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Why would Social Work Services contact me?

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Hi all,

I'm aware that this might be a little unusual but I'm going to go ahead and ask my question anyway. I'm a very badly disabled person with extensive care and mobility needs and I've received Disability Living Allowance now for the past few years, goes a long way in making life just that little bit easier and I couldn't survive without it. Today I received a phone call from the local Social Work Department and they have stated that they want to visit me and if I could confirm my previous address with them (parents home) which I did and the lady then stated that they wanted to ensure that they were meeting my needs and that I was receiving the correct rate of Disability Living Allowance etc. I have to ask, why would they contact me out of the blue like that? have I done something wrong because I haven't requested this visitation and I'm not sure why they're doing it all of a sudden. I asked this lady how she got my details and she told me I was on the Social Work System, what does this mean? could you tell me more please?

I used to receive both the highest rate of both Care and Mobility but after my award expired I had the Welfare Rights Officer help me fill in a new one and this was returned within a week or so with a lower award of Middle Rate Care and Low Rate Mobility but this time my award was made permanent. I'm not a greedy person, more than happy with the money I receive because it helps with the assosciated costs of my disabilities and I couldn't get out and enjoy life without that extra support. I'm not rich but I'm happy and I'm just afraid that I've done something wrong because I like to be independent and I don't know why they want to visit me all of a sudden. I'm sorry if this is really confusing but I've tried to make it as clear as possible and I'm just hopeful that you can help me and tell me as much as possible about this so I can have the reassurance that everything's alright, thank you very much.
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Comments

  • onetomany
    onetomany Posts: 2,170 Forumite
    hi, i dont no a lot about this but im a home carer , do you think they are trying to assess ur needs for funding, i no alot of our service users have a 6 week assesment with ss before they grant funding to use our service, i might be wrong tho xxxxx
  • WhiteHorse
    WhiteHorse Posts: 2,492 Forumite
    High-High to Middle-Low? You should appeal the decision at once.
    "Never underestimate the mindless force of a government bureaucracy
    seeking to expand its power, dominion and budget"
    Jay Stanley, American Civil Liberties Union.
  • WhiteHorse wrote: »
    High-High to Middle-Low? You should appeal the decision at once.

    Hi,

    Thank you. My worry is that they would take away my Disability Living Allowance altogether and that would be a nightmare scenario for me as it is quite literally a lifeline and helps greatly to pay for the extra costs I have due to my disabilities. I called the helpline recently and was warned against appealing the decision because I was repeatedly told it wasn't a good idea to do so as they could take everything away from me and I don't want to risk that. I'm not a greedy person and more than happy with the money I'm getting as everything goes in paying for the extra costs I incur and it's good to know I now have a permanent award as opposed to the three year one like last time.
  • onetomany
    onetomany Posts: 2,170 Forumite
    social services have no power over ur money but they do have the ability to award you more eg towards care mobility etc if i was u i would go with it if u have a peramnt award i rekon u could be enitleited to more help than you are reciving x
  • Sorry if it is really obvious but please call the Council and make sure this woman is from Social Services (and check her ID) before you let her in the house.
  • sunnyone
    sunnyone Posts: 4,716 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Hi,

    Thank you. My worry is that they would take away my Disability Living Allowance altogether and that would be a nightmare scenario for me as it is quite literally a lifeline and helps greatly to pay for the extra costs I have due to my disabilities. I called the helpline recently and was warned against appealing the decision because I was repeatedly told it wasn't a good idea to do so as they could take everything away from me and I don't want to risk that. I'm not a greedy person and more than happy with the money I'm getting as everything goes in paying for the extra costs I incur and it's good to know I now have a permanent award as opposed to the three year one like last time.

    If you are severely disabled why are you scared of appealing or asking for a supersession of your DLA?

    My DLA is one thing Im not worried about, I can prove I cant walk at all or even stand, that I have RA which means that my hands dont work and that it affects more than just my hands, I can prove my back fOcked from top to bottom and that Im deaf, all of this and more I can prove so my DLA is safe.
  • EltonJohnFan
    EltonJohnFan Posts: 316 Forumite
    edited 26 November 2010 at 11:03PM
    sunnyone wrote: »
    If you are severely disabled why are you scared of appealing or asking for a supersession of your DLA?

    My DLA is one thing Im not worried about, I can prove I cant walk at all or even stand, that I have RA which means that my hands dont work and that it affects more than just my hands, I can prove my back fOcked from top to bottom and that Im deaf, all of this and more I can prove so my DLA is safe.


    Hi,

    It's not that I'm scared but rather that I just don't want the hassle of it all because I easily get depressed and can be quite vulnerable. As I say, I'm not a greedy person and nearly every penny I get in Disability Living Allowance goes towards paying for the extra costs that I incur as a disabled person. I've repeatedly been told by the DLA team whenever I've contacted them to discuss the downgrading of my award that appealing isn't a wise thing to do and that that they have to make me aware I could actually end up with nothing and that frightens me even though I have a lifetime of being "known" as it were as a person with extra needs and I have the support of my GP and numerous other professionals and organisations who've backed me up every step of the way. I've never really had any problems in claiming Disability Living Allowance and though i can't explain why they've cut the amount I receive I just can't seem to get over my fear of losing everything because that's what their advisors have repeatedly told me. I really rely on people to tell me what help I'm entitled to and it was actually a Welfare Rights Officer and my GP who told me about DLA to begin with, so glad they did because I'd have never known about it otherwise. Take care and have a good night.
  • onetomany
    onetomany Posts: 2,170 Forumite
    op ss carnt stop or reduce your award they can increase it tho x
  • onetomany wrote: »
    op ss carnt stop or reduce your award they can increase it tho x

    I've never heard this before, how do they go about this?
    I must go, I have lives to ruin and hearts to break :D
    My attitude depends on my Latitude 49° 55' 0" N 6° 19' 60 W
  • onetomany wrote: »
    op ss carnt stop or reduce your award they can increase it tho x

    Hi,

    Are you sure about that? I ask because it's the only thing that's stopping me from appealing, simply afraid of the outcome being a bad one and then having the hassle of going through it all again. Numerous professionals that I see regularly and some of my family have told me they feel I should be getting a higher rate of DLA than I am at this moment in time, hate to come across as a greedy person because I'm not but I think I'm about £60 worse off each week since they cut me from the highest rates and that is a lot of money to anyone. I really appreciate you telling me this but I'm still quite scared to make the appeal actually as I've been told so many times now that I could lose my award altogether and I've never been able to understand that because I'm quite clearly disabled, anyone can see that and I have a lifetime of support etc and they've never disputed any of this and awarded my DLA within a week or so but at the first award it wasn't made permanent and that's why I had to do another one earlier this year. If you can confirm with me that I wouldn't lose my award then I'll probably make an appointment with my GP to discuss this as they were really keen to find out what happened, thank you very much and sorry to be a nuisance, take care :)
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