I got fired but life’s better on benefits – I spend my time on 5-star yachts, sipping fizz & don’t plan to find work
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BOARDING my yacht which is moored on the 5-star Ocean Village Marina in Southampton, I stop for a second to take it all in. The smiles from my friend who I'm treating tonight, the bottle of bubbly waiting to be popped and the immaculate white leather interiors of this beautifully-finished berth.
![[Erica Cartier says she is better off after losing her job and relying on benefits]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/im-benefits-doesnt-mean-i-895265968.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
Stood atop the yacht, it felt hard to believe the previous month I'd been fired from a job working for a small magazine and had literally been escorted off site. And now on my mini-break, and unemployed, things were certainly looking up. For starters we drank flutes of Prosecco, just the one bottle. Each.
![[In fact she was so much better off she could afford a luxury yacht holiday]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Erica-Yacht-2.png?strip=all&w=891)
We sipped on our drinks al-fresco on the outside decking area. There was good conversations to have here punctuated by the bubbles of our drinks and the crisp air of the 5-star marina. We later dipped inside the white cabin for Mediterranean sharing platters with just a drizzle of olive oil.
![[Erica says that more people should follow in her footsteps, living the high life on luxury yachts]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Erica-outside-her-Yacht-for-the-night.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
I felt more like royalty than an unemployed job seeker - but as I returned home and back to reality, I had no plans to seek out a job at all. I did some simple maths and worked out I was better off claiming an out of work benefits for people too unwell to work, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and also Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
![[She enjoyed fine food and drink on her holiday when the stress of work eased]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/f353e605-647f-48e8-a8d0-c79335b79c12.jpg?strip=all&w=547)
I was entitled to all of these as a person with psychosis and, at the time, schizophrenia and it put me in a far better financial position than my £16k a year salary - so much so I was funding luxury yacht holidays. Stress can be a factor in relapse with psychosis and my doctor had already mentioned he felt work was too much for me and offered me a sick note.
