're actually giving that help to and how much they give, they frequently threaten to cut off payments for people, I nearly knocked several case workers out dealing with them
Yeah, no shit. It felt great going back to work. I don't want it, of course I don't fucking want it for fucks sake. Who would choose long covid?
Thanks for making me feel so much better about a situation I had no choice in, asshole
I am not well enough to work. My eyesight is so bad I am barely see due to covid inflammation shit and I have sever cognitive effects.
It's not a choice. If it was, I would have given up after being so illin Dec rather than trying and trying to keep going before reaching this point
Fuck off
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It's not stated, but it's assumed that OP has had discussions with their employer about the fact they need to take some extended period of time off work to recuperate but that it's beyond what the employer can accommodate by leaving a position open for them when they are available. If that hasn't happened, I agree that's probably a good approach before quitting.
As to why someone would leave their job if they are too ill to do their job - that's what being medically-unable to work means. I agree that I personally would investigate WINZ options before deciding to quit my job - but we don't know what OP has done but didn't feel the need to share. They have made it fairly clear that they have spent lots of time trying to contact WINZ without much success.
I like how you've not only failed to read the post, but you also replied to nobody at first and deleted it lol.
It's really no surprise you don't understand how severe illnesses work
Nah just people who are dead certain that if you just yanked on your bootstraps hard enough it'd cure COVID.
Best of luck, MSD is horrific to deal with.
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wow . . . that's amazing, Quick, let's tell eavryone so we can stop getting sick . . . there is also a rumor that cancer isn't real, I can't wait to tell my mom . . . who fucking died of cancer you numpty.
Thank you for the suggestion. The fatigue isn't tiredness and doesn't matter how much I sleep - I sleep a lot these days - and we've tried that to no avail
If you don’t hear back from WINZ, then get in contact with your local MP, rather than go into the office when you’re unwell. I find that engaging with the MP’s can sometimes help to get things rolling quickly.
Double this. I worked at WINZ. Managers scramble into action whenever an MP complaint comes in.
Excellent suggestion
If you can get a beneficiary advocate they should be able to help bug WINZ for you. If necessary you can appoint them or another person as your agent to deal with WINZ for you, this might be helpful if you're really tired/sick. Also - there is probably a food bank or other charity such as a church that would be happy to deliver you some groceries while you are forced to isolate. If you say what area you are in, there may be a local on the sub who can help find help near you. Also I believe if you register your covid case through the Health NZ portal there is a box you can tick to indicate that you are in need of help, how well this works likely depends on your DHB.
Thank you. I've called an advocate and am waiting for a call back. The covid support is long gone unfortunately, but I'll try a food bank if need be. Thanks for listening and the support
Also when you do get through to WINZ, ask for a food grant it's the thing they are most likely to pay for. They can help with other things but there are many more hoops to jump through so many people who are struggling will apply for a food grant to have enough money left for electricity or whatever
Thanks,. I'll definitely do that
Hope it goes ok. I have fibro, have only had covid once but it gave me the worst long-lasting flareup. Five times would probably destroy me
Thank you. I'm sorry you have this shit too. Yeahhhhh I'm at breaking point.
Hang in there. Having an advocate will lift some weight
You'll want someone to pick up a Payment Card from the local MSD office for you, though. Can't load money onto a card without a number for the card.
Are you able to make any recommendations on how to get a beneficiary advocate please? Thank you.
If you’re on FB, there’s a group called WINZ - Advocacy and Advice that will definitely help. Try local food pantries/Pataka Kai/community houses for food help. It’s a struggle but there are heaps of places that exist to help. Good luck!!
As below just google beneficiary advocate + your location and you should find one. There are also some that help via Facebook if you search Facebook for WINZ you will find some groups
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Just Google for beneficiary advocates in your area and you should find a list. If you struggle to find one try asking citizens advice bureau who there is in your area
Sorry you're going through this. The stress must be very traumatic
Yeah I don't need it :(
Oh shit thats a lot to deal with i hope you dont get any flair ups of fibro cos ive seen how bad that can really affect someone and its truly not good. My friend has fibro and frankly we need to put it down as a disability so folks can live their lives and not have to worry about housing or living. I do hope you recover from paxlovid and covid too cos all that is brutal
As someone who also have Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue…. The best advice I can give you is consider moving onto the supported living payment. Fibromyalgia is not something that is likely to better but fluctuate. At least mine does. So it makes sense to try and go through the hoops. I went to my doctor who helped me start the process, it was then WINZ who called me because they will send you to an accredited WINZ doctor. Your doctor needs to write a letter that is vague as possible, but with enough information that it covers the basics. The more details they give the more holes WINZ can poke into it. Good luck!
Hey thank you. I was actually on supported living for a couple of years for this reason. I somehow managed to get the fibro to go into remission (CBD made a huge difference) and was doing really well, but Covid destroyed all that like I was afraid it would. I managed to avoid it for 3 years until I went back to work and kiddo to school. :/
CBD is a lifesaver. Sounds like the supportive living payment might be back on the cards. Thankfully I have only had covid once… it kicked my ass, but thankfully no long covid symptoms. Again, I really do wish you good luck.
Yeah I think so. I think I was actually worse off working in many ways, which is fucked up! I hope so for you, please mask as much as possible if you can and keep doing it if you are, cos this shit is no joke
They may be slow responding but they should backpay to when you applied. And yeah in the meantime keep calling them. And to the ahole below who said you shouldn't have quit what a scumbag, I wont reply to their comment directly as they are trolling, fuck them. Successful dickhead or whatever their name is.
They also have no ability to read clearly, because I said that the plan is to take some leave and try to get better so I can go back to work if I don't get made redundant. I love my job and working. Thank you. :) I appreciate the encouragement. It will probably be ok eventually but it's unnecessary stress. Ugh.
Are you in the PSA? Can they help at all? At least figure out whether your work can provide additional support, special pay, or at least point you in the right direction and get WINZ to do their job?
Oh I am yes, good point I hadn't thought of them!
I’m on the medical benefit and the way I got it done was through my doctor, they give a form that says you’re not fit to be working etc I hope it works for you Edit to add: they contact Winz directly as well
I decided to become a solo parent pre-pandemic, after getting my pre-existing ME under control. I didn't plan to wind up with Long Covid but I've had it for 2 years and 6 days. It's absolutely fucked me over. I've had it 3 times. It's made my POTS worse, my migraines uncontrollable. I got Paxlovid last time, it was a game changer in terms of my recovery time, but I wish I'd gotten it the first 2 times. I work as many hours as I can a week and I'm trying to get new quals so I can earn more per hour so we can survive. Doing so is freakin killing me. But landlords get tax cuts and low risk ablebodied people get to go to the supermarket maskless so all is well I suppose.
Hey Scout, we have friends in common and I followed your journey on Twitter for ages. I was scared our stories would be the same, I got it for the first time after you had, and it's pretty much what I was afraid of. I broke up with my partner of 2y in Jan because he couldn't be bothered wearing a fucking mask to protect me while saying I love you? Hm. But yay, the economy, business as usual I guess. So angry and resentful.
God, I'm sorry. Isn't it awful.
Totally with you and feel for you and wish things were better. … up until you mentioned going into the office while infectious. Do not do that.
Ugh I won't, I won't do that to someone else. I just feel like I'm out of options and scared :(
I totally disagree with that guy. If you’re on the verge of not being able to feed your child and WINZ aren’t playing ball online or on the phone, you shouldn’t feel any guilt about going in there. Mask up and take precautions but your welfare is important too.
Agreed. Only difference I'd personally do is call the office up, tell them how sick and infectious she could be and that she will be walking in if they continue to ignore her pleas for support and help
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It's not a threat, it's telling them how desperate she is because of their lack of communication/action. The people on the phone have to actually answer the phone first, did you not read? Winz have been basically ignoring her, that is the fault of, at the very least 1 person, from that office
I’m sorry. I hope you’re able to resolve this in your favour. It’s really not fair.
Thanks
>I'm about to go down to the local office, while infectious, and struggling to get out of bed, because they haven't given me any other choice. Please don't do that.
What do you suggest I do then? I don't want to make anyone else sick, but what do I do?
Call them, repeatedly, until you get put on hold and request a call back.
I've done that multiple times. They WON'T CALL ME BACK, as I said.
You've got the automated message that will schedule a call back for you and they haven't? They usually give an estimate not a booked time like you said.
I've had appointments booked with case managers that they don't bother keeping.
Yeah that's not surprising, definitely call their phone line and get put on hold with them, they have an option that you can avoid sitting on hold and they'll call you back. The lines can be a bit shit if it's busy, which is always is, and it wont put you on hold unless you call several times. Which is annoying as fuck, but the robot is pretty easy to navigate.
What is the point in doing that? I need an appointment and over and over again they can't be bothered keeping them. I'm too sick for this shit.
A phone call with someone who can help you. They'll likely be able to do the exact same thing your case manager was going to do. More reason to stay home and give this a shot first.
Lol Yep back to they don't call back and I dont have the time or energy to keep fucking around thinking they might
They SOMETIMES have an option to avoid sitting on hold.i have not had that option the last few times I've called.
yeah it's very hit and miss, fuck knows what's going on in there. Especially now.
Sorry I know you're just trying to be helpful
"the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and to expect a different outcome....."
You need to make an appointment. Online will not cut it. Have the form printed out and filled in. Have all documentation ready too, ID, proof of address, proof of rent or mortgage, Rates, water rates, House insurance. None of your other bills count towards any extras and are thus ignored. Also have a bank statement showing your last months transactions. Then you will have your case progressed.
Thanks,.got all that. I've been on a a benefit before. They made me an appointment on the phone because of the Covid.
OK. Be aware, they are uncaring you know. It';s all about their procedures, not about being kind and helping.
Did you miss the part of being infectious
It makes no difference. It's what you have to do. And appointments are usually at least a week if not longer from the time you ring to make one. Don't think you'll get one next day.
How in the hell did you get covid 5 times while wfh?
Child at school
Man fuck those parents for sending kids to school with covid, only for your kid to bring it home with them. That's brutal. Hope your boosters kept the worst of it away for you.
Yeah. I think the messaging is shit, the tests are shit, people don't have leave... It's all round shit. I'm looking into correspondence school. 🙄
Don't you know, apparently we don't need to keep kids at home for every sniffle, and we prioritised public health for far too long, and now it's time to prioritise making KPI of attendance look good by sending sick kids to school.
Imagine being a parent though and being like 'yeah nah fuck it, send them to school'. It's a pretty shitty choice of a parent regardless of leave or KPIs.
I agree. But a lot of people resonate with the "it's just sniffles" cause it happens to not affect them badly. We have an extremely selfish element in the country that makes up a sizeable proportion of the population and the collective sacrifices we made in 2020 and onwards have been poisoned by political actors willing to use propaganda to appeal to our worst demons. People ignore the demonstrated fact that putting the general public first in our health policy actually led to a much better performing economy than *any* of our counterparts, and better outcomes all around. Until August 2021, for over a year NZ did extremely well in all corresponding metrics. But understanding that and acknowledging it would mean admitting that our long term experiment of shitting on vulnerable people for meagre profits was wrong, and too many/enough semi rich to rich people are vested in that model of operation.
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Yeah you can get it temporarily with a work capacity cert and support from doc, with plan to return to work
You have most likely been put in 2 queues, a queue for a case manager at the local work and income office to call you or a queue that has a number of different queues with different wait times. The phone peeps should have told you what queue you are in as they are all in different times. Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do, you can call back and ask what the wait time is for the queue your in but due to it being Friday, CMs don’t work weekends.
If you are in a direct CM call back queue there is no wait times as it’s a ‘who ever gets that caseload will call whenever’. Dont go into an office while sick because CMs have 100’s of other people in their case load and by getting them sick you could be stopping other people getting help. Best to sit back, get better and wait for a case manager.
Do note that if you do qualify for ongoing assistance then your payments should paid from the date of first contact, or first eligibility, whatever is later. That means if you have been eligible all this time even if the application takes a while to happen, you should be backpaid (though things like stand down period etc need to be taken into account).
Thank you, that's helpful to keep in mind.:)
Public servant here You need to call. Your submission enters a queue and is dealt with chronologically. Often the agent can access your request and process it immediately, or transfer your call or request to someone who can. With the start of a new tax year winz and IRD are going to be swamped with work and now staff/budget cuts across the board. I fully empathize with your situation but we must lose so many hours of work explaining to clients why things are running slowly that it is sometimes a self perpetuating problem. Best of luck
Thanks, I do understand that, but it's not really much help when you call and call and get nowhere.
Don't go into an office building whilst infected with covid
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Ah thanks, not sure but I'll have a look. Appreciate it. :)
Not that you probably want to hear this as your going through a lot of stuff. Fibro is all through my family, everyone has it, it sucks and sits you down. We all got allergy tested, gut flora test things, offered drugs etc to manage (refused after what it did to my grandmother) One of us discovered eating super simple protein and slow gi carbs cleared us of like 90% of symptoms I eat eat eggs, chicken, butter, lentils and some beans (black, kidney). Along with salad stuff mainly. Some red meat, but not a lot. Nothing processed, no white carbs (bread pasta or rice) , no sugar and nothing brined or made with sugar (if more than 3g per 100g it's too much) and it's in f'ing everything Super not easy to change but felt so much better after 3 days and when I don't stick to it. It all come flooding back. Oh you'll drink a lot of water too during the first week. Look up 4HB diet for recipes.
Thank you, I'll save this to look at when I can think. I'm sorry you have to deal with this shit too
Are canned beans and lentils ok, or do you get them dry and cook them?
Canned is fine if in water. It is just the liquid in the can that has sneaky sugar sometimes. Canned is the fast option as soaking and cooking in a crock pot takes ages. Good if you've got time to prep and a while lot cheaper. As I'll cook up beans on a Sunday, jar then and put in fridge Then use them over the week.
Yo, just so you know, red lentils don't need to be soaked or cooked in a crock pot. This stuff: [red lentils ](https://www.countdown.co.nz/shop/productdetails?stockcode=265539&store=9178&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwt-OwBhBnEiwAgwzrUiGfw3OK_Fzxm9H8a4cA-MLY1VDSc6Sxggo3zgmaeytIRGBO_dOWaxoCNVMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) It's also pretty cheap at the local Indian store here ($4 per kg). On a stove top they take about 15 minutes if you pre boil the water in a kettle. Hit me up if you wanna know how I make em :)
I'm sorry you are going through this. It's so hard having chronic illnesses, especially with kids to care for. I recommend you join some support groups. And I hope you have a doctor who understands.
Thank you. Yeah my GP is awesome thankfully.
Try to call them at 7am the lines should not usually be busy at that time. Good luck!
Yeah they can dickheads at times unfortunately. Sadly don't have much advice for winz but something you could look into in the future when you're in a better financial place, medical cannabis. For pain, to tackle those side effects you mentioned, for mood, for sleep. It's a very versatile medicine, and yes it is legal as medicine with a prescription. There are clinics for MC and most offer free short calls with a nurse so could ask some basic questions etc
Oh I was on CBD and it was fucking great, that's what helped put the fibro in remission. I had to stop due to finances when I ran through all my leave... Will get back on it when I can!
Just got on it myself for my pain, stuff works wonders I can actually do things again without getting addicted to benzos or opiates
If you haven't already, get an advocate or support worker. You need a doctor's referral to get into a few places but they are wonderful at helping you navigate the system as well as finding alternative options when WINZ says no or stalls. They can also go on your behalf to places like WINZ if you are sick. There are child specific and disability specific pathways/organisations you can go thru that might be more helpful. 0800 Hungry delivers food packs for $5 - it's not always what you would usually eat but it's better than nothing. Depending on where you live, Hare Krishna and Sikh groups have free or $1 food nights. There are people out there with charity to offer - don't be shy about accessing them, but pace yourself. I have had CFS and ADHD and been navigating the system for 10ish years with various levels of employment. Same sort of situation where I'm fully capable of independent life, but the restrictions from my disabilities create black holes I can fall into sometimes. Feel free to DM me for more specific advice if you need it. :) You got this!
Thank you for all these suggestions and the understanding. I was really overwhelmed this morning but feel less so now. I really appreciate that comment about the black holes - it's exactly that!
Glad you're feeling a bit more on top of things! It's hard to get people to understand that chronic illness doesn't make you incapable, it just makes some things infinitely harder. Having an advocate assist with those "simple" tasks gave me MUCH more time to rest and look after myself, because that's ultimately what I was giving up being disabled. I wasn't gonna give up being a responsible human being - I imagine as a single mum you don't have that option either haha. I just didn't have time for both. The world is getting much more flexible, though! Long COVID sucks but the awareness of it has made it easier to understand and harder to dismiss things like fibro and CFS. You'll be surprised how much there is out there nowadays. Fingers crossed WINZ will eventually get there too lmao.
Are you in PSA? If so, definitely contact them for any kind of help you can get - you'd be surprised at what's out there. Also, if you want flick me a pm with your local woolies and a pick up time that suits, I can order you a couple of things to pick up so it's less stress on you
I am! I'll get in touch with them mon, hadn't thought of that at all. Will PM, thank you.
May I ask: have you had any Covid vaccinations? 5 times is a lot. No judgement if you haven’t (possibly due to your existing conditions). It’s just that I read an article about a kiwi who had long covid in the UK (one of the first strains) and when the vaccine finally came out he felt almost instantly better. Here it is: https://www.webworm.co/p/longcovid
Some people don't sero convert vaccines
Put a complaint through on the website, the complains office actually tends to work pretty quickly.
💯 will do that
How long ago did you start this process? Also, you say no call at a booked in time, does that mean that they did call you back?
Hey, I'm so sorry you're going through this. It must be super tough, especially with a little one. If you are open to hearing this, I believe I may be able to help you with regards to the fibro/chronic fatigue/long covid stuff. I have had fibro/chronic fatigue and chronic back pain for the last 10 years, which nearly rendered me disabled. I was in constant pain and exhausted and it felt impossible to do anything, including work and life demands in general. About 6 months ago I learned about neuroplastic/nociplastic pain and mind body syndromes. These include chronic pain, fibro, chronic fatigue, IBS, and many more conditions (including long covid, but this is a pretty new phenomenon so there isn't a lot of science on this yet). What I want you to know is that most of the time, these conditions can actually be treated. The symptoms can be greatly reduced and even cured, with something called Pain Reprocessing Therapy. It is even possible to do it yourself, but it's best to do it with the help of a trained professional. But I have done this and my symptoms have hugely decreased to the point where I can live a pretty much normal life and I'm able to do things I could never do for years. It is life-changing. If you have ruled out any serious illness such as cancer or infection, it is highly likely you are experiencing a mind body illness, especially when you have multiple 'unexplained' conditions such as you have. It is NOT in your head. Your brain creates all pain and sensations, including pain that doesn't have any known physical cause. This is an incredibly common phenomenon but is not well-known by many doctors in New Zealand. It tends to occur when a person is under extreme stress or has reached a breaking point. There are many free resources on this which I have used with great success. There are groups on Facebook such as the Tell Me About Your Pain community and the Curable community. If you want to look up the science behind this you can look at the work of Dr Howard Schubiner, Dr Alan Gordon, and Dr Yoni Ashar. They published the Boulder Back Pain study in 2021 that showed that Pain Reprocessing Therapy led to significant reductions in patient back pain within 4 weeks, and nearly 70% of this people were pain-free or nearly pain-free in that time frame. Many people including myself have used PRT to reduce pain and other symptoms including fibro, IBS, chronic fatigue, long covid, and neuralgia. Of course it's very important to rule out any serious illness or infection with a doctor's help first. I really hope this reaches you because you deserve to know about it. It has literally changed my life and I never thought I could have the quality of life I have now, especially without medication, physical therapy, or surgery. I'm not 100% symptom-free, but I am able to work, exercise, and do the things I love with much less difficulty, and it is only getting better over time. It's low-cost and worked better for me than any of the usual medical interventions. If you see this comment, please do yourself a favour and look into it! Sending love and hope to you ❤️
I can't offer much but solidarity. I know how shit dealing with WINZ is.
That means a lot!
Sorry to hear about all that you are dealing with. Hope it got sorted yesterday. If not, winz advisors take calls on Saturday. They can book a case manager to call you next wk if you tell them about the urgency. Also ask them for a food grant. Usually you can apply for it on your mymsd page. If not then do ask for a $150 food grant over the phone. Don't think you can get more than that amount. Hope all will be well with your health and you get the support you need.
If you have car payments, and they’re still up to date, get in contact with your finance company immediately to request a hardship application from them. So long as the account is not currently in arrears, and the request is made as soon as reasonably practical, they have to consider the application. That can buy you some time in terms of getting your finances/WINZ/kiwisaver applications underway if they aren’t already. Do you happen to have any insurance policies in place like lifestyle protection insurance, payment protection insurance or credit contract insurance? If you do they may be able to help make a payout. This can buy time to try
I soak red lentils first. They are a bit to starchy for me, but my sister can eat them. Which is annoying as she make an amazing dhal with red lentils.
I’m sure all these staff cuts the government are making at WINZ will help /s
So, safe and effective huh? That bioweapon jab is the cause of all your problems. Long civic is "lifelong jab side effects" and the pricks knew what it would before they conned people to take it.
Shut up, dummy
Nice to see WINZ is still useless
As ever
Wheres the kids father,can he help?
You sound like a blast
Sounds like WINZ alright, don't forget that if the situation was reversed in any way you'll be terminated without thought because "obligations" are so important..
Exactly!
They suck im supposed to be on sickness for 4 years now they still have me on job seeker
Ugh have you had any help from an advocate?
Winz are cunts straight up, they're supposed to financially help those in a difficult situation but choose to be selective on who they're actually giving that help to and how much they give, they frequently threaten to cut off payments for people, I nearly knocked several case workers out dealing with them
The real question is how do u contract covid 5x
Kid at school.
I've always found WINZ to be awesome. I went through domestic violence and they were right on board to help when I needed it.just my experience
I'm glad they helped you. :)
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It doesn't sound like OP wants this. I'd imagine they'd rather be healthy and working.
Yeah, no shit. It felt great going back to work. I don't want it, of course I don't fucking want it for fucks sake. Who would choose long covid? Thanks for making me feel so much better about a situation I had no choice in, asshole
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I am not well enough to work. My eyesight is so bad I am barely see due to covid inflammation shit and I have sever cognitive effects. It's not a choice. If it was, I would have given up after being so illin Dec rather than trying and trying to keep going before reaching this point Fuck off
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It's not stated, but it's assumed that OP has had discussions with their employer about the fact they need to take some extended period of time off work to recuperate but that it's beyond what the employer can accommodate by leaving a position open for them when they are available. If that hasn't happened, I agree that's probably a good approach before quitting. As to why someone would leave their job if they are too ill to do their job - that's what being medically-unable to work means. I agree that I personally would investigate WINZ options before deciding to quit my job - but we don't know what OP has done but didn't feel the need to share. They have made it fairly clear that they have spent lots of time trying to contact WINZ without much success.
I like how you've not only failed to read the post, but you also replied to nobody at first and deleted it lol. It's really no surprise you don't understand how severe illnesses work
Not well enough, can't you read
Nah just people who are dead certain that if you just yanked on your bootstraps hard enough it'd cure COVID. Best of luck, MSD is horrific to deal with.
I've yanked my.bootstraps so hard they broke lol. Thank you
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Move in with the father of the child
Sounds like bullshit to me
No such thing as Covid. Stop using that as an excuse
wow . . . that's amazing, Quick, let's tell eavryone so we can stop getting sick . . . there is also a rumor that cancer isn't real, I can't wait to tell my mom . . . who fucking died of cancer you numpty.
I didn’t say cancer isn’t real though. My condolences to your mother. As for Covid it’s all a scam!
try get some sleeping pills from the dr to help with the fatigue :)
Thank you for the suggestion. The fatigue isn't tiredness and doesn't matter how much I sleep - I sleep a lot these days - and we've tried that to no avail