sickness

bertiebat

Hi Scotty,

Looks like ben1955 has provided some additional good advice, however there is a misconception that DLA entitlement is automatic when given a cancer diagnosis. This is not true except under the special rules provision which is reserved for terminally ill people.

Quote:
The meaning of terminally ill

The law on DLA says that someone is regarded as terminally ill if they have a progressive disease and their death from that disease can reasonably be expected within six months.
Although there must be a reasonable expectation that death will occur within six months, naturally there is no certainty about this. DLA will normally continue to be paid under the special rules for three years. At the end of this time the person you are looking after may be asked for further information about their health and how it affects them so that their entitlement can be reassessed.


Hopefully you wont be found to be in this position in which case the standard rules for DLA apply.


Quote:
For the person you care for to qualify for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) you have to show that they have met one of the disability rules throughout the three months before the date the award is due to start. You must also show that they are likely to satisfy the disability rule for at least six months after the award starts.


Primary cancer treatment (however debilitating..... and believe me it can be, though not always the case) is often expected to be completed within the 9 month time-scales and therefore the DLA application will simply be rejected for this reason. I know the expected maximum treatment varies according to the type of cancer diagnosis but for primary breast cancer treatment DLA should not be expected to qualify.

I just don't want people to have their hopes dashed in applying for something that simply just wont succeed. Personally I think there is a case for a special new type of short term disability benefit for people undergoing intensive disabling treatments that fall short of the current DLA provisions..........fat chance in today's climate.

Of course I hope for you Scotty, that all of this information is purely academic and wish you well.