DLA review due at the beginning of March

DorsetGirl_2

Do I need to ring them to send me the forms, or will they come out automatically, and if so, when should I expect them? Do they give me plenty of time (I remember how long it took me to fill out the last one as it was so soul destroying).

inspirespirit

They normally send them out to you. Don't leave it too long though. If it is due next March you would usually receive them at least 8 - 12 weeks before. I would ring beginning of December if you haven't received them by then.

DorsetGirl_2

I think the last form took me 6 weeks to fill out so if its not here by the end of November I will call them.

Anubis_2

Yes, they do send them normally 6 to 3 months beforehand. What I would advise is start making notes now for you to put on the form. You can actually download the full form and begin to fill it in and then when your renewal form comes, copy from that. However, you may get the short form (I did this time) so be aware of that. The short form is 8 pages - about 3 or 4 pages consist of name/address/signatures and similar - the others consist of brief questions. It is much easier HOWEVER make sure you give additional information/evidence on separate sheets. I gave them 48 pages - they were probably fed up of reading it by the end, but there was no way I was missing any evidence out.

There is suspicion that you have to be careful with the short form, and that people who are ticking there has been "no change" are getting taken off the benefit or getting it reduced, however, they increased mine, but there were changes anyway - I had been diagnosed a further two health issues, and had a cocktail of medications since my last claim. The benefits and work site is good for help with renewals/short form. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

DorsetGirl_2

Its actually the claim for my 4 year old son, he currently gets MRC. I used the guide from Cerebra when I filled in the form before, and had a lady from a welfare drop-in go over the form with me. Unfortunately the drop-in is now closed, but I think it might be a bit easier this time than it was 2 years ago because he is older and the gap between what he can do and what normal 4/5 year olds can do has got bigger (:()

inspirespirit

Dorsetgirl. We have had to fill in forms every 3 years for my son, and it is always a worry. They used to do it for 3 years in case my son got better. However, this time, his consultant actually stated that his prognosis is that he will be like this lifelong. This time he has been awarded it indefinitely, which hopefully means (until it all gets changed by the Government), that we should no longer have to keep filling the forms in.
If your son has something that may affect him all his life, I would ask his consultant to state this in a letter or on the forms for you. Hope it goes well.

DorsetGirl_2

He has ASD, Moderate Learning Difficulties and Dyspraxia .

DorsetGirl_2

At the moment we are using his DLA to pay for a respite placement and private SALT, which is why I was worried that there would be a gap between the payments while it was assessed again. We cant afford to pay for these things ourselves, and they are not being offered on the NHS/by SS.

aliasojo

Son's review due in Nov, forms received 3 weeks ago.

Know what you mean about soul destroying, I hate the things with a vengeance, especially since nothing ever changes and it's always the same stuff we write on them.

DorsetGirl_2

Last time I was in tears, its so hard writing down all those horrible things, all the things he cant do etc. He is such a lovely boy and it almost felt like I was being disloyal.

So about 4 months before then, that gives me plenty of time to think about them and put it off a bit

Anubis_2

DorsetGirl wrote: »

At the moment we are using his DLA to pay for a respite placement and private SALT, which is why I was worried that there would be a gap between the payments while it was assessed again. We cant afford to pay for these things ourselves, and they are not being offered on the NHS/by SS.

Ensure you put that on your form. Start noting down things now that you can refer back to when the form comes. For example record a diary for a week of the his day to day needs etc - you could even include the diary report as additional information to give them a better picture of his needs.