Will my husband be eligible for DLA?

Echo23

Apologies in advance as this post is going to be long and rambling but hopefully will make sense. (Fingers crossed).

Our situation is this: We are a family of five. My husband has been in receipt of Income Support for a number of years now due to being unfit for work. He has suffered from back problems due to osteo arthritis for some years and has had surgery to remove two slipped discs a couple of years ago. On top of this he also has mental health problems. In March this year after a medical assessment he was suddenly found "fit to work" although his conditions are probably worse now than when he was originally deemed "unfit for work" but we were kind of expecting this with the way the government is shaking things up. He has put in to appeal this decision but as yet we are still waiting and our money has been cut by £40 per week to the appeal rate. Our eldest son has recently headed off to University which is fabulous but means our benefits (child tax credits and child benefit) have been reduced by a further £65 per week which has really hit us hard. Now for the worst bit of bad luck............Four weeks ago my husband was involved in a nasty accident and was left with multiple broken ribs and his back broken in three places. (Unstable fractures to T7, T9 and T12). He had keyhole surgery to try and cement the fractures to stabilise them (two were successful and one sadly wasn't) and has been given a back brace and sent home to heal.
We saw a benefits adviser from the CAB a few weeks PRIOR to his accident who helped us fill out the form for DLA on his existing illnesses. Since the form has been sent in obviously he now has additional injuries and disabilities that may have made his claim more likely to be successful. Will DLA take this new information into account or base their decision on the original information? Is he likely to be eligible based on the fact that he has a fractured spine or does this not count as disabled? Also does anyone know how long we might be waiting for the ESA appeal to come through. We are really struggling to make ends meet right now. I'm worried that he will not be eligible for DLA or ESA and we will have to live like this forever.
I hope this makes sense and someone can offer some advice. Thanks. x

mazza111

Call them up and inform them about the new injuries. Then when he gets the medical they will be able to look at it.

I done this with my dd every time something changed in her rapidly changing condition.

Put on form - Possibility of HMS
Called them up when she got her diagnosis.
Informed them of everything the hospital was saying with regards to her knees.
Informed them when her wrists and shoulders started to dislocate.

It was a wee bit time consuming, but it all worked out in the end for her and she was awarded HRM and LRC elements of DLA.

And remember it's not about what injuries he has, it's about what care and mobility needs he'll have.

Hope that helps

Echo23

Thanks mazza111. Do you think I should do the same with regards the ESA appeal too?

mazza111

The ESA one is a tricky one. Going to appeal they will only look at your husband's condition on the day of his medical or the day the decision was made. We're struggling with this one at the moment as my dd scored 0 points in Sept. 2 weeks later she broke her leg and was in cast for 5 and a half months, then she dislocated her opposite knee. Now she's got bits dislocating everywhere and has been diagnosed with HMS.

But when we went to tribunal, they said they can only look at her condition on the day of the medical, which was depression, dislocated knee, and mobile joints. So even though she's went through a rapid deterioration they will still only look at the claim on the date of her medical.

We've handed the case over now to the Welfare Rights Officer at our local social work department and they are now going to deal with it on our behalf.

princessdon

I would check Re the DLA as there is a 3 month before and 6 months after limit.

At the moment whilst he his healing the extent (if any) of his injuries may not be apparant.

maybe someone else can advise more.

Echo23

Oh Blimey! I didn't realise that was the case. Hmmm I was hoping his recent injuries would help us with the ESA. He scored 0 originally too. I have a sinking feeling that we won't be entitled to anything.
I'm sorry to hear about you daughter's condition. It must be horrendous for her. x

Echo23

Thanks princessdon. It seems like there is a "catch" to everything and we don't seem to fit into any boxes. My husband is very obviously unable to work but I bet he won't be disabled enough or have been disabled long enough to qualify for anything. It's ridiculous.

princessdon

I *think* sorry this isn't something I know a lot about you can ask for some kind of reassessment due to worsening condition for ESA

It is DLA that has a stipulation that the care needs have been there for 3 months and will continue for 6 months.

Cpt.Scarlet

You can make a new claim for ESA on the basis of a deteriorated condition, but be aware, any new decision will potentially limit any award that a tribunal might make.

mazza111

challfour wrote: »

That is a little bit contradictory.

Having any disgnosis is not relevant to a DLA claim, nor is what the hospital says and nor is what you say.

What is important and the only thing that they will consider will be the care needs and mobility issues that have arisen because of the condition as you rightly point out at the end of your post.

I have a back problem, had an MRI & Xrays done, then the spinal consultant muttered something into his dictaphone and told me that I would now have to wait for the anaesthetist to get in touch with me.
What the diagnosis is I haven't got a clue and quite honestly it doesn't matter as long as somebody knows. It doesn't create any real needs although walking even with a stick without pain is almost impossible.
If I was to claim DLA they would only be interested in what my needs were, not some medical term that I couldn't even spell!

Likewise when considering ESA, you are only required to show what your problems are and how they fit into one or more of the descriptors. No one is really interested in knowing some latin names that most don't understand.

It was relevant as it was a changing condition, with a changing condition her care/mobility needs changed.

Just as I would inform them if she got miraculously better overnight. The surgeon we spoke to today, laughed at another surgeon saying she will grow out of it. He said it does happen though, on very rare occasions (1/3-4000).


I really don't know why I'm responding to you tbh. You've already been exposed as a troll in another thread.


Echo it is horrendous. We spoke to the surgeon today who admitted the surgery was too complex for him and has referred her onto another surgeon. This is only to fix one of the knees. She's now got a decision to make, the surgery, if possible, may give her another couple of years on her feet, worse case scenario she'll be in a wheelchair. But that would be the case if she doesn't have the surgery either :wall:

ATM she's suffering from both her knees slipping, a shoulder dislocating, wrists dislocating, she can't straighten her thumbs or they pop out. Her fingers dislocate even with typing. She wears braces on her wrists and knees, has insoles for her shoes, and is only allowed to wear high top trainers. I often think it's the velcro holding her together. And all this has happened since her work capability assessment.

She's like a wee old woman at 21, it's pretty sad to see.

Echo23

I can only imagine how you must feel seeing your daughter suffering so. My heart goes out to you both. Thank you for taking the time to offer advice. xx