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Original poster

Another bl***y DLA rant!!!!!!

29 replies

luckymum · 26/03/2004 17:45

These people are a complete pain in the butt!! We've been waiting over 4 months now for a reply about dd's DLA. As of last Friday they had 'lost' the paperwork from her cardiologist. Today we've had the standard decline letter dated 23/3. If the report turned up on Monday that means they spent less than a day deciding whether to agree the claim!! For God's sake how can they have given it anything like the consideration it deserves???!!

Rant over. Thanks

OP posts:
misdee · 26/03/2004 17:50

still waiting for dh dla claim. 7months now. keeps getting turned down despite cardio reprts, gps letters and comments all over the forms from others.

Original poster
luckymum · 26/03/2004 18:06

Misdee...I agree with what you said on your previous thread. They seem to think every heart problem is fixable (I wish!). Dd is 10, her heart is just about as good as its going to get (and that ain't brilliant). I know she could be worse but thats not the point, she needs more care than a 'normal' 10 year old and that's what DLA is all about isn't it!

OP posts:
misdee · 27/03/2004 09:50

my dh needs more care, and things he can do on his own he does more slowly. i wihs his condition was fixable, the only way that will happen is with transplant. he has gone 2 years with no improvement so is now very unlikely he will improve.
think we should go to the DLA offices and do a demo to get heart patients the benefits they deserve.

stupid people dont even take into account the sentence by dh cardiologist saying 'premature death is a great risk due to his condition'.

Jimjams · 27/03/2004 10:03

have there been any court cases on heart conditions (or tribunals)? There have been some on autism. I enclosed the ruling on one and asked them to take it into consideration when I sent ds1's renewal off yesterday. Mainly because I am going for mobility and they always say it doesn't count as IQ is above 55, but the ruling says thats irrelevent in the case of autism.

survivour · 27/03/2004 10:39

You all have my support!!!!!!!! As if you don't have enough problems as it is. I will probably have this problem in November when our DLA runs out for my baby.

Original poster
luckymum · 27/03/2004 10:48

Thanks for that Jimjams, I'll do some searching. The problem is that, like autism I expect, children with the same dx have varying degrees and cope differently.

OP posts:
geekgrrl · 27/03/2004 11:09

do the BHF or other cardiac charities publish advice on applying for DLA? Or maybe they have a DLA adviser - lots of charities do. So sorry to hear of the problems you're having with this - as if caring for someone with a heart condition isn't enough. We've always been very fortunate with our DLA claims here and I thank my lucky stars for that. When I first applied for DLA for dd (she was 4 months old) her heart condition was an important factor in her getting the higher rate.
2under2 here - finally changed my nickname!

Loobie · 27/03/2004 11:41

Jim jams i get lower rate mobility for ds who has autism because he has no safety awareness and cant go anywhere on his own, he is 8.

misdee · 27/03/2004 11:56

i got some info from the cardiomyopathy association for dla application, which is pretty much what we put on the forms. if he gets turned down again, when can we reapply? will they look at the fact they have turned him down 2/3 times before and it has gone to appeal?

Davros · 27/03/2004 12:22

I get higher rate DLA and mobility for son with autism and I know LOTS of other people who do. My point was that he CAN'T ever go anywhere on his own yet an NT child the same age CAN, they just don't because they're not allowed, that's completely different. Also reposting some info I've posted before:

There is a leaflet to do with DLA that is printed by Social Security and The Benefits Agency, it is leaflet no DS706. To quote:

A child aged 3 or over may be able to get help with getting around if they:
..... are severely mentally impaired with severe behavioural problems and qualify for the highest rate care component

....A Child aged 5 or over may be able to get help with getting around if they:

  • can walk but need someone with them when they are walking outdoors
Jimjams · 27/03/2004 14:32

yeah- I've tried to get that across Davros. I'm going for higher rate mobility- will appeal if we don't get it.

Caroline5 · 27/03/2004 18:41

What a nightmare for you luckymum and misdee, fingers crossed for both your claims.

So is the mobility component only paid where you're getting higher rate care? I was going to look into applying for this when dd2 is 3, but we get middle rate care, so does that rule it out? (dd can't move around at all independently and will be 3 in May). Good luck Jimjams with your claim.

geekgrrl · 27/03/2004 18:46

caroline, I don't think mobility is that connected to the attendance bit. We're getting higher rate for both but I know people who get middle rate attendance and higher rate mobility.

geekgrrl · 27/03/2004 18:49

oh, and do the application now! They'll grant it ages in advance (6 months for us) and just dont pay out until the 3rd birthday, but once your ds has been granted it you can sort out stuff like your road tax exemption etc.

Easy · 27/03/2004 19:18

Our local council has a welfare benefits rights advisor, who helps fill in claim forms, and seems to know how they 'tot up points' towards the claim. He will assist with appeals, and attend tribunals with you if it comes to it.

It might be worth asking your local social services dept if there is such a person in your area.

Easy · 27/03/2004 19:22

Caroline, The mobility and attendance components are completely separate, and can be awarded seperately.

The problem can be that the higher rate attendance component can preclude the mobility component, as if someone is bad enough to need higher rate attendance, then they may be deemed too disabled to get out of the house.

Oh, and a person can only claim carers allowance if they get middle or higher rate attendance DLA

Caroline5 · 28/03/2004 18:02

Thanks geekgrrl and easy

Will try to get hold of the form to apply now then. I can't see how they can deny that dd has mobility difficulties, but maybe I'm missing the point!

Thanks easy about the carer's allowance - dh has recently got this as he is full-time carer at the moment (was made redundant last year and I'm now working quite a bit).

Jimjams · 28/03/2004 20:09

you can get higher rate mobility from age 3 IF you are receiving higher rate care. You can get lower rate mobility from 5- no matter what the care component is.

mrsforgetful · 29/03/2004 00:26

I heard this on radio tonight.....

45% of DLA claims have the 'wrong decision' made

and 54% of those that go to appeal ARE awarded DLA

The head of the DWP said that this means that 55% ARE correctly handled (Hooray!!!!+ sarcasm)

It was discussed that the main failing here was that Disabled people who were already suffering were made to suffer further with financial hardship.

All he had to say was that DLA was complex because it was not about 'what illness' but about how this illness impacted their life.....he touched on how also it was affected by how clearly difficulties were descibed.......

I was outraged by this as thinking particularily about mnetal and other hidden disabilities.....to think that if someone's description doesn't quite 'tip the balance' then the fact that they have specialist reports stating a diagnosed illness etc....yet they still get turned away....and then on the subject of appeals they said how few '1st timers appeal'....WHY oh WHY???? don't they pass them automatically to another 'decision maker' if they feel 'borderline' on an award.....oH! THEY DON'T WANT TO PAY OUT.

Original poster
luckymum · 29/03/2004 09:34

Mrs F.......it's just appalling. I'm going to appeal about dd's decision, they definitely turn you down first time just to see how serious you are about claiming.

OP posts:
misdee · 29/03/2004 09:37

dh went to appeal and still got turned down.

fio2 · 29/03/2004 09:46

The system is rubbish,!!! Its all about what you write and how you write it. Surely they can come up with a better way of assessin gthe child/persons needs.

Caroline5 you should think seriously about reapplying for you care component. Your dd should be gettting higher rate care and mobility, no doubt about it.

We get higher rate care and mobility but I am sure this is only because I had wonderful help off my HV and portage worker to fill in the forms. I know people who are alot worse than us getting middle and lower rate when they really should be getting higher. It really makes no sense to me

Caroline5 · 30/03/2004 17:49

Thanks fio, I feel a bit wary about "rocking the boat" now we are actually getting DLA at all!! We did have a community nurse help us as well, but I think that maybe we applied too early (when dd was only about 18 months) and the difference between dd and an average 18 month old was not so clear cut. It runs out in a year or so, so hopefully we can get it upgraded then. Will still try for the mobility bit anyway PS How are you by the way?

fio2 · 30/03/2004 17:50

I'm okay, did you get my email? I have been having probs with it. How are you?

Caroline5 · 30/03/2004 17:58

Hi, just got your email! Thanks - have been having problems with our internet provider, just can't get on there most of the time. Feeling very Mumsnet-deprived! We are all fine and looking forward to the end of term. Will reply soon