Disabililty Living Allowance

[yesreally]

Have namechanged for this.

A friends daughter (aged 8) has been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Obviously they have had to make some changes in their lifestyle, but she is still going to school, after school activities, sleepovers etc.
The child is to receive £200 a month in DLA.
I'm shocked. Not at them for claiming it, as they were advised to by the diabetes nurse, but by the system.
There are cancer patients who cannot get the drugs they need to stay alive due to funding issues.
Am I alone in thinking this is strange?

"Signing the forms" Yeah it is that easy.

Perhaps the parents said they were badgered into signing because they felt guilty about recieving it and didn't want to admit the truth. The current witchhunt for benefit cheats and spongers does make genuine claimants feel ashamed.

Tab- yes exactly, sometimes the hospital takes over because as you know it is usual to go into denial about your DC's condition or not understand it and how it will make a difference. Sorry all of my post wasn't aimed at you, i was just pointing out that if the hospital did that then they certainly haven't been awarded anything that they are not entitled to.

This type of diabetes develops quickly, as some of you know, so her parents may not have experienced the worst of her symptoms, work wise, but the hospital will know exactly what caring for her will mean. It is always better to claim sooner, after the initial qualifying period, rather than later.

A certain amount of the DLa my son receives goes toward the National Autistic Society and Cerebra. Paying it on. I also always give my pennies wherever I go to whatever charity collection jar is available.

Yet earlier today I found myself justifying why I couldn't afford to dedicate money to the British Heart Foundation on my own doorstep. The (eighteen year old) chugger wanted to know exactly why having an autistic child meant extra expense.

I namechanged in case someone recognised me, and therefore the family. My usual username is very close to my real name.

As I have stated before, I am NOT judging this family, as I would probably claim it in their situation.

I just wonder about the system that pays the benefits. The nurses did fill out the forms for them.

DLA is absolutely not compensation.

But crazily Maria Miller and with PIP plans (DLA replacement) seem to imagine it is, with bizarro statements like, "If a power wheelchair can be used to overcome part of your mobility problems, then you don't need PIP."

Er, how the fuck is one going to afford the wheelchair? And then the battery charging, maintenance, adapted vehicle and adapted house to accommodate the bugger?

I've had mobility DLA for years and am only now really getting full use out of it - previously I was so ill I didn't go out. (Of course I did use it for mobility substitutes, like online shopping and paying someone as an errandgirl).

She was in hospital for two days when first diagnosed, so the family could learn how to check bloods/administer insulin etc.

This has turned into a bit of a witch hunt tbh, all I was doing was questioning a system that is over stretched financially.

OP, what system?

In my posts i have explained that it comes from a different budget.

asked you what level of means testing you would condsider fair.

Explained the childs right to the benefit as it is not awarded to the parents.

The fraud rate for DLA is minuscule, mainly because it is so hard to get. In actual fact it is under-claimed.

What is your evidence for saying that this particular benefit is overstretched or are you talking about the welfare system in general?

Oh, and two seconds of Googling gave me this.

jendean.blogspot.com/

Still jealous?

DLA and other disability payments are designed to alleviate the long term poverty experienced by disabled people. They are put in place to prevent marginalisation.

For the record (as some people seem to be implying) I do not think they are committing fraud/claiming something they are not entitled to.

The means testing is obviously a tricky one, as we have seen with the furore over child benefit, but realistically, to a family that has an income of over £65,000, that £200 is going to sit in the bank.

"The nurses did fill out the forms for them" . . . right...

yesreally if you feel badly about it tell your friends to stop taking the money. They don't have to if they don't need it. Tell them they are just money grabbing scum who don't care about all those cancer patients going without drugs to give them this money

Infestation, what's your point?

Are you suggesting that £200 is compensation for having a life threatening illness, and therefore no-one should dare to question it?

The nurse will not have filled out "the" form for them, she will have filled out the medical professional section on the form. The forms take hours!! (my last one took me 36 fecking hours!! ) there is no way on earth she would have done it for them, she couldnt anyway its not the nurses daughter.

You may well be close to this family, but they are not telling you the full story! they will have spent many hours completing the form and should they have worded just on section of the form not quite right they would have been turned down.

I have my DLA renewal in front of me. Below is the broad introduction (slightly edited for brevity - I'm not hiding anything). There are then 25 pages of detailed Qs.

Help with getting around
The rate you can get depends on the amount of help you need and on the sort of help you need. [...]

Lower rate
You can get lower rate if you can walk but
? you need someone with you to make sure you are safe
? you need someone with you to help you find your way around in places you do not know well

Higher rate
You can get higher rate if
? you cannot walk at all
? you can only walk a short distance before you feel severe discomfort
? the effort of walking could threaten your life
? you have had both legs amputated above the ankle or at the ankle, or you were born without legs or feet
? you are both deaf and blind and you need someone with you when you are outdoors.[...]
?you are severely mentally impaired and have severe behavioural problems and need help with personal care both day and night

Help with personal care
The rate you get depends on the amount of attention, help of supervision you need, and on the sort of help or supervision you need. For example, you may need someone to keep an eye on you, or look after you when you are on dialysis. Or you may need help with things like washing, dressing, using the toilet, communicating with other people, or something like this. [...]

Lowest rate
You can get lowest rate if
? you cannot prepare a cooked main meal for yourself, if you have everything you need. This only applies if you are 16 or over
? you have care needs for some time during the day

Middle rate
You can get middle rate if
? you have care needs for some time during the day, or if you are liable to get into danger
? you have care needs for some time during the night

Highest care
You can get the highest rate if
? you have care need for some time during the day and night

Birdsgottafly- exactly. long term poverty experienced by disabled people.

Why do people persist in targetting the most vulnerable in society? Why not turn your beady eyes on to the system which allows massive companies like Boots to pay minimal tax? George Osborne with his tax avoidance (which is OK because it's not tax evasion) and so on? Target that. Complain about that. Question that. Leave the poor and vulnerable alone, they're having a hard enough time as it is. If the rich paid their dues then you'd forget about the tiny amount of money that is being 'wasted' on DLA and other benefits.

Well said Jux

ThisIsANiceCage, that's interesting. I would imagine it would be the middle rate, as she is only a child, and would possibly need care day and night.

A nurse went through all the form with them, and filled it in for them.

No that is not what I am suggesting.

ThisIsANiceCage if someone were to post the DLA form in its entirety the MN servers would crash.

Jux, well done. It took three pages for someone to bring that up. I thought it wouldn't get past page one.

we have a household income over £65k.

£200 a month woudl not even begin to touch what we have paid out for dd1 over the last few years - not even on daily life situations, let alone the school we funded for her (£50k/year) while we fought for the right to send her to that school (yet more £000s on legal fees for somehting that is actually a basic right - a suitable education)

this is why it should not be means tested - by your reckoning we would not be entitled at all, yet our costs are not sustainable on a long term basis.

you have no idea what that £200 will be spent on - you have already pointed out they have made some changes to their lifestyle - what has that cost them?

your OP seems to imply that since the child in question is living a (to outsiders) typical life - school, slepovers etc, the family shoudl not be entitled to claim. so what level of disability should be entitled ot claim, in your opinion? (bearing in mind there are multiple levels of DLA)?

It's quite simple really. As a society we have decided that the civilised thing to do is for society to pay the costs of disability, not the individual. In the same way that society pays the costs of education, not the individual.