mobility

[Amanda]

can people on this site who get the mobility component of DLA walk at all? I have had my claim refused twice now and am going to go to tribunal with the help of CAB.I can only walk a few steps at a time with the help of furniture in the house and crutches or mobility scooter outdoors.I was wondering why exactly the mobility element exists if no one qualifies for it.

[cobweb]

I believe that they have tightened up with the criteria. I was awarded high mobility with similar abilities as you, but have just had to re-apply & even though my mobility is even worse now, I'm not too hopeful

[nanaanna]

I receive higher rate of mobility and was awarded it 4 life but know that will probably change when they change the benefit (will probably lose it then). I am similar 2 u and get around on walking stick or crutches when I'm out and about r use a wheelchair. I can't walk very far either.

Sometimes I think its also who reads and checks your claim, if they r having a bad day everyone suffers. Don't think they like 2 b told they made a wrong decision so when u appeal against it ur normally turned down again. Really thing the only way 2 overturn their decisions is 2 go 2 tribunal which puts us under so much stress thus aggravating r conditions even more. All we can hope for is when they redo dla they have learnt from mistakes Atos has made and genuine claimants r no longer penalised and get what they deserve without all the hassle that usually goes along with r claims.

Lets hope Amanda ur tribunal goes smoothly and u get whats rightly urs and u cobweb I hope u get sorted without appeals. Soft hugs 2 u both x

[Hidden]

Good luck at the Tribunal I'm sure you will get a fairer hearing and have a very good case, how on earth could they refuse you for the higher mobility rate with your difficulties?

[julieevh]

I get higher rate mobility. I can walk but not for more than a few metres at a time and then I use sticks. I make good use of mobility scooters to help - but even that is tiring and makes my hands, arms and shoulders ache after a while.

xx

[Amanda in reply to julieevh]

I can't even walk for one metre without stopping & get no mobility

[hamble99b]

I was advised that :-

when it asks if you can walk "walk" implies the movement of a well person at their pace.

If you struggle to perform even the most basic walking steps and pace - e.g holding on to things and/or are in pain; then the answer is "no" you can't. If you put "yes but...." whatever else you put is ignored only the "yes" is read.

In further info you put that you cant even though you try with crutches, holding furniture, etc...

Add if this causes and/or worsens your pain e.g. in your hands.

ask admin for the benefit & work info.

regards,

sandra.

[Amanda]

thanks all

[Extremelygrumpy]

Wow Sandra that's very helpful.... I too walk with sticks use mobility scooter and only get low rate care... Am up for review June next year. I am worse but am holding out little hope of getting anything but using my sticks makes the arthritis in my hands worse good info thanks

VG x

[Jomple]

I get low rate for care, at the sametime my friend was awarded high rare mobilty, she has CFS and works full time, drives her own car to work and has a blue badge!! We applied at the same time as I have CFS as well as fibro and arthritis, I have a 20 a week job that I have not managed to do for a few months now, and even when I am at work I car share with my husband who works in the building next to my work, when I finish at 12, if I am not up to driving my husbands takes me home in his lunch hour, so my sister now has my car!! Xx

[Lima6MCT]

As you know in order to get High Rate Mobility (HRM) you have to meet the appropriate criteria. This is how DWP define it for their Decision Makers (DM):

"DLA mobility component - definitions

Unable or virtually unable to walk

One of the conditions for entitlement to the higher rate DLA mobility component is

that the disabled person is unable or virtually unable to walk.

People are considered to be unable or virtually unable to walk if their physical

condition is such that

1. They are unable to walk

or

2. Their ability to walk out of doors is so limited when considering:

2.1 the distance over which or

2.2 the speed at which or

2.3 the length of time for which or

2.4 the manner in which they can make progress on foot without severe discomfort, they are virtually unable to walk

or

3. The effort needed to walk would put their life at risk or be likely to lead to a

serious deterioration in their health.

The DM should not take account of where people live or the nature of their work."

I have HRM under "2. Their ability to walk out of doors is so limited when considering . . . 2.4 The manner in which they can make progress on foot without severe discomfort, they are virtually unable to walk".

If you are claiming under this criteria the severe discomfort MUST be as a result of the physical act of walking regardless of any background pain/discomfort you may have. So if you write on your form, as I originally wrote on mine, that you're in constant pain and in severe discomfort even before taking a step, then the DM, as they did with me, is likely to turn you down for HRM. You have to emphasise that any pain/discomfort you are already in is severely increased by the act of walking. Once I clarified that in spite of being in constant pain it got considerably worse to the point of being in severe pain/discomfort when I walked (helped by a report confirming that fact from my GP who they hadn't contacted previously) I was awarded it on reconsideration.

I can only walk very slowly (don't get caught behind me if there's a fire - especially if there are stairs involved!) and I have a limp due to problems with my hips so you also need to write things like that if they affect you on your forms. The more information you can give them the more they have to base their decisions on.

[Lima6MCT]

Forgot to say that it's only your ability to walk outdoors that they take into consideration for High Rate Mobility. However having said that you also need to put down about problems you have getting about in the house as they assume that if you can walk ok around your house & garden you are able to walk 200m. If you go shopping in a large supermarket then they assume you can walk 400m so if you use a trolley to support yourself walking around the shop & take a lot of rest stops or if you have to use a mobility scooter remember to write that down on the form as well.

[Hidden]

Lima thats brilliant advice but I said on my disability form before last Christmas, that sometimes to get out of the house i went to the small local shopping centre (One big shop), every few weeks or months to get out of the house with my son or daughter and got a taxi there being helped by my family and used a trolley to rest on and sat down after a while for a rest, but the examiner still wrote "client said she rested on a trolley but that she could walk unaided 400 metres around a supermarket", how can you win! xx

[jaxcross]

Hi, i feel strongly about this, i know people on DLA who are not in as much pain as me. My real problem isn't the walking so much as the after wards. For example if i was to walk around a shopping mall the pain gets so intense and the fatigue kicks in so bad that by the time i get home i'm in agony and so tired all i can do is rest, i couldn't dream of doing a FULL DAYS WORK anymore after working all my life, because i'd be completely out of it for 24 hours after a days work, and that's the frustrating bit.

I too have been turned down twice by DLA and as adviced i've been told it's down to the reply your Dr gives to the DLA office re your ability..

[bigpants]

I was also turned own for the badge i wasn't even applying for DLA just a badge was told as long as you can walk then you wont get badge if that's the case then most the people with blue badges wont be getting them ,my daughter i Down Syndrome was awarded DLA plus mobility for 11years when she turned 16 the mobility was taken off her i appealed telling them just because she is now classed as adult doesn't mean she is cured i got it back indefinitely but who knows next year what will happen its a joke an all because of the people who abuse the system i know few who o it an get away with Lima that was brilliant article you wrote thanks :).

[Truthseeker in reply to bigpants]

Isn't that the truth. I know of someone who claims full DLA and she has been caught lifting a sofa by someone. Some people have no shame. It's terrible when poorly people suffer because of it.

[5exy1]

Thankyou all for the Excellant advice,I've been turned down because I can walk with a stick I've asked for a review I send in a 5 page letter and my MRI scan report,they didn't even ask my doctor for my medical report it was based on a ESA medical think your tips might help me if I fail the review or appeal thankyou