Budget - tougher for DLA claimants

krisskross

TOBRUK wrote: »

Sorry if I'm wrong krisskross but didn't you sometime last year apply for AA and was awarded it? I seem to remember that you accepted the award. You said that you are a carer for your husband although you didn't expect to get paid for doing so. Didn't you say that you also applied for DLA a few years previous (for your husband) and was turned down, or that your husband didn't want to apply for DLA.

If you do receive AA, perhaps you could answer the question of whether a monthly cash payment help you.

Yes he does get the high rate AA. Applied for because I was so fed up with people on here telling me I had no idea of what life is like for people with disabilities.

I provide all the care he needs, down to pushing him around in a wheelchair and giving his injections etc but would do all this anyway. He is my husband of 50 years after all. So no the money makes not a jot of difference. We had a good standard of living before the award and extra cash makes no difference at all to the care he gets.

Had it not been for my detractors on here he would never have applied again. It was basically an exercise in whether, telling the simple truth, it would be awarded. Our GP was not approached and I completed the form with no help.

He never applied for DLA, TBH we never knew it existed until i joined this site.

Indie_Kid

krisskross wrote: »

Yes he does get the high rate AA. Applied for because I was so fed up with people on here telling me I had no idea of what life is like for people with disabilities.

But does claiming disability benefits mean you "know what life is like for disabled people"? Disabilities affect everyone differently. I have a friend whose son has Downs Syndrome. Yes, I have one or two of the difficulties he has; but certainly wouldn't say I know what is like for him.

deeplyblue

krisskross wrote: »

Yes he does get the high rate AA.

...

He never applied for DLA, TBH we never knew it existed until i joined this site.

DLA does not apply to those over retirement age, unless they were already in receipt of it before they reached that age.

After that they can apply for AA, which a substitute for DLA (Care), but there is no analogue for DLA (Mobility).

db

deeplyblue

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I've certainly never said that I have no problems and I don't even claim benefits so I certainly wouldn't say the system works "for me".

I simply feel that the best way to get on with things is to approach them from a positive angle rather than expecting the worst and antagonising people before you even start. If you act as if you expect the system to cheat you then you will appear shifty to people and they will expect the worst.

If only the DWP shared your attitude!

They expect that people are going to cheat them, and expect the worst. But, of course, they are the ones with the power.

A proverb for you, (I was told it was Turkish), "The egg falls on the stone, alas for the egg. The stone falls on the egg, alas for the egg."

db

krisskross

deeplyblue wrote: »

If only the DWP shared your attitude!

They expect that people are going to cheat them, and expect the worst. But, of course, they are the ones with the power.

This honestly was not my experience. I had a phone call from someone at the DWP because something on the AA form needed clarifying. I answered the query, other than that there were no hoops to jump through etc.

krisskross

deeplyblue wrote: »

DLA does not apply to those over retirement age, unless they were already in receipt of it before they reached that age.

After that they can apply for AA, which a substitute for DLA (Care), but there is no analogue for DLA (Mobility).

db

My husband was on IB from age 60 with many problems but we did not know DLA existed. I have no doubts he would have been eligible. Most of us were not terribly benefit aware 12 years ago.

G51shopaholic

karatedragon wrote: »

I have serious reservations regarding the ATOS company's competence to undertake medicals for the DWP.

I am aware of a case where a DWP employee was ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and on long term sick. The DWP used ATOS to undertake an occupational medical; the conclusions from which stated that the employee was unlikely to be fit for work for the foreseeable future. The employee was dismissed on medical grounds.

Only a few weeks later the same employee applied for Employment Support Allowance having lost their job and the same organisation, ATOS, undertook a medical for the benefit and concluded that she was "fit for work" and she was not entitled to Employment Support Allowance.

How non-sensical is that? The same company finding a person "unfit for work" at one medical then "fit for work" at another???

This is the story highlighted on the BBC programme which for some reason was only shown in Scotland.

The girl won her appeal but it just shows you they don't have a clue during these "medicals".

The staff doing the medicals are from different professions NOT ALWAYS DOCTORS!:eek:

TOBRUK

G51shopaholic wrote: »

This is the story highlighted on the BBC programme which for some reason was only shown in Scotland.

The girl won her appeal but it just shows you they don't have a clue during these "medicals".

The staff doing the medicals are from different professions NOT ALWAYS DOCTORS!:eek:

That is so wrong! If I am to attend a medical I expect to be seen by a doctor or someone suitably qualified! If a medical isn't carried out by a doctor surely they can't come to a correct conclusion always, and isn't it against the law or something? There must be some guidelines that they must adere to?

Can they ask you to strip off (if needed) if they aren't medically qualified? Just a thought. So if someone comes to my door if I have a medical at home do I ask if they are a doctor and if they aren't can I just refuse a medical on that basis?

Indie_Kid

krisskross wrote: »

This honestly was not my experience. I had a phone call from someone at the DWP because something on the AA form needed clarifying. I answered the query, other than that there were no hoops to jump through etc.

You were lucky then. I applied, got turned down (it turns out they hadn't contacted the people named on my form) and asked for help from CAB. They did my appeal form for me and said they'd represent me at appeal. 3 months later, I got a letter which said I wasn't entitled to DLA again. (despite not being able to make a cup of tea withut burning myself) 5 days later, they awarded me LRM & LRC indefinetly.

BLT_2

sh1305 wrote: »

You were lucky then. I applied, got turned down (it turns out they hadn't contacted the people named on my form) and asked for help from CAB. They did my appeal form for me and said they'd represent me at appeal. 3 months later, I got a letter which said I wasn't entitled to DLA again. (despite not being able to make a cup of tea withut burning myself) 5 days later, they awarded me LRM & LRC indefinetly.

Have you thought of stirring it with a spoon instead of your finger?