DLA Appeal Advice and Personal experiences p

A question about : DLA Appeal Advice and Personal experiences p

MSE Update: For futher info on benefit appeals see this guide from Advicenow or ask for help in the main Benefits and Tax Credits board.

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My mother applied for DLA in August 2003. She suffers severe pain when walking for short distances and needs assistance throughout the day for the toilet, bathing, getting dressed, preparing meals and other general household chores. She was awarded the lower rate care component and appealed against it. They then sent out a doctor to assess her. The doctor was there about half an hour, asked her questions on what she could and couldn't do, gave her a quick examination and left. The appeal was refused and we requested a copy of the doctors report. Basically the doctor had written everything that my mum had said then ticked all the boxes to say that my mum was capable of doing everything (including what she had been awarded the lower rate for). She more or less put everything down to depression which my mum does suffer from but only as a result of her disability.

We appealed again and are waiting for a date for the tribunal hearing (or whatever it's called). She has a recently written letter from her doctor supporting her claim to take with her and is taking a representative from Advice Works with her.

I can't believe that people have to go through this to get what they're entitled to and you wouldn't believe the stress it's causing my mum. My mum's gp has been treating her for this illness for almost a year and we also received a copy of her report which backs up what my mum told them. You would think that they would take the word of her gp (the person who actually treats her regulary) over a doctor who met her for half on hour.

Has anyone else had any experiences like this?

Best answers:

• Susan,
  I worked for Citizens Advice and there are many people who have to go through distressing appeals.
  You say she is taking a representative with her - it's important she attends herself as the success rate is higher if you are there in person.
  As you illustrate here, it's not just the person who is under stress but also their family and friends who are concerned for them. I hope all goes well with the appeal, let us know how she gets on.
• Thanks Fran. We're still waiting on a date but I'll keep you posted.
• I suffer with MS and have recently had a claim for DLA turned down. When I was assessed by their Dr. I was, probably unfortunatly, having a good day. I want to appeal against the decision but the whole thing seems to be weighted against unpredictable conditions such as MS.
  The other thought I've had is that the decision letter is dated 29th July 2004 which is one of the days that the DWP staff were on stirike (it was all over the news that day) is there any mileage in suggesting that my ruling was made by a Manager who was 'maintaining the service to the public' but has little recent front line experience of the decision making process?
  i.e. it was just a desk clearing exercise to make them look good when the staff were on strike.
• Highwayman,
  You have a month to appeal this decision. I suggest you go to your local Citizens Advice Bureau or other Welfare Benefits Advisor for help with this. They can negotiate on your behalf and may be able to represent you at an appeal.
  You may want to ask: The msscociety for any possible help too.
  Re your suggestion that the decision may have been made by the "wrong" person, you would need to find out who did make that decision and when (the date might be wrong or it may not be the date the decision was made). If you still think that is the case you can ask them to review your application (a Welfare Benefits Advisor will be able to help with this).
• Thanks Fran.
  I've just had the appeal docs through and a copy of the medical examiners report (which is practically illegible).
  I'm aware of the appeal timescales but I'm not sure if I would be better having the decision re-assessed or if I should go straight to an appeal tribunal. To be honest the whole thing is pretty daunting! especially when you are made to feel like some form of scrounger when ytou think that you are only trying to claim what you might be owed.
  The DWP standard letters do give the impression that your condition is irrelevant and you shouldn't be wasting their time.
• There is a guide to DLA Appeals here Benefitsandwork Appeal guide
  however you should be aware that those people who appeal with the help and support of a professional welfare rights organisation have a much better success rate that those who manage their own appeals, so it would be worth also looking at the BenefitsandWork guide Getting help with your benefits
  The point you make about your condition on a particular day (EMP visit) compared with your condition as it normally is or can be on bad days is a valid one which the appeal panel will take seriously. It would help the panel properly appreciate this point if you kept a diary, logbook, of you need for care from another person during the day and/or night so that the occurrence of "Bad days" over a period of a month or so could be monitored. You may find some weather conditions particularly stressful, these should be noted. Once you have read the EMP report you will be in a better position to ask your own GP/Consultant to refute those statements which may have mislead the Decision Maker over the severity or duration of how you experience the condition over a period of time.
  I think your other point regarding the date of the decision rather gives the appearance of clutching at straws and I think it could be counterproductive. Many DWP workers didn't strike and your DM could have been one of them. You have only a month to notify them of your intention to appeal so you really do have to reply now. Before you can make a detailed reply to the Appeal Panel you need to see the medical evidence on which the decision was based and have a written statement of reasons for that decision. If you write for these now you will have a fortnight from then to get your appeal in. In some areas the Welfare Rights providers prefer to do all the work themselves and are reluctant to help at the appeal if they haven't prepared the submission so if you are hoping to use a welfare rights professional you should see them straight away, before writing for the medical evidence and statement of reasons.
  Here is the section of The Disability Handbook devoted to Multiple Sclerosis. It would be worth reading so that the way your condition presents which differs from the official DWP understanding may be highlighted in your submission.
  You may get a better idea of how the Appeal Panel understand the criteria by reading the Disability Alliance digest of DLA decisions and by contacting your local MS support organisation which may also be able to provide practical support for your appeal. If you need branch details, telephone the MS National Centre on 020 8438 0700.
• I am sorry to here of your problems with DLA. My husband applied for DLA way back at the beginning of 2002, he was refused any help. He had a reconsideration and oral appeal in which he was all turned down for any DLA. This whole process took a year. We were treated badly at the appeal by comments made by the chairperson which led to our CAB representative making a formal complaint to the Social Security commissioner in London. We received an apology but our request for a whole new unbiased appeal hearing was refused. We then waited 6 months before reapplying, meanwhile my husband started to suffer with depression. He said he felt that the DLA people were saying he was a malignerer and that he wasn;t really ill because they kept refusing him even the lowest rate of DLA. On reapplication we were refused yet again and applied for a reconsideration which we were told would take 16 weeks. Meanwhile we went to see our MP. We told him briefly the situation and he said he could not make the DLA people change their mind but he could contact them and ask them to double-check that they are applying their own criterior correctly because we felt they could not be appyig the criterior correctly as my husbands condition is so severe.
  Surprise, surprise within a week we had a letter from the DLA people stating my husband was awarded highest rate mobility and care (no back pay though) and a direct dial number to the person dealing with the case in Leeds incase we needed to speak with someone directly.
  Sorry for the long winded post. Basically what i am trying to say is that you are not the only person having problems with DLA and i also want to say is that try your MP for support. We felt like we were banging our heads against a brick wall and the MP was the only person we could think of the contact as we had tried absolutely everyone else over the 2 years. It took the MP one week to do what we couldn't do in over 2 years.
• iklepig,
  Sorry to hear you had problems that took 2 years to get sorted. ???
  Good to hear that it was finally sorted though, thanks for sharing the info, other people will find it useful.
• HI ALL, I HAVE JUST JOINED THIS SITE TO TRY TO HELP OTHERS WHO ARE GOING THROUGH THE HELL OF A DLA CLAIM!, I WAS AWARDED HIGH RATE MOBILITY AND MIDDLE RATE CARE COMPONENT ON THURSDAY JUST GONE. I HAD A LONG LONG FIGHT OF 19 MONTHS TO GET THIS BENEFIT AND I WANTED TO COME ON HERE TO URGE ALL PEOPLE TO NEVER GIVE UP!, IT IS VERY DISTRESSING AND FRUSTRATING BUT KEEP ON AT IT AND APPEAL AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE, I THINK HALF THE TIME THEY HOPE PEOPLE WILL GET THAT FED UP OF APPEALING THAT THEY END UP GIVING UP, BUT YOU HAVE TO BE STRONG AND FIGHT HARD FOR WHAT IS YOUR AS YOU ARE ENTITLED TO THIS MONEY!!!
  I FELT LIKE GIVING UP MANY TIMES AND SUFFERED DEPRESSION AS AN OUTCOME OF THE APPEALS, ITS A LONG WAITING GAME AND EXPECT TO BE QUESTIONED ABOUT THINGS THEY TRY TO TRIP YOU UP ON, BUT MY ADVICE IS NO MATTER HOW EMBARESSEING, ALWAYS SPEAK YOUR TRUTH AND TELL THEM FROM THE HEART HOW YOU SUFFER ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS, AT THE EBD OF THE DAY, THE PANEL ARE ONLY HUMAN, JUST LIKE US AND IF WE DONT TELL THEM EVERYTHING THEN HOW CAN THEY MAKE A FIAR DECISION!, DONT BE INTIMIDATED, THEY ARE JUST PEOPLE WEARING SUITS THAT LOOK THE PART BUT THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN YOU OR I!!.
  i WROTE A 124 PAGE LONG SUBMISSION, I DONE THIS MYSELF OVER 2 WEEKS, I CHALLENGED EVERY PART OF THE DECISION PAPERS THEY SENT ON MY REFUSAL AND REPLIED WITH THE TRUTH, NOT THE FABRICATED DECISIONS THEY MADE AND I WROTE A LETTER FROM THE HEART, AT THE HEARING THE JUDGE COMMENDED MY ON MY EFFORTS, SO I SAY TO YOU ALL, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO DO SIMILAR, IT REALLY DOES HELP, GET A FRIEND OF FAMILY MEMBER TO HELP IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO DO IT ALONE, IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE PROFESSIONAL, JUST WRITE IT AS YOU SPEAK IT STATING ALL THE WAYS YOUR PROBLEMS AFFECT YOU!.
  pLEASE FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE ME FOR ANY ADVICE OF IF YOU JUST WANT TO LET OFF STEAM, IM HERE TO HELP BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!!...DONT GIVE UP, FIGHT THR FIGHT AND GET WHATS YOURS XX
• hi saw ur post brill well done to you ,i am in a similar position with my daughter who has arthritis,and was diagnosed in 2005 with an 18 month history of joint pain,well my story is i also tell the truth when i first claimed i done the forms myself,no help from no one no big fancy words or exagerations just how it wasmthe gods honest,so we got a 2 yr award hrm hrc,next claim again done it myself no help,1 yr award,then out of the blue it was superceeded and taken from hrc to lrc,got it reawarded to dec last yr,then doctor came out to examine child then it was lrc to 2013,appeal been going on from dec of this year,im going tommorro myself no help no big fancy words to tell them how it is,i sook advice from wro who said she couldnt help so ---- it going in there on my todd,daughter has been in and out of hospital,since dec for more steroids,and recieves wkly injections of methetrexate into her legs,this is to contreol this aufull disease,letter from consultant just recently says,, this little girl suffers from arthritis and has significant problems with her hands and this disease when flared up can cas problems with mobility at times ,not a great letter but i need to fill the gaps in,sorry for ranting i just need some one to tell me go girl everything will b just fine,not feeling confident at the minute,but i will go and tell it how it is,,,,hope u r well love lorraine
• A 6 year old thread?
• poppyflops
  you need to sort out your post.
  it is really hard to read when it is all in capitals and in a block, could you break it down?
  i took one look at your post and looked away it was too much for my eyes.
• well im glad to be honest im not the only 1 who is having problems ....i applied for DLA last may after being diagnosed with a rare kind of bone marrow cancer, i have also been diagnosed with pancreatitis, i have been turned down at every avenue including the dreaded appeals tribunal which took place last thursday.... im on chemo for the rest of my life, i find it difficult to function due to the migrains,cant walk great distances due to chronic pains in my legs ad cramp, i cant eat solid foods due to the pancreatitis, but yet they have deemed me fit and not in need of help.... what more do i have to do, i took a representaive from my support group with me had a letter from the CAB, 2 letters from my own GP all collaborating what i have told them and yet i was still turned down.... do i actually have to die to be awarded? so if someone can come up with any ideas as to where i go from here id love to hear it ... im now considering applying for an upper tribunal with the help of a solicitor, MPD support group and anyone else i can find to fight in my corner .... HELP! im not only fighting this illness im now fighting the bloody government....
• I have applied for DLA twice now because the first GP report came from a GP in my surgery whom I never see as I dont think he is a good doctor. Even although I suffer from severe joint pain he wrote I had some foot pain. The second time the DLA used the same report instead of the updated information, hospital reports and a 4 page letter. I am now in appeal process with the back up from another GP, Social worker, welfare rights and hopefully someone will listen now.
  I have always been a very independent person and asking for help is hard and having to deal with the stress of the illness I also have to deal with all this carry on.
  My mother applied for DLA in August 2003. She suffers severe pain when walking for short distances and needs assistance throughout the day for the toilet, bathing, getting dressed, preparing meals and other general household chores. She was awarded the lower rate care component and appealed against it. They then sent out a doctor to assess her. The doctor was there about half an hour, asked her questions on what she could and couldn't do, gave her a quick examination and left. The appeal was refused and we requested a copy of the doctors report. Basically the doctor had written everything that my mum had said then ticked all the boxes to say that my mum was capable of doing everything (including what she had been awarded the lower rate for). She more or less put everything down to depression which my mum does suffer from but only as a result of her disability.
  We appealed again and are waiting for a date for the tribunal hearing (or whatever it's called). She has a recently written letter from her doctor supporting her claim to take with her and is taking a representative from Advice Works with her.
  I can't believe that people have to go through this to get what they're entitled to and you wouldn't believe the stress it's causing my mum. My mum's gp has been treating her for this illness for almost a year and we also received a copy of her report which backs up what my mum told them. You would think that they would take the word of her gp (the person who actually treats her regulary) over a doctor who met her for half on hour.
  Has anyone else had any experiences like this?[/QUOTE]
• It has been 9 weeks since the DLA wrote to my GP about filling in the report, yet they are still waiting for a reply.
  I left message after message with my GP to please fill out the form and send it back, yet still I wait.
  Even the DLA said that it is very unusual for the specialist report to come back before the GP's report. She is my regular doctor and she knows everything about me. How can I get her to finally fill in the form and send it off before she jepordises my claim?