You'll never stand alone...

Unless of course you are a single, childless woman of a certain age who was effectively self employed for the last 10 years- ish!

To be honest, I am unsure as to whether the above stand alone statement was actually stated like that but having grown up in the UK I know that we look after people and pay out benefits to those who need it.

This is not a political statement but a blog of fact...and perhaps one that will ensure that your own house is in order should an unfortunate diagnosis befall you. This is being written because so many people assume I am getting sick pay, or some sort of assistance with my living expenses.

But I am not. I do not qualify for universal credit. I do not qualify for sick pay. I do not qualify for employment support allowance or indeed for PIP (personal independence payment). Without going into my personal finances in detail I can advise what I have been told.

Just to clarify, I am not independently rich. I still need to work albeit not full-time hence the self employed status and even more so now the mortgage rates have risen.

Universal credit does not get paid to people who have savings over a certain amount. I have more than one property - even though my mortgage is more than my rent, the equity is deemed as savings.

However, if instead of buying property had I put this money into a pension fund I would qualify and it would not be deemed as savings. (Bear in mind that when said property is sold I am also going to pay capital gains taxes, whereas with a pension fund I would be able to take 25% tax free).

They don't tell you that when the financial tales of owning a second property are compared to pension funds. I did not have a clue.

Sick pay is not paid to those who are self-employed, even though we pay the NI stamp and in my case I have paid over 38 years of national insurance with at least 30 years of those payments when I was in full time employment. None of those 30 years count.

I have never been unemployed.

ESL (employment support allowance) is not paid unless you have the statutory number of years of national insurance payments and in my case the last two financial years. The year before last I took a sabbatical whilst I helped out a family member, rather than my family member having to rely on the state to provide them with care. This disqualifies me from ESL.

I am not sick enough for the personal independence payment (PIP), because I choose independence and dress myself in the morning (although sometimes it takes me well over an hour) and on occasion I have simply stayed in bed. To qualify for PIP I could simply lie and then the state would have to provide not only PIP payments but a carer too to help with my everyday tasks.

And before someone tells me I should have had personal health insurance. I did until it was known that I struggled with my mental health and my provider (and subsequently others) refused me further cover even though my doctor wrote them a very strongly worded letter.

So readers beware. This is not about one particular political party, nor am I ranting about those that are getting benefits (although we all know the system allows cheats). I do not want this blog to start a conversation about all that is wrong in the country I love.

It is about ensuring you and/or your loved ones are aware of what could be waiting for them if they get long term sick and to make the necessary alterations/arrangements to allow for such a necessity.

Neither is this a cry for financial help from friends.

I am lucky because I am older now so have less expenses anyway and as soon as I fell ill I canceled loads of monthly subscriptions to reduce my regular outgoings. And because I have been so ill I barely spend a tenner a week on food !!!

Cheap as chips me ...although around my way fish and chips are most definitely not cheap!

But it is wrong and I would say this regardless of whether it was me or someone else. Thirty eight years of never taking a penny from the government and never cheating on my taxes; paying every penny I owed out of a moral obligation to do so to ensure those that needed help got it when they needed it.

I start week 24 of my treatment this week. Close to 6 months without earning a penny. I have surgery booked in week 31 and then further treatment (yet to be determined) follows that. So, with what I do know, I reckon it's going to be at least week 48 before I can get back to work; possibly even longer.

Anyone want to know what my thoughts are now with regard to paying my taxes?

In the meantime, I thought I would sign off with a very funny joke I heard the other day but alas, my memory cells have gone awry. This is the best I can do.

What does a mountain say when they are sick?

I'm feeling hill!!

Sorry !

Last treatment of this phase this week. That is such good news. I don't know what is more impressive; that I got this far without backing out or that I have lasted this long without an alcoholic beverage!

Bring it on....!!!