Victoria B on 10 May 2021

Well, I'm now having a mild panic attack. Message on my Universal Credit account today telling me someone is ringing me tomorrow to review my account. I'm not sure if it's a normal part of the job centre's reopening or if I've done something wrong (it's written in a rather cold and direct way, with more emphasis on the dangers of not taking the call, such as sanctions, than what the call is about), so I'm panicking about it and can't mentally prepare myself for a phone call that I don't know why or what it's about and I keep thinking I'm about to be punished for something. I'm really hoping this is an overreaction if anxiety on my part. In my mind I often have panic attacks on Universal Credit what things happen that mirror how my ex would treat me, so it's possible my anxiety is blown out if proportion here because of my experiences with my ex (such as anytime my ex said we needed to talk me or my kids would get hurt, so I'm pretty fearful of what it means when people say they need to talk to me). I mean, honestly, how hard would it be for the person who write the message on my UC account to add a sentence like 'this is a routine process' or 'please prepared by xyz' instead of just saying "Do not ignore this message we are carrying out a review of your information, and so I need to speak with you about your Universal Credit claim. I'll be contacting you by telephone tomorrow so please make sure your telephone contact details are up-to-date and correct. If this time isn't convenient, please let us know when the best time to call you would be. The call may appear on your phone as 'Withheld' or 'Private', so please be sure to answer. We'll be checking a few details with you on this call to make sure you're entitled to receive Universal Credit. You might also be asked to provide some additional evidence, but we'll discuss that on the call. If we can't get in contact and speak with you after 2 attempts, your claim will be suspended, and ultimately closed. If the claim is closed, there will likely be an overpayment, and this will be recovered from you. Regards" I've sent a message to my UC coach to ask for more details about what I can expect but they're often slow to respond, so trying to convince myself I've nothing to worry about, I know I've done nothing wrong, obviously I'm entitled to Universal Credit (without Universal Credit I'd be homeless and even more hungry then I already am), but the needing to prove it again after I proved it when I joined Universal Credit confuses me. I know my anxiety is due to the ex but I'm still anxious, why does UC have to be so unspecific in their messages, one extra sentence could have saved me a panic attack.

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