DLA Changes may be illegal

[hamble99b]

arthritiscare.org.uk/NewsRo...

[jom277]

Thank you. Although I do not qualify, I have shared it with my local advocacy agency, who will no doubt also add it to their website.

Jo

[Hidden]

I am glad you posted this as I have arthritis as well as fibro, just had to fill in a questionaire for next hospital appt.... Question ... How far can you run and how bad is the pain when you do.? .. .. Run, run, I can hardly walk.... I think this appt is going to be fun...

[irisjoy in reply to Hidden]

Run ? what is that , i have never been able to run lol , Even when they started me half way down the track on sports day i succeeded in coming last but guess what ? it didn't scar me for life , its just something i couldn't do

I also have arthritis or arthur itis i have kicked him out several times but he really doesn't take the hint sneaking back @ the most inconvenient times

Please note :No sexist remarks were made in this statement

[jacksie]

my DLA is until next February,i really don't know what i will have to do to keep it.I have arthritis too.I am worried about it although it's a long way off .It's very strange,i sort of feel guilty for claiming does anyone else feel this way,but on the other hand i convince myself that i am entitled to all i get,my job caused the arthritis and fibro well god knows,that's a nightmare on it's own.I'm glad we all have this site to solve most of our problems.jacksiex

[loz59 in reply to jacksie]

Over the course of the past two years the government have deliberately alienated the sick and caused resentment in the general public, thus making it much easier for them to implement their draconian cuts! Sickness is now a criminal offence! We have received such a negative press that I think it is only natural that we feel guilty, it is what the government want. I certainly do, but I know that I am to ill to work and that my claim is genuine.

Our cause is not helped by stories in the press, like the on making front page news today about the woman with 11 children who is able to keep a horse on the benefit she receives!

[Aisha]

I am on DLA I know I cannot walk 20 metres without being pain sometimes its less than that I use one crutch at the moment but sometimes I've had to use two. I suffer bad Fibro from the waist down when I walk its so painful that my legs hurt and besides that I have a tare in my knee cap and Arthritis in the other! I'm not going to worry to much and see what happens when the time comes, for all of us that have DLA I think it is wrong to take something away when we all had to fight for, it wasn't given to us lightly so what have we got to do now to prove that we need it? Does anyone know?....Aisha

[shazzap12]

I think it is especially wrong, when DLA is not dependent on whether you work or not. It is a benefit to help you cope with the daily struggles in your life. I work from home, have Fibro, Lumbar Spondylosis, IBS, and Arthritis. Every single step I take, Every single day I am in pain, some days worse than others, and I have to remember to walk slowly with gentle steps as if I put my right foot down to hard I get shooting pains in my knee so bad I have fallen over. My driving has reduced significantly as the pain in my legs, back and neck become horrendous, and the exhaustion I experience is sometimes so much, I have to sit and wait in the car sometime up to 20 minutes before I can start again. But I was only awarded DLA low rate care on appeal. Coincidentally when I did claim ESA, on my medical I was awarded 6 points for mobility, but nothing for care. My award runs until Dec 2013 and I am building my challenge on a daily basis. I have a symptoms tracker. I record each time I make a journey how long it is, where I went, the impact it had on me. Each time I have a fall or stumble and get an injury, my husband take pictures and I record it in my Fibro diary. When I have flare ups, how long they last, my longest has been 5 days in bed virtually unable to move. I will use all of this and relate them to each relevant question on the form, and if refused to challenge them.

[jacksie]

Yes ioz59 you are spot on,my big worry is i am having a stairlift installed because the stairs are very difficult for me,i'm also having a walk in shower all of them greatly needed,that's when i think neighbors will start pointing there fingers,they have no idea i am on benefits but the stairs and shower will confirm this.They won't stop and think i have spent 30 years working,that doesn't mean i can claim i know but i have contributed to the system and i'm not a fraud.I do think when they know or have ideas my life may change such as not going out so much and really keeping myself to myself if you understand.It's absolutely horrible i hate it,i think my job played a big part in me being like this but they wont say that they put it down to wear and tear,that's another rip off,i had to use a large electric knife and scissors for thirty years that says it all,thankyou for your vote of confidence.jacksiex.

[esagestapo]

DLA is not an unemployment benefit, people who are working qualify for it. The fact that it got thrown in with the Daily Mail benefit scroungers propaganda is down to how clueless the government is about benefits.

They made the same mistake with housing benefit, thinking only the unemployed claimed it, when there are more people in low paid jobs claiming HB than there are unemployed.

The same government is telling Amazon and Google to pay more tax when they are the ones who make the tax rules. Go figure as they say, that's like asking me to pay more than the forecourt price for petrol, or pay an extra 20 quid on top of the current price of car tax.

Morons the lot of them.

[Ozzygirl64]

When DLA first came in it was actually to aid those in work who were disabled, to stay in work. I am thinking the PIP, when DLA is abolished may well be used in just that way. This may wellresult in a lot of DLA claimants losing part or all of their DLA when the time comes to abolish it.

That is the only thing that gives me hope as I lost my case for ESA and chose to claim Carers Allowance for my daughter. This is counted as working so qulaifies me for a top up of Income Support becasue I cannot go out to work as such.

Plus we have a new benefit coming in called a 'Universal credit' which will replace aome other benefits including Income Support.

There are so many changes coming about and it sends us all into a panic somewhere along the line.

The best thing anyone can do is keep up with the PIP descriptors. They set it out in simple terms for the knowledgeable, i.e. those that want to take it off us. I found the second draft of the PIP descriptors just by typing PIP descriptors into my search bar and up it came. It made very interesting reading I can tell you. The same can be said for the DLA descriptors. The real meanings of the questions as set out are nothing like the ones you get when they send you the forms to fill in. And this is how they are managing to throw so many people off benefits so fast.

I wish you well xxxxxx