going to a DLA appeal any advice please ??

[tracey1971]

hi and thank you for looking. I have histiocytosis x , emphysema and osteopenia in my spine i also have had a mild heart attack. i had been recieving the high rate mobility for the last 4 years as i am unable to walk far. i sent in a review claim in march and have been refused they have now taken away the car i used for my hospital appointments and that was my lifeline. i asked for a reconcideration and now that has been also refused so now i am off to an appeal. Has anyone got any advice they can please offer i am getting so stressed and down and feel quite alone at the moment

[Hidden]

You are rarely alone on this site!

I hope you go prepared to justify your claim and are not overwhelmed by the situation.

This is important, so important to you, and just a job for them!

Best wishes

Be positive

Kevin

[Mocarey]

best of luck with your appeal. remember you must always stress your symptoms on your worse days. You may have been too honest and said that you have better days. in my opinion they will latch on to this. If they were to walk in your shoes then you wouldn't have lost your benefit. Stress that you need your car to get too your medical apointments and indeed the stress itself makes your illness worse. They are only out to save money and not interested in your welfare. I truly hope you win your appeal. M

[Hidden]

I am wishing you a successful meeting and you find the right words to say.

Tell it like it is in your worst case situation. Take someone with you.

Take the paper copy you sent in to them and elaborate on what you have written in but be brief and direct, don't say words like maybe I can or on a good day, don't use those words. Don't say the words like I can manage ok if. Say words like I cannot manage, I am unable to etc.

Wishing you good luck and an appeal win.

BC

[phillips1]

Hiya Tracey

I don't know if you are already using them but if not phone your local council's Welfare Rights department. They are handling my appeal for me and very good they are.

Love from Bobby xx

[Hidden in reply to phillips1]

Can you elaborate a little on this Bobby please...

What sort of things would you ask of the council's Welfare Rights department?

Do they have an information pack for those attending DLA appeal meetings?

[phillips1 in reply to Hidden]

My local Welfare Rights have handled everything for me from filling in the original application form (the came to my home to do this) then when I was refused they arranged for the DWP to look at it again. I was turned down again so they are arranging the appeal. I tend to lose focus and concentration these days so I thought it best to leave it all to them. Some days I am fine (like today) and on others I don't even know what day of the week it is.

Bobby

[Hidden in reply to phillips1]

Sounds like a great option for people. I didn't know the Council did this sort of thing for people. Thanks for sharing that Bobby. Glad you are having a good day.

[Hidden in reply to phillips1]

your right bob welfare rights or citizens advice they have the bible where these tribunals are concerned, as BC said never say on a good day, put as much emphasis on your worst day ever and stick to it. I don't know how bad you are but imagine being totally incapable where you need 24 hour help and use that as your base line, it worked for me.

DD

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

oh and try to get someone in the know to go with you if you are attending

[phillips1 in reply to Hidden]

Dickydoo

Thanks for that. I'm stage 4 at the moment, but with a Fev1 of 31% I am just 1% away from Severe 5.

Bobby

[Gordon57]

Interesting to read the notes on the Mobility component of DLA, if only it was this simple! "You are likely to be entitled to the high rate of this mobility payment if you cannot walk or are virtually unable to. For example, if you struggle with even very short journeys such as walking around a supermarket. The lower rate of the mobility payment is for people who cannot go to places they don’t know without help from somebody else."

Sorry to say that I think this is misleading as it is not telling it like it is and could have people thinking they can actually get these allowances OK, so I'm not being totally serious, but that's clearly not the criteria used by the DWP when they make an award. I wouldn't make it through the supermarket doors, never mind walk round the place, unless I've just ended a course of meds and feel 'fighting fit' (cough, splutter...)

The initial DLA application has to be very accurate as to what your condition is and how it affects your daily life, what you are restricted in doing, aids you need to get about, how far you can walk without becoming distressed and every little detail that foes with that. That's why most people suggest getting help in applying so that someone can fill the form in who knows what sort of thing needs to be covered.

If that fails, and it goes to appeal, you need to say why you are appealing. Not just 'didn't you even read the form', as some may have said Emphasise the reasons for needing the financial help and stigma this allowance gives. You need the support of your GP and consultant, as well as anyone like a respiratory nurse who has seen you recently. Get permission to use their names as references and include that in your appeal too.

As people have already said, don't mention 'good days' and how much better you can cope at times. You need to be telling them about the bad times, when you can't even get up the stairs to the loo, or falling over after you've walked a few yards. That sort of thing, as long as it applies of course. I'm not trying to give anyone a short-cut to getting DLA, they can, and do, assess people to make sure they are not telling little fibs

Not all areas have a Welfare Rights facility. Many councils did have an officer or two assigned to this area, but iI know there isn't one locally as that department was scrapped by our council The local CAB office is probably going to close as they are swamped with people needing help, but just don't have the funding or staff to keep the office open. It is getting harder to find people who can help with forms and appeals.

If you are now having to miss vital hospital appointments, because your transport option has been removed, then get the consultant to write to you about this, and send a copy of that letter to the DWP. The main point is that you have to be quite precise in what you put in an application for the DWP, they pick up on certain things and disallow at the cross of a pen. To get the ticks you need to cover the real reasons for applying

[phillips1]

When I was turned down for DLA care component ( I already get the mobility component) my local Welfare Rights got the notification in the post the day before me. When I phoned Welfare Rights the day after I got my letter, they had already picked up on the reasons the DWP had refused me and had written to them asking them to review their decision. My local Welfare Rights department have been a Godsend to me. I couldn't have coped without them.

[James48]

Hello philips1, I just read your profile. From your age, I thought you would be on attendance allowance which people with disabilties can apply for 65 years and over? With your conditions, I cannot understand why you've been refused DLA? Seems very harsh to me. Good luck with the appeal

[phillips1 in reply to James48]

Hi Sirjames. The problem is that I have had the mobility component for eight years. Because I was on it at retirement age I can continue on DLA. If I now apply for AA I will lose some of the benefits of DLA over AA. It's rather complicated but Welfare Rights advised me to stay on DLA.

Best regards

Bobby

[James48]

I see, in that case I can't see you being turned down,as they surely know your emphysema will never get better, only worse as we all know.

Anyway best of luck again Bobby and let us know how you get on,

Jim

[Hidden]

Hope all went well at the appeal tracey1971.

[tracey1971]

hi thanks for all the help. i am still waiting for appeal date. i am getting all the info i can to support my claim i have asked the hospitals and my dr for the forms they filled in as i asked DWP last month for the info and still not recieved it i have phoned a couple of times regarding this and just get told we will send it but it never arrives so just getting it sent from the people that filled in the forms. i have recieved the Dr's part and she clearly states that my condition is the same as 4 years ago (when i was awarded DLA motorbility ) and there is no improvement and i am unable to walk 20 yards without sever pain and breathlessness, but i am just waiting now for the hospital report. thanks again for the support i am recieving x

[seyre]

Hi, When I first applied for DLA I was refused as I could dress myself and warm up a meal, so I just left it but when I went into Wythenshawe hospital the social worker was surprised and completed the form hence I now have DLA. I Think you need to take someone professional wth you and I was also told that it is not what you can do but how long it takes you to do it. Good luck they seem to be targeting easy pickings rather than catch the ones who are totally abusing the system. Susie Q

[Hidden in reply to seyre]

agree the ones who abuse /its the others who really need it gets treated bad.think the ones who abuse it and get away with it is cs they no wat is at stake money,us that need it as we are ill /tend to just say oh rite or ok then as we are to ill to think up storys and just want to get home an rest,not rite .

[Hidden]

read ur blog/bloudy shambles this atos or whatever.ur are very ill how cud they take all away from u/ many wishes for the appeal .walking stick cums to mind but not for walking either,good luck take care/the advice u have been given is rite .

[silvio]

There is always a next possible appeal. Ask at the online citizen advice bureau. Don't give up and ask for the help of an agemcy such the hospital or your Gp or any other official place where you normally would get support for your disabilities. With your kind of disabilities they cannot back you down. otherwise the rest of us wouldn't get nothing. Good Luck