DLA wait times… part 22 (2023)

@Emsale83 adhd here too, so i understand the venting frustration. All the issues are with the government and department, all i was saying is don't fall for the rubbish that it's fraud claims. It isn't, it's staffing issues - all around.

I’ve just tried ringing this morning got threw and the system has frozen so now I have to wait for a call back 🤷‍♀️

Hi everyone,

I’ve not posted before, thought I’d join you all.
i have put 2 claims in - scan dates 2/8 and 7/8.
2 DS with undiagnosed ASD.
i have only received 2 texts, 9/10 and 31/10.
I only learnt about DLA earlier this year which is unfortunate as I’ve struggled with the older DS for 13 years and the sheer volume of school exclusions and difficult behaviour. It’s disappointing to know I could have had some financial help when I was absent from work and losing income very regularly the past 10 years. I’m keeping my fingers crossed his claim is successful, have many years worth of evidence.

good luck to everyone waiting for a decision x

@Krys83 I understood what you meant! 😂😂

@Mammalee5 Yes, that does make sense. I'm no fan of the government and agree they should hire more staff if that is the case. It just feels like we are left in the dark, no I retract that, we are left in the dark. Stories from people on here who get staff being rude to them, when they only want an update about their claim! What would be beneficial is an online tracking service, where we can see exactly where our child's claim is and what is happening with it, plus linking it to our Universal Credit account so we can ask for updates that way too. I may have sounded harsh in my last post, it wasn't aimed at anyone in this group. I'm AuADHD and say things that come across quite blunt sometimes. 😌

@Emsale83 when the gov releases details that they're cracking down on benefit fraud, this is what they're really doing. Making public believe it is fraudsters responsible for the failings rather than them. 1.4% in total across all benefits is from fraud and over payments. (So not just fraud). They give the audit contracts to pal companies, companies their families have shares in and not necessarily the best/ fastest. Covid lockdowns delayed hospital/ dr appointments so took longer for people to get diagnosis and evidence. So more people apply at the same time. As a government, if they're having more claims they should have hired more staff to handle the claims and keep waiting times down. Again that isn't the people's faults. There are so many different disabilities and mental health issues that 100's of claimants a day is realistic for the population and many of those are trying again after being too scared to do a MR the first time. Then there's renewals on top, mobility to be added, MR, all go to the same people. At 16 and 4 days, i understand the wait is horrible and i am mad at the system for not hiring more staff for the post covid demands. None of that is the fault of claimants who are all trying to help their kids.

@Emsale83 All the children I know on DLA need it, I doubt theres many milking the system if any especially as so much evidence and detail is needed for the application.

@Emsale83 not the one milking the system but the one that shares the same scan date as you 🙂

17 weeks on Wednesday I'm on the brink of losing my mind this wait is ridiculous especially if I have to do a Mr that's even longer!

@Emsale83 that would be me lol.
Scan date 31/7
First text 02/10
Second text 23/10.

There are lots and lots of children that are being diagnosed with illnesses everyday wether it be autism or children who have walking difficulties the autism spectrum is massive so affects people in different ways so I do believe that there are lots and lots of applications daily plus mental health is massive aswell which affects in different ways

18 weeks 5 days today. will try and call at 9am but I'm not hopeful, it's ridiculous how long it takes.

@MammyAng84 Any back pay yet?

Scan date 31/07 ( I think there is one other person on here with the same scan date?), 17 weeks exactly today, still waiting,I haven't phoned yet. After seeing some of you calling at week 18 and being told another 10 days, I don't think I'll get a decision until nearer Christmas now! I understand that they must receive 100's of applications a day, but surely there can't be this vast amount of disabled children in the UK? Please don't tell me people use their children to milk the system? I understand some try it on with PIP, they are adults. I probably sound harsh, but the wait is crazy, and it's those that do fake illness that are holding up the queue for us who are struggling and need this for our children! Please do not take offence what I have said, I am not insinuating that anyone on this thread is trying it on, I can see we are all worried mum's wanting what is best for our children. I'm just talking in general and thinking out loud as to why it's taking so long. Sorry, rambling again!

If my dd gets dla I can take a step back from one of my 3 jobs 😪its hard to juggle everything today im child minding I have to take the baby I look after with me to a elsa meeting then from there straight to the baby and toddler group I work at!So doing to jobs in 1.Tomorrow then I have a full house clean I'm feeling burnt out latly.I really think she will get a decline though

15 weeks today still a good few weeks for me yeat but we will see 🤞.Good luck everyone

@Luevzamum i think you have done all you can I don’t get why you have been turned down but I do hear a lot say that it is declined first time then when MR is requested it is usually overturned did they say why it was declined? Mine said I didn’t evidence severity of impairment or severity of behaviour so nursery wrote a letter and I had a couple more letters from paediatrician that I’ve now sent in. Good luck x

For anyone that's been awarded, how long did the payment take to go into the bank?
I was awarded on Wednesday xx

Good luck to everyone today hope you get the right answers xxx

Scan date 25/07 so 18 weeks tomorrow.
last text 23/10 5 weeks today.
I am going to call on Wednesday if I haven’t heard anything by then. Keeping my fingers crossed for us all, none of us would put ourselves through this if we didn’t believe our children needed the extra support x

I think it’s a decline it’s been 18 and a half weeks, was told it was flagged up to be looked at over the weekend, i’ve not recieved a text, nothing in the bank, either that or it’s still not been looked at 😩 This wait is so stressful

good luck to everyone waiting this week

Scan date 10th August. I've received two texts but still not heard whether yes or no. 15 weeks and 3 days so far.. the wait is the worst!

My 3 year old boy who I’ve just claimed for is on the autism pathway & getting loads of help whereas my now 18 year old daughter has been blocked from even getting on the path her whole life & told no it’s not possibly autism

@Ilovemychildren123 just read ur last post and that’s what I’m hoping for. My son is 13, been getting dla since he was around 8 but my son has severe behaviour issues aswell as mental health issues so much so that he won’t leave the house and has literally become agoraphobic. He will go out if I can take him for a drive but I only have access to my older sons car which isn’t always available. He hasn’t been school for 3 years and can be extremely violent towards me, left me with many injuries. I have a social worker from the children’s with disabilities team who comes out to see him every 6 weeks. Lockdown made everything worse as he is ocd diagnosed too and he was terrified of getting covid. Having access to a car is a litterall life line for me. Just to get him out for a drive for 30 mins a day save him being stuck in the house 24/7. They said he still doesn’t qualify a few days ago for HRM after a COC but I’m now doing a MR and social worker is going to do me a letter and the OT is too as she has just authorised for my son to have a wet room on our house and electric toilet as I still bath him and I still toilet him. He won’t leave the house for anything other than going for a drive each day. He is autistic has adhd, ocd, psychosis, tics, severe anger outbursts put at least 6 TVs thru in last 3 years, chronic constipation, anaemia vitamin d deficiency just so much going on with him. I just hope they see how difficult life is for him. Do u know what else needs to be done for a MR. Many thanks

My DC waited 4 years on a waiting list to be assessed. He was officially diagnosed within about a month of being seen but the clinician told me they were confident of adhd and suspicious of asd within 5 minutes of meeting him. I cried, I knew but to hear it from a professional moments after meeting them is emotional. I hope everyone's dc's get the support and recognition they deserve x

My DD is in on the ASD pathway. Lots of waiting and waiting again, and a few brick walls I’ve spoken to too. She’s 5 now and I’ve been concerned about her since she was 1. She’s finally on the pathway now though and should hopefully hear whether she has a diagnosis in Spring next year. So I’ve done her claim for DLA without her having a diagnosis, as we would have been waiting months on end and there is still no guarantee that she will be diagnosed anyway. So sent in as much evidence as possible and lots of detail on the form. 🤞🏻

My DS is 10 now, and was diagnosed with ASD when he was 3. That’s partly down to a HV being really on the ball when she saw him at his two year check. It all happened so quickly for him and at the time I didn’t really appreciate how difficult it is to get a diagnosis. And his DLA claim was looked at within about 6 weeks (6 weeks, imagine that!).