DLA - the purpose

calleyw

patricia1066 wrote:

Callyw

I sympathise with you, as you lose out by working, when you have a fulltime carer role also.

Have a chat with a welfare rights adviser who can give you the "what if" figures - if you want you can pm me, and I can give you the benefit levels you are entitled to, if you give up work.

Among these benefits is mortgage interest payments from DSS.

If your husband needs a carer and you want to remain at work apply together for the Independent living fund, they will assess your joint needs and will award a payment so that you can afford to provide suitable care. Remember to ask for carer respite, as no one thinks to ask for a break until they are ready to collapse.

Getting DLA is just the tip of the iceberg, as the needs of someone who has suffered stroke will continue while with treatment and physio he can increase his strength and abilities.

Have PM you.

Yours


Calley

Anthillmob

a lot of it helps cover the cost a prescriptions. especially if you have to have loads of different tablets.

when on DLA you dont get free prescriptions. you do on other benefits but not on DLA.

its also there to help you pay for care. my mum gets high rate which she sues to pay for a cleaner now that social services have done away with home help schemes.

Astaroth

There are however lots of conditions that will get you free prescriptions on medical grounds - hell, even I get free prescriptions on medical grounds.

Second to medical exemption there is also means testing

Anthillmob

i dont get free prescriptions yet i have a lifelong condition that requires lifeloneg medication.

i cant get my head around it.

filigree_2

Astaroth wrote:

Filigree - I am not saying that DLA is only given to those that are receiving care but that sites, eg RNID, state that DLA is only given to those that require "human" care (irrespective of if they receive it or not) and that it will not be awarded if your life can be managed purely by the purchase of additional equipment. If the RNID is correct then to me it seems odd that it is paid to the claimant and someone who may be a part time carer for someone inelligable for the carers allowance receives nothing for their efforts.

I can see that your friend has a sense of humour, indeed lots of the disabled of my acquaintance have a certain gallows humour and can see the funny side of the bleakest situations. I do think that if you have a problem with his choices you should discuss it with him instead of criticising the entire system. Benefits can't be tailored to the very last penny, they are paid in payment bands or at a flat rate. Given that restriction, there will inevitably be the odd claimant who gives the impression that the benefit system is overly generous. I assure you that your friend is vastly outnumbered by disabled people who are living on the breadline, and further restricions would make no difference to him, but would cause problems for others.

I hadn't realised you were referring to the RNID site. Their advice might be helpful to those with hearing impairments but it does not necessarily apply to other forms of disability.

If someone gets DLA but their carer is ineligible for CA then it is a private matter for those two individuals if the disabled person chooses to pay the carer for their efforts. I think it's risible to suggest that I should pay my husband to help me in the bath, or pay my teenage son to go the shops if I can't get out. On the other hand, if someone helps out by driving me places then I have the option to offer them petrol money. Taking the DLA out of my hands would deny me the flexibility to make sensible decisions about using the money to the best effect.

Next week I have to buy a pre-paid certificate for my prescriptions. The only way I can get them free by means testing is if everyone in the house chucks in their job and lives off the dole. I don't get exemption because terminal cancer is not a qualifying illness. If you want to get agitated about how "unfair" this stinking system is, then get agitated about something important.

I know you aren't making personal attacks but I hope you'll see that I take the issue personally and I'm not looking for a flame war. It's been an interesting debate but I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

Morglin

"For some people it's just a free car or £170.00 a month, just tell the doctor you got sore knees after falling during sports they will put it down as condrimiton patella??? sothing similar any way and hey presto 6 weeks later you have a shiny new car
forgot to mention i am willing to kick anyones kneecaps off when they pull that one, its one of the most commonly used excuses"




I wondered how long it would be before this urban myth reared it's head......:rolleyes:

In order to get a "shiny new car", you have to have claimed, been awarded and actually receive the higher rate of the mobility component of DLA.

Before you can even claim DLA, you need to have been disabled for 3 months. You also need to have a medically verified condition that will last longer than 6 months (and unless you have a long term condition, there is no way the DLA award would have a long enough time-span to lease a car, anyway).

The assessment then takes anything between about 12 weeks and 5 months (assuming it's accepted and there is no appeal).

The award (if recieved) needs to last long enough to warrant signing up for a car.

Then, you can decide whether you wish to spend £42+ a week on leasing a car. If it's got an advance payment, then you have to find the money to pay this bit. If it needs wheelchair/other adaptations, then you either have to apply to Motability for a grant (approx 6 months to a year to wait for that, if approved and many aren't), or pay (what can be thousands) adapting the car so you can join the rest of the human race, and venture out of the house.

Then you order your new car, which may take a while depending on dealer efficiency.

For the next 3/5 years, you hand over your DLA (mobility component) to Motability.

So, there is no way that anyone could actually get a car that quick. There is no way they could even claim DLA that quick. And, from my experience of being a benefits adviser and doing these DLA claims, there is no way DLA would be awarded for sore knees.:rolleyes:

So, perhaps we could put to bed the media-led nonsense that we all get shiny new cars just because we act like we need one?

Jeez.

Lin

Chrysalis

DLA shouldnt be means tested because its a support benefit, meaning its not a primary form of income, someone on DLA will either be working or have another benefit as well as their main income.

I agree in some cases its probably used somewhat as compensation for been unlucky and having a limited lifestyle.

What I do think is wrong with DLA tho is that in some regards people with DLA are treated as more financially vulnerable then those who are just on IB.

Chrysalis

lauren_1 wrote:

I have worked for the benefits agency for years, for some people it can be.
If it on their medical records then there is no need to check for certain conditions.
Its a self certified benefit and not everybody gets checked

DLA is very hard to get, the condition I got for IB should qualify me for DLA but I was turned down because its not a known diagnosed condition and as such I cant prove it will last in excess of 6 months. So not only is it on my medical records but a DWP (atos origin) doctor verified it and this was ignored.

If you are trying to say word has got round that a certian knee condition bypasses checks and is a fast track route to DLA then shouldnt the trend be noticed and more checks done on that particular condition?

missk_ensington

DLA is to pay for any costs incurred by your disability, not neccessarily to pay carers.

I agree to some degree with the OP that it generally serves as a compensation for being disabled. I am in receipt of DLA and currently use my £56 a week to pay a live in au pair as I need this assistance, however I've since found out I can claim this through 'Direct Payments' and if I'm entitled to it I'll certainly claim it. It would seem that for whatever purpose you need the DLA for, there is an additional benefit you can apply for to pay for it be it Carers Allowance, Direct Payments etc etc.

DLA is only hard to get if you're completely honest. I think these days most people know the formula for getting it, as you just have to show your disability requires extra help and renders you unable to perform daily tasks independently. If someone says they have difficulty wiping their own backside, or can't wash their own hair, how is anyone ever going to prove that to be a lie????

Its like Lower Back Pain (the most common type of claim) since no doctor on earth can refute whether you are feeling pain in your back, and pain isn;t scientifically measurable, thus the only person who knows the truth is the claimant.

Morglin

"DLA is only hard to get if you're completely honest. I think these days most people know the formula for getting it, as you just have to show your disability requires extra help and renders you unable to perform daily tasks independently. If someone says they have difficulty wiping their own backside, or can't wash their own hair, how is anyone ever going to prove that to be a lie???? "



Well, DLA Unit first of all write to either the GP and/or consultant - who would have logged the difficulties that their patient has.

They also write to any occupational therapists, CPN's, physios etc.,

If the DWP are unsure about the validity of the claim, then they will refer the claim to their EMP's (DWP doctors) who will see the claimant and send a medical report to the DWP (who generally go with what their own medics say).

Certain disabilities have fairly sure prognosis, and these tend to sail through the claim system easiest.

(For example, if someone has a degenerative neurone disease, or chronic heart disease, then it's unlikely to ever improve).

The DWP (generally) are throwing out more and more claims that involve things like depression, back problems, fibromyalgia, CFS and others - mainly because there are so many arguments amongst medics as to the cause and "validity" (their words) of these disabilities .

This is ok in some cases, but causing problems where the claims are genuine.

DLA, generally, is fairly difficult to get - to have early success, without the need for appeal, then any claim really needs to be backed up with a wealth of medical evidence, including scan and test results.

IB is easier to get in the early stages, but then the PCA comes into play, and the whole thing then gets more contentious.

Media and government articles about the "workshy" tend to involve those who have been claiming for years, and who the DWP haven't quite got around to weeding out.

If we are going to means test money that helps pay the extra cost of disability, then I think we should also means test Child Benefit (which pays for the extra cost of having kids) and Retirement Pension (which pays the cost of being old).

That way, those who have never worked, paid into the system or saved can have it all............:eek:

Lin