DLA for son

[Fred]

My son is currently getting the middle rate care component of Disability Living Allowance with him having a minor form of cerebral palsy.

We've just got round to applying for the mobility component of it (a couple of years later than what we could have done) and it's proving to be a bloody nightmare.

We got the forms sent out for us at the end of February and sent them out a couple of weeks later after getting some help filling them in. We then got them sent back a week later because my wife had signed them instead of me, when I was the one who signed off the initial claim for the care component.

We sent it off again and we are currently 5 weeks in waiting for the claim to get through, but I'm seeing lots of people online saying its taking up to 3 months for it to get sorted and loads are getting rejected at the minute.

Has anyone else on this forum had the same troubles with the DWP for either DLA or PIP lately and is there anything I can possibly do to hasten them up without harassing them on the phone everyday?

 

[Goat Eyes]

I’ve not experienced DLA but have took my dad through things like PIP and another living allowance (whatever is in place of caters allowance) and neither of the processes are quick.

 

[Fred]

I’ve not experienced DLA but have took my dad through things like PIP and another living allowance (whatever is in place of caters allowance) and neither of the processes are quick.

Yeah thought as much. Heard numerous bad things about PIP so don't welcome when my son will no doubt have to go on it in a decades time.

 

[Black Dog]

You could ask you MP to chase them up, speaking directly to the DWP is like speaking to a brick wall. At least the phone calls are free not like when I applied for PIP. If you succeed the money will be backdated to when you asked for the forms. If the lad's claim is rejected take them to a tribunal it won't cost you anything but the time, tribunals overhaul a lot of rejections. When your lad is assessed take notes of what is asked and said, this could helpful at a tribunal.

 

[pillars of hercules]

My son is currently getting the middle rate care component of Disability Living Allowance with him having a minor form of cerebral palsy.

We've just got round to applying for the mobility component of it (a couple of years later than what we could have done) and it's proving to be a bloody nightmare.

We got the forms sent out for us at the end of February and sent them out a couple of weeks later after getting some help filling them in. We then got them sent back a week later because my wife had signed them instead of me, when I was the one who signed off the initial claim for the care component.

We sent it off again and we are currently 5 weeks in waiting for the claim to get through, but I'm seeing lots of people online saying its taking up to 3 months for it to get sorted and loads are getting rejected at the minute.

Has anyone else on this forum had the same troubles with the DWP for either DLA or PIP lately and is there anything I can possibly do to hasten them up without harassing them on the phone everyday?

Don't expect to get it without an appeal.

 

[Fred]

You could ask you MP to chase them up, speaking directly to the DWP is like speaking to a brick wall. At least the phone calls are free not like when I applied for PIP. If you succeed the money will be backdated to when you asked for the forms. If the lad's claim is rejected take them to a tribunal it won't cost you anything but the time, tribunals overhaul a lot of rejections. When your lad is assessed take notes of what is asked and said, this could helpful at a tribunal.

Yeah we sent off lots of paperwork to support the claim in the first place from his consultant, physio, occupational therapist, school teacher, one to one support worker at school, educational psychologist and speech and language therapist but that was 8 weeks ago and have seen a few of them since then.
Would it be best to ask for the paperwork from our most recent meetings and send that off now, or would it not be considered until the tribunal?

Don't expect to get it without an appeal.

We got help filling the forms in from people who know what to write on the forms to help our cause out and got told if we didn't get the higher rate, to come back to them and get it sorted.

She expected us to get it though, but knowing the DWP I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

 

[woollyback]

You could ask you MP to chase them up, speaking directly to the DWP is like speaking to a brick wall. At least the phone calls are free not like when I applied for PIP. If you succeed the money will be backdated to when you asked for the forms. If the lad's claim is rejected take them to a tribunal it won't cost you anything but the time, tribunals overhaul a lot of rejections. When your lad is assessed take notes of what is asked and said, this could helpful at a tribunal.

Very, very wise advice.

 

[pillars of hercules]

Yeah we sent off lots of paperwork to support the claim in the first place from his consultant, physio, occupational therapist, school teacher, one to one support worker at school, educational psychologist and speech and language therapist but that was 8 weeks ago and have seen a few of them since then.
Would it be best to ask for the paperwork from our most recent meetings and send that off now, or would it not be considered until the tribunal?


We got help filling the forms in from people who know what to write on the forms to help our cause out and got told if we didn't get the higher rate, to come back to them and get it sorted.

She expected us to get it though, but knowing the DWP I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

It's as if they have a default reject setting. I'm sure the majority of claimants making appeals are successful.

 

[Fred]

It's as if they have a default reject setting. I'm sure the majority of claimants making appeals are successful.

I don't know why they do it if the appeals winning percentage is so high. It'll just mean paying back a massive lump sum to backdate everything rather than a smaller sum just accepting it when the initial request is put in

Very, very wise advice.

Which bit? The taking notes and using them to help or the getting in touch with our MP?

 

[pillars of hercules]

I don't know why they do it if the appeals winning percentage is so high. It'll just mean paying back a massive lump sum to backdate everything rather than a smaller sum just accepting it when the initial request is put in

My son went from DLA to PIP last year. I sent the forms in a few days late and they rejected his claim even though they acknowledged they had it and his disability was lifelong and couldn't improve. They accepted the appeal straight away.

 

[oROSSo]

Watching this thread with interest, we’ve just applied, my sons physio said he should be on moderate to high and if they dispute anything he’ll help out.

 

[Fred]

My son went from DLA to PIP last year. I sent the forms in a few days late and they rejected his claim even though they acknowledged they had it and his disability was lifelong and couldn't improve. They accepted the appeal straight away.

f***ing hell that's atrocious. How can they justify that? My son will be in the same boat if this system is still in place by the time he turns 16 so I can't comprehend how mentally draining that would have been at the time.

 

[Deleted member 15970]

You could ask you MP to chase them up, speaking directly to the DWP is like speaking to a brick wall. At least the phone calls are free not like when I applied for PIP. If you succeed the money will be backdated to when you asked for the forms. If the lad's claim is rejected take them to a tribunal it won't cost you anything but the time, tribunals overhaul a lot of rejections. When your lad is assessed take notes of what is asked and said, this could helpful at a tribunal.

I would advise not just taking notes but sound recording the whole thing. Yes, you're not supposed to do it, but sod that - you'd have solid proof of what was said and done (or not done) and that could be invaluable at appeal (even if you just used it to transcribe what was said).

 

[Black Dog]

Yeah we sent off lots of paperwork to support the claim in the first place from his consultant, physio, occupational therapist, school teacher, one to one support worker at school, educational psychologist and speech and language therapist but that was 8 weeks ago and have seen a few of them since then.
Would it be best to ask for the paperwork from our most recent meetings and send that off now, or would it not be considered until the tribunal?


We got help filling the forms in from people who know what to write on the forms to help our cause out and got told if we didn't get the higher rate, to come back to them and get it sorted.

She expected us to get it though, but knowing the DWP I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

From my experience the they tribunals look at the evidence the decision was made on, again the DWP have in the past lost some of my paperwork. I always take copies before sending the documents to the DWP. Would not trust tham as far as I could spit.

 

[pillars of hercules]

f***ing hell that's atrocious. How can they justify that? My son will be in the same boat if this system is still in place by the time he turns 16 so I can't comprehend how mentally draining that would have been at the time.

I don't live with my son now. He's 24 now and has his own place with a team of carers around him. I work away so got the paperwork a bit late.

 

[Black Dog]

I would advise not just taking notes but sound recording the whole thing. Yes, you're not supposed to do it, but sod that - you'd have solid proof of what was said and done (or not done) and that could be invaluable at appeal (even if you just used it to transcribe what was said).

I have been stopped in the past if the assessor objects, even though the DWP website says you can.

 

[Deleted member 634]

My son is currently getting the middle rate care component of Disability Living Allowance with him having a minor form of cerebral palsy.

We've just got round to applying for the mobility component of it (a couple of years later than what we could have done) and it's proving to be a bloody nightmare.

We got the forms sent out for us at the end of February and sent them out a couple of weeks later after getting some help filling them in. We then got them sent back a week later because my wife had signed them instead of me, when I was the one who signed off the initial claim for the care component.

We sent it off again and we are currently 5 weeks in waiting for the claim to get through, but I'm seeing lots of people online saying its taking up to 3 months for it to get sorted and loads are getting rejected at the minute.

Has anyone else on this forum had the same troubles with the DWP for either DLA or PIP lately and is there anything I can possibly do to hasten them up without harassing them on the phone everyday?

Was moved from DLA to PIP a couple of year back and was took down a level on daily living.

I applied straightaway for mandatory reconsideration, didn't send anymore proof, just explained again exactly how having a spinal injury affected my daily life.

Got a phone call a week later saying they can't understand why I had dropped a level and I would be reinstated straight away.

My brother in law appealed his after having mandatory reconsideration knocked back as well. Had a date for a hearing at local magistrate course, got a phone call on morning of hearing saying DWP had pulled out and he had automatically won appeal.

Moral of the story is, always appeal the decision as much as possible as they rely on people thinking, 'fuck it, I can't be arsed'.

 

[Fred]

Was moved from DLA to PIP a couple of year back and was took down a level on daily living.

I applied straightaway for mandatory reconsideration, didn't send anymore proof, just explained again exactly how having a spinal injury affected my daily life.

Got a phone call a week later saying they can't understand why I had dropped a level and I would be reinstated straight away.

My brother in law appealed his after having mandatory reconsideration knocked back as well. Had a date for a hearing at local magistrate course, got a phone call on morning of hearing saying DWP had pulled out and he had automatically won appeal.

Moral of the story is, always appeal the decision as much as possible as they rely on people thinking, 'fuck it, I can't be arsed'.

Yeah I'm not the type to give up and take peoples shit lying down so I'd be fighting all the way to get him the higher rate.

I don't live with my son now. He's 24 now and has his own place with a team of carers around him. I work away so got the paperwork a bit late.

I know but I don't get how they could have turned it down whatsoever if they knew it was a lifelong condition.

 

[Fred Army]

We got the high rate of DLA for my son. When it came to reapply it took several months to come back. When it did it had dropped to medium level DLA despite his care needs being greater than ever.
We appealed and eventually had it restored to the higher rate.
Be prepared to fight your corner or they'll try and fob you off.

 

[pillars of hercules]

Yeah I'm not the type to give up and take peoples shit lying down so I'd be fighting all the way to get him the higher rate.


I know but I don't get how they could have turned it down whatsoever if they knew it was a lifelong condition.

Just being awkward I suppose. A bit of punishment to keep you right its not like its the only thing to sort is it?

He's autistic on the severe end of the spectrum with severe learning difficulties and behavioral problems. He's always 2 to 1 except when he's with me. I've got him in Benidorm atm.