is my daughter entitled to dla

Francesca-G

Hi,

I have a 14 week old daughter who was born 5 weeks premature.
She has a suspected condition called Diamond Blackfan Anemia.
This means she has to rely on blood transfusions every 4-6 weeks to keep her going as if her hemoglobin levels drop below a certain level her heart works faster and she can become very poorly. Me and my partner constantly have to check how much she is taking in her feeds, making sure that she is not pale and looking out for all the symptoms she gets when levels drop and she needs a transfusion. She attends my local hospital every week for blood tests and a hospital 10miles away every few weeks to see a consultant. There has been no treatment found to work yet as all that has been tried has failed. I have had to inject her myself in past but sadly injections did not help her progress. She is well know by all doctors and is in hospital more than home.

I have been told i can claim Dla or Carers Allowance but i am not sure.
I dont want to claim money for looking after my daughter as people have said with me only being 20 im just in it for the money, but as i have another child and don't drive getting to and from the local and other hospital takes 2 hours each way and i have to get 3 different buses and the cost of these mounts up.

If someone could give me a bit advice that would be a lot of help thank you.

LittleTinker

As it stands, your daughter is too young for DLA.

Carers allowance can only be claimed by you if your daughter were receiving DLA.

If yuo are on other benefits, you might be able to claim back to cost of getting to hospital with your daughter though.

Indie_Kid

Your daughter would need to have the care needs (not diagnosis) for 3 months before they can pay DLA and more than the average 14 week old.

sleepless_saver

If you are on a low income/means tested benefits you may be able to get help with the travel costs. You should be able to get the form (HC1) from the hospital or from jobcentre. See link for more info.

Don't be embarrassed about claiming, nobody with any sense will think the worse of you.

Indie_Kid

LittleTinker wrote: »

As it stands, your daughter is too young for DLA.

DLA is payable from 12 weeks if the person has had the needs since birth.

Francesca-G

yeah she has had the needs since birth
even before birth as had to have the same treatment she gets now when i was pregnant such as blood transfusions and bone marrow tests.

bigjl

I would think you would be entitled to DLA and Carers allowance, I had a mate years ago that had full DLA and got a Motability car, so that he could take his son out. This was going back to 1997, but I wouldn't think they would have changed these rules much since then.

If your child has care needs above that which an average child would have. Do you have a Health Visitor? Surely this is info' that you should have been given.

Your age doesn't matter, yes some your age are just trying to get extra money from the state, but your daughter has a complicated medical condition.

I can only say, get yourself down to the benefits office and apply, after all they can only say no.

dmg24

bigjl wrote: »

I would think you would be entitled to DLA and Carers allowance, I had a mate years ago that had full DLA and got a Motability car, so that he could take his son out. This was going back to 1997, but I wouldn't think they would have changed these rules much since then.

If your child has care needs above that which an average child would have. Do you have a Health Visitor? Surely this is info' that you should have been given.

Your age doesn't matter, yes some your age are just trying to get extra money from the state, but your daughter has a complicated medical condition.

I can only say, get yourself down to the benefits office and apply, after all they can only say no.

Age does matter because the comparator is a child of the same age.

bigjl

dmg24 wrote: »

Age does matter because the comparator is a child of the same age.

What exactly was the point in that comment, I would hardly be comparing a 14 week old with a teenager would I.

dmg24

bigjl wrote: »

What exactly was the point in that comment, I would hardly be comparing a 14 week old with a teenager would I.

You stated that age does not matter. This was incorrect, so I clarified. This is especially relevant with babies are they require so much more care/ watching over than older children.

Francesca-G

dmg24 wrote: »

You stated that age does not matter. This was incorrect, so I clarified. This is especially relevant with babies are they require so much more care/ watching over than older children.

babies do need alot of care and watching over but she needs exceptionaly more when she is in hospital every week getting god knows how many needles shoved in here and bone marrow tests