False claims for DLA?

[CatWreathkeith]

Can someone explain to me how this is even possible?

My dm has undergone cancer treatment twice, and this has left her with osteoporosis. Two of her vertebrae have crumbled completely, and the rest aren't looking great.

She can't stand for any length of time, can't iron, do her housework or go shopping, nor can she lift more than a couple of pounds.

We recently applied for dla (or pip, as it is now called) so she could pay someone to do her housework/ironing and have been told she doesn't meet the criteria, so I am travelling 60 odd miles twice a week to do it for her (and blow dry her hair, she can't even do that without intense pain)

She's got medical evidence for all of this, but the assessment is that she isn't in enough pain to qualify.

Yet I still hear people bashing people who do receive dla on a regular basis, particularly for 'having a bad back'. How the fuck do they think it's an easy thing to claim fraudulently, and how as a country have we become so unsympathetic?

[CatWreathkeith]

I have just spoke to dm. I think it is worth appealing, as she doesn't seem to have filled the form in with her worst days in mind, more of an average of best and worse. (Which is still bloody painful)

Unfortunately she is of the soldier on with gritted teeth generation, and getting her to apply at all was a struggle (her logic was that there are people out there worse off and they deserve it more) I will get the new forms and fill it in with her I think.

Mairy I may well take you up on your offer.

[Sidge]

I've applied for DLA 3 times for my daughter (successfully) and helped others to fill in PIP forms in my line of work.

IMO a fair proportion of the applications are rejected on the basis of the content of the application - people just don't put enough detail on the form, they don't break it down enough.

You can't just write "I need help getting dressed as I am in pain" (for example) as that can be interpreted as "it hurts a bit so someone needs to pass me my socks".

You need to be very, very detailed. If you can fit it into the box you haven't written enough!

And to claim Carers Allowance you have to be caring for them for at least 35 hours a week.

Good luck.

[HouseofEliot]

My mum applied and was turned down. She has neck and back problems. She appealed and it was awful for her. One of the panel was in a wheelchair and just kept saying you aren't as bad as me. My father was told to keep quiet when he tried to support her. It was a foregone conclusion they waited 12 months to find out.

[Sidge]

PS remember the application forms are processed by admin staff not medics, so you need to be very explicit. For example instead of "I have to take pain medication" write exactly what is taken, by which route, how long it takes, the time and effort involved in requesting, collecting, ordering, storing and preparing medication. Stuff like that.

[EbwyIsUpTheDuff]

the key phrase is "at my worst I..."

[youarekiddingme]

I definitely agree it's the wording. My friends DS is more severely disabled than mine -'however I got a higher rate than her awarded with no appeal. She had to appeal and then tribunal for correct rate.

All due to wording.

"X is hyperactive, he's always hurting others and hitting and kicking them. He runs around the supermarket and swipes things off shelves. He uses a SN buggy"

"Y has difficulties with sensory processing. He can become easily overwhelmed with usual noises or loud noises and with different lighting. He also struggles in large crowds as he is wary of others due to the suspected ASD - he cannot predict others movements or intentions. Y needs constant reminders and distractions when out and we have often not bought all the food needed for a week due to needing to cut supermarkets visits short due to his sensory needs. This means we have to repeat the process again to feed the family properly".

X is far worse than Y - Y doesn't 'meltdown' and isn't destructive. But Y is a child with a disability and x just looks like a naughty little bugger on paper.

[WitchesGlove]

Sorry you are going through this, OP

It's all because of people like White Dee from benefits street claiming they've got 'depression'.

[CatWreathkeith]

WitchesGlove I an reasonably sure that mental illness is just as hard, if not harder to prove as my dm's condition, and therefore anyone in receipt of pip or dla for depression has been through just as tough a time trying to claim.

Depression can be fatal.

[x2boys]

my boy gets dla he is four and a half he has a diagnosis of asd and learning difficulties I would gladly not have the dla if my son wasn't disabled

£54/week doesn't really make up for all the extra worry and stress!

[TheFairyCaravan]

Phone the CAB, they will have people there who can help you fill the forms in. I'm going to PM you with the name of a web based company that is really useful for giving you hints and tips of how to fill the forms in and the correct vocabulary to use.

Always, always use your worst day. They turn so many people down, they are trying to reduce the amount of genuine claimants by 20%, so don't give up yet.

I'll get the links for the company and send you them via PM.

[ChristmasDawndonnaagain]

It's all because of people like White Dee from benefits street claiming they've got 'depression'.
Apart from the fact that this is untrue, it's irrelavant. This has so far been a supportive thread, let's try to keep it that way.

[LittleDonkeyLeftie]

OP, where I live, I know for a fact that the vast majority of claims are rejected as a matter of course.

They do this in the hope that fraudulent claimers will be dettered and only genuine claimants will appeal.

So, very rarely does anyone get DLA without appealing.

Best of luck!

[raltheraffe]

DH and I get DLA.

The criteria for the receipt of DLA has tightened up immensely in the last 4 years. MIL was on high rate mobility and now does not qualify. This is despite the fact her mobility has got worse, not better. I have a friend with a brain tumour who applied in April 2012 and got jack and was told if she had applied the year before she would have probably got it.

When DH and I get assessed for PIP, DH will have no trouble as he is blind, but as mine is an invisible disability I could lose my payments.

Makes me sick.

[Summerisle1]

DH's ex-wife now works as a volunteer at a benefit rights centre specialising in PIP, AA and DLA. She says that it is the way in which you present the information that's crucial. She's yet to see anyone who didn't qualify for the benefit they applied for but it most cases, they went for the "on a good day" option rather than the "on a bad day" one. Which is natural for many people. However, this makes it the easiest thing for an assessor to reject a claim.

It might be worth getting advice on appealing and certainly advice on the right way to describe your dm's health problems. This is not a time for soldiering on bravely but for being brutally realistic.

[raltheraffe]

White Dee never got DLA, she only got ESA.

I find your comment judgemental and nasty. I have bipolar and work, I go cycling, manage to do shopping etc. That is on my good days, I have bad days where I cannot even get dressed or prepare food for myself.

FWIW I have seen White Dee on TV and I recognise some of her behaviour in myself, she does appear to have symptoms suggestive of bipolar disorder.

I am very upset by your comment and find it disablist.

[Groovee]

When your mother was turned down, did you request a mandatory reconsideration? I would certainly appeal. There is a great group on facebook called Fightback who have lots of notes for how to apply, and appealing.

[Babyroobs]

I think it has become increasingly difficult to claim in the past few years. My friend claimd DLA for her child a few years ago very easily, the child's problem was that his speech was a bit delayed ( not hugely so). This resulted in her getting hundreds of extra pounds a month in DLA and extra tax credits. In all honesty if she were to apply today she I doubt dhe would e awarded it. I would appeal you mum's decision.

[ChristmasDawndonnaagain]

Really Baby because I have been claiming for dd for 18 odd years, and it ain't that easy. Having said that, lower rate, which is probably all your friend got, is currently only 21 quid a week, that's all of eleven hundred a year and you don't get extra tax credits for lower rate dla, only middle or higher rate.

[TheSilveryPussycat]

I used to help with DLA applications when I was a paid Health Advice Worker for the CAB. Yes, do describe the worst days, tick the 'always' rather than 'sometimes' box - just because some days are a bit better it doesn't mean they are Ok! - and try to describe the pain (sharp, like a knife, like toothache in the knee (as one client described theirs), constant etc. Try to make the assessor feel the applicant's pain when they read it.

I also used to describe eg getting up, step by step. The number of times clients have said "I just get up" when I knew by looking at them that it's a coping strategy to think of it like that. Gentle questioning then elicited that e.g. they sat up in bed, got breath back; then swung round to side, got breath back, etc etc

I'm ood now, but vaguely keeping up via the brilliant benefits and work site. Worth looking at, and IMHO worth paying £20 sub to read their detailed guides to appying for ESA and PIP (and AA I think)

[TheSilveryPussycat]

They also have a forum, and advice on appealing.

[raltheraffe]

My husband had an ESA assessment as he is being migrated from SDA and when we got there we were told we were not allowed to use the disabled entrance and DH had to enter via revolving doors which he cannot manage as he is totally blind. The ATOS staff were laughing and joking, until I took my mobile out and said I was phoning their head office to explain DH would not be attending the assessment today as we had arrived and were not permitted to use the disabled entrance. They soon let him in the disabled entrance when I did that group of nasty bitches.

[MadameOvary]

OP I have PM'd you.

[ilovechristmas1]

just to give op a little hope

i was diagnosed with Bipolar in April,applied for pip,i filled in the forms by myself but did fill every box and went into great detail,left nothing out

anyway heard back from them in October and awarded enhanced rate for 6yrs,NO medical etc paper decision,to say i as was stunned was an understatement and recieved it all backdated

i then learnt that it can also add other monies to my ESA,my money has gone up alot and now i can pay for help,wellbeing etc it has made a huge diferrence

keep going op and dont give up