As ElectroSensitivity is not recognised in the UK yet, it can be very difficult to convince your GP and the authorities that electricity is indeed making you sick. Many doctors, even family doctors which you may have had a great relationship with for years, greatly opppose the concept of Electromagnetic fields making you sick, and dismiss it as imagination or quackery, although that is starting to change. Finding a doctor who sympathises with ES can be a great struggle, but they are out there.

If you are intending on claiming Incapacity Benefit and/or some form of disability allowance then finding an understanding doctor is vital as you will need medical certificates and letters to support your claim(s). It must be said at this point that even once you have found a sympathetic doctor, there isn't much they can do to treat you. You must become your own expert on the condition and seek to treat yourself.

Almost all of those who do manage to claim Incapacity Benefit successfully are diagnsosed with another related condition, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibrromyalgia, skin dermatitis and so on, rather than the ElectroSensitivity itself. Trying to convice the authorities that ElectroSensitivity is the cause of your problems is almost certain to cause firm opposition and is likely to end in disappointment. Instead, try to pinpoint a particular area of your symptoms which is a recognized medical condition, for example one of the conditions mentioned above, and use that as a basis for your claim.

Under Incapacity Benefit rules, for the first 28 weeks of sickness you must have medical certificates from your doctor (often a med3 or med4) stating that you are sick. As mentioned previously, it will be very difficult getting your doctor to say you have ElectroSensitivity, so try and pinpoint a related condition.

After this period you will be assesed by social security for long-term sickness using a variety of methods including questionaire's, medical examinations, medical certificates from your doctor, as well assesment of your ability to do your current job with the medical condition you have.

These assesment methods are terrible for ElectroSensitives, as they generally do not take into consideration the possibility that you may be sick becuase of electricity. Instead they focus on physcial ability (ie. your ability to walk, sit, reach, lift objects etc.) and also your mental health - neither of which are generally applicable when avoiding electricity.

The key to winning your claim, is in an exceptional circumstance of the Personal Capability Assessment, known as Regulation 27. It states that an individual is eligible if:

"he/she suffers from some specific disease or bodily or mental disablement and, by reasons of such disease or disablement, there would be a substantial risk to the mental or physical health of any person if he/she were found capable of work"

I started my claim for Incapacity Benefit on 10th February 2003. The DSS continually denied that I was sick for 17 months until finally with the help of a very understanding & helpful doctor, a represenattive from The Citizen's Advice Bureaux and 40 letters back and forth to various people and organisations, I won my appeal at a tribunal hearing.

The statement of reasons, receieved following the hearing, included the following text:

"It was clear from the appellent's physical appearance at the Tribunal that he was significantly affected by some sort of Inflammatory Dermatitis. The causes of this condition, and whether it is a sensitivity to electricity, chemicals or some other causes was not for the tribunal to determine, nor could we have done so. Neither was it our function to determine whether this is a physical or mental condition, or a combination of both.

"It is enough that we were satisfied that the Appellant genuinly suffered from this condition, and that there was medical evidence that a return to work would exacerbate it and there would thereby be a risk to his health. This invokes the exceptional circumstances provisions of Regulation 27. We had this evidence from the Appellant's GP [Name Removed]. We noted that his previous GP [Name Removed] was of the same opinion. The Appellant has circumscribed his own life as he genuinely believes any exposure to electricity or exposure to chemicals will exacerbate his condition. He has special arrangements for "signing on" in an electricity free environment. Against the background of the medical evidence available to us we concluded that there would be serious risks to this Appellant in an ordinary workplace situation whilst this condition persists.

"It seems reasonable to the Tribunal that there would be adverse consequences to the Appellant's health, if he were found capable of work. We considered that the Appellant satisfied the old head of Regulation 27(b) as modified by the Moule case, in that he suffers from a specific disease and by reason of that disease there would be a substantial risk to the physical health if he were found capable of work. Accordingly, the Appeal was allowed."

I hope you find this information helpful. It took me 17 months to successfully convince the authorities that what I had was real. Hopefully, it will be quicker for you.

The C.A.B can provide fantastic support when trying to claim Incapacity Benefit. Often getting help and the information you need from Social Security can be difficult and frustrating to say the least. The C.A.B know the benefit system inside-out and are on YOUR side. They will look into your problems with great detail and help you with your claim. If the decision goes to appeal, they may also provide a representative to go to the hearing with you.

Making a claim for Incapacity Benefit can be complicated and having a C.A.B member on board can make the difference between winning or losing your claim.

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