DLA Tribunal

Hi all, (am new to this so apologies if I am unable to reply to you etc!)

I am 16 years old and have had severe asthma since I was born. I am under the hospital's respiritory consultant and am undergoing tests as they do not feel i fit in with the general 'asthma' symptoms. I have had DLA since i was a child, I think around 6 when i first got it. I have been rejected this time, appealed twice and am now going to a tribunal. Any ideas on what will happen? (Its tomorrow btw!) I have had extra evidence given me this week but I havent sent it in as I only recieved it Friday? Will they still look at it?

Thanks for any help!

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Hi,

Welcome and sorry to hear you've had such bad asthma to deal with your whole life - can't be easy!

I don't really know if I can be of much help but a couple of thoughts.

If you've only just received the evidence, you should take it with you and explain that you've only just received it. It may be worth ringing your local Citizens' Advice Bureau to see if they have any advice they can give you, if there's time before the tribunal. And is there anyone who could go with you, even just for moral support? Even now I'd find this a little scary and I certainly would have done at 16, though I believe they are generally fairly practically focused and informal and not like you'd imagine a 'court-type' thing to be. I have a friend training to be a lawyer who has acted as a free representative in this kind of case and while of course she wasn't the one whose DLA was at stake, she was nervous about presenting her client's case and getting her the best outcome but said it was less scary than she'd thought.

My friend was a representative with these guys:

thefru.org.uk/get-advice/so...

As your tribunal is tomorrow too late for this time, but in the future if you need to do this again it's possible your Citizens' Advice Bureau could refer you, then you might get someone to help you with the process. They aren't fully trained lawyers but do have to do training before they are accepted as a representative, and it can be helpful to have someone looking after that side of things for you.

Hopefully you won't need it though! Best of luck and I hope some of this has been useful. xx

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Hi!

Yeh it's not the easiest, but luckily my mum is really supportive. It seems silly that I've had higher rates of mobility and care for past 10 years or so, and suddenly I dont need it? When I actually have got worse! It seems as though they are generalising me, and they say that I am able to walk ok, when number one they dont have any evidence that I can, and also if they just walk with me they will see that I can't! It's not nice being 16 and having to have help from your mum to shower and get dressed, but they seem to think I can do it all myself! If i could, I can assure them that I would as it's not the nicest thing - and also the amount my independance is limited. luckily I've got extra evidence, which i started this week so couldn't have informed them sooner!

I am pretty nervous about it, I've been googling and reading about every post about DLA tribunals that make sense to my case!

I was planning on ringing the CAB, however in the past few weeks I've been really ill and so have been unable to think about my tribunal and have been concentrating on getting to my hospital etc! Dla just don't seem to understand.... I will definatly use CAB again if i had to!

Thanks for your reply, it was useful! xx

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Hi,

Glad it was a bit helpful! Sounds like a bit of a nightmare (the DLA process, but also having to rely on someone for things like getting dressed - not within my experience but you have my sympathies!)

From what I've heard there's not necessarily much sense that goes into these decisions sometimes (like it doesn't seem to have occurred to them that someone claiming DLA might be ill more often than most people and therefore not able to jump to their demands!) Certainly if they object at all to you producing evidence you haven't sent to them you can point out you've been ill - do you have any bits of paper showing how long you've been in hospital etc? In a sensible world you wouldn't need it but bits of paper always seem to help with this sort of thing and better to have it just in case, if you can.

Hopefully they will see sense and the medical evidence will convince them - sounds like it really ought to. If they don't, definitely worth asking the CAB about the Free Representation Unit for the future. Best of luck and let us know how you get on!

xx

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All of it is a nightmare! And stress doesn't help - which is what this process involves, so not helpful for me or anyone that has to go through it! It seems with the new government cuts they think the people who do need it and are completly truthful in their claim forms don't get it, but the people who may not need it as much and fib slightly (i know a few people that do this, can't say everyone does as some people do need it a lot but you know what i mean i hope!!) get the full amounts of both.

I have some papers I can use, but funnily enough i have a hospital appointment straight after my tribunal in which I may be getting admitted for tests - seems quite funny how they don't think i'm ill and only have moderate asthma!

If they do reject my claim again I will re-apply until I get what I feel I deserve! My mum is a single parent and the cost of having to keep our home heated is astronomical -which my DLA used to help with.

WIll let you know what happens tomorrow - hopefully will be good news otherwise more work into filling out forms etc all over again!

Thanks for your help btw! xxx

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How did it go? I hope you were successful.

S.Mama

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Still have had no reply! Thought they would have decided on the day, but they said they would get back to me.

Quite annoying having to wait for it! But I suppose they have a lot to look at and compare to the law I suppose!

x

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hope you did good