7 year old tube fed child DLA renewal refused :(

Bumpmakesfour

Thankyou very much Amfiroda I enclosed a two inch thick pile of doc/hospital letters plus school medical needs 1:1 report,a CAF etc.Do you think I should get her comm nurse/chest physio etc to do a new report to send in with bang up to date care needs on it?Would that help do you think?Tbh I'm at a loss what else I could send in and (wrongly) assumed that her over night needs were fairly obvious,especially after me droning on about them over several pages, due to pump feeds/incontinence/breathing issues
How easy is it to get a welfare person to support you on these things?Hate being a bother to people

Bumpmakesfour

Hmm my local area welfare rights site says officers are only available through referral..am I looking in the wrong place?

amfiroda

On your letter they will state who they asked for supporting evidence. Ask someone else who is closely involved in care, be it GP or teacher. Your letter should ask them to look at their decision again and the letters/reports you enclose should be from someone they have not contacted. It sounds like your case is simply a bad decision made by someone who is not doing job properly. Next decision maker should make the correct award.
As for getting a Welfare Rights Officer it will depend where you live, CAB or your local authority should be able to provide you with help. Good luck!

kingfisherblue

If you have a carer's centre, they might be able to help you. Otherwise, DIAL or the local council have welfare rights people who can help.

amfiroda

You need to contact them and find out who can make a referral to them and how. The information should be there somewhere. Its not easy getting representation just now as most WR teams are completely overwhelmed with ESA appeals. xx

Alleycat

Contact your local council and/or CAB and find out if there are any voluntary sector agencies who can help you in appealing the decision. For example, I work in a Housing Advice Service and we have a specialist advisor who deals with welfare benefits and debt advice who is daily completing new claim forms, renewals and appeals.

paddedjohn

i know im going to get shot down for saying this but you already have two kids that are disabled and are a drain on your resources so how are you going to manage with another baby? its going to be a nightmare.

Morglin

This may help you with information about the appeals process:

http://www.benefitsnow.co.uk/appeal/appeals1.asp

And, these guys give free advice:

http://www.dls.org.uk/advice/index.html

I would also, in your case, contact your local MP - it may well help to speed up the process.

Good luck and best wishes.

Lin

Anubis_2

I don't understand why you were not re-awarded, it sounds like the DM had a bad day/week or perhaps saw your son's claim due for renewal on the system and took a judgemental stance ( having the attitude that you get DLA for one, you are not getting it for another) but these are just assumptions, and may be incorrect.

It could be that a professional report was damaging. You need to ring and ask them to send all medical evidence they based their decision on if you are going to appeal, then you can see what has happened, and focus on these points in your appeal.

Even though an automatic reconsideration is done first if you appeal, it may be worth in this case asking for one first, before appealing. I would definitely appeal though and take it as far as you can. I know its emotionally and physically draining but it's a sad fact that we are having to fight for benefits now, and even more so in the future. Good luck, and I wish you well with the new baby too.

Bumpmakesfour

paddedjohn wrote: »

i know im going to get shot down for saying this but you already have two kids that are disabled and are a drain on your resources so how are you going to manage with another baby? its going to be a nightmare.

Nothing I haven't heard before and really it's not your concern.I came here looking for advice on a DLA renewal refusal not comments on our life style choices thankyou
My kids are not a "drain on our resources",they are beautiful much loved kids and if the DLA decision is not over turned we will manage.Hubby works damn hard 50 + hours a week and if it came down to me going back to work in the hours hubby is home then I would.What I'm objecting to is my daughter being refused something that under current regulations she definately qualifies for and that does enable me to stay home.
This baby is much wanted and planned for and will not be a "nightmare".We own our own home,claim no other benefits besides the DLA/carers and a small amount of tax credits.Of course losing the DLA will have an negative impact on our financial situation and it's even more frustrating when the decision is so obviously the wrong one.
So appreciate the concern but no nightmare here...we are a very happy family of five,soon to be six