DLA ATOS Home Visit - update, a sad outcome

Keeping_Positive

I wrote a detailed letter for my partners appeal. 7 months later a reesponse basicalky saying it didnt matter what i put as im a lay person. It also said the doctors letter didnt help as he was a gp and didn't know enough about whether a person could work.d

SandraScarlett

My friend phoned to say she had received a letter from the DWP, acknowledging her request for this to be looked at again, and stating this could take up to 11 weeks.

No mention was made of her request for a copy of the ATOS report, or the Statement of Reasons. We've decided that in another 3 weeks, I'll type a letter for her, asking if these documents have been posted, as they haven't been received.

And then, if necessary, send another letter after a further month. The £100ish a week that she is losing is a huge blow, but her family have rallied round, and I know they're all chipping in a bit here and there, which is a great help.

I haven't mentioned this to her, but if her DLA is re-instated, will she be paid any arrears, or will it be paid from the date a decision is made?

Thank you.

xx

mazza111

It should be backdated to the date of the original claim or when it was stopped

SandraScarlett

mazza111 wrote: »

It should be backdated to the date of the original claim or when it was stopped

That's a relief, but I'll still keep this to myself until she receives some (I hope) positive news. Thank you very much.

xx

sunnyone

SandraScarlett wrote: »

Sunnyone, I hope your DH's dementia doesn't worsen. It is a most cruel illness, but, as you rightly say, you'll manage. I can cope with most of my DH's memory problems, providing words he can't remember, searching for things he's mislaid, helping him dress because he can't remember what he needs to wear, and in what order.

But he has no concept of time of day, day of the week, or month of the year, and to answer the same oft-repeated question, over and over again, does require the utmost patience.

And it's vital that even the teeniest, weeniest sigh must not escape my lips, or this causes distress - or agitation.

xx

Im lucky that I was and still am seeing a counsellor who has helped me come to terms with his conditions, I did lose my temper a couple of times when he started to have memory problems because I believed it would improve as the physical symptoms improved, his memory problems upset him but not as much as his PBA http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pba

sunnyone

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

OK, that's fine, that's your and your husband's choice. My husband and I would make a different choice and would rather pay a stranger to do it . It doesn't mean we don't love each other, quite the contrary, we have been married for over 41 years and are two halves of one whole.

I would never, ever want him to do personal intimate care fo rme, it would be, in our eyes, so degrading for both of us, and when I mentioned it to him, he said he would rather die than have me do it for him.

So if, God forbid, that time ever comes, we'll pay for carers. Our choice, that's how we feel.

Diffrent people cope in diffrent ways, I hope that you never have to make the choices we have made but they work for us.

I have two main carers, one who I trust with anything, I have had her for over ten years now and I pay her very well because I would be lost without her, my part time carer dosnt do personel care because I dont want her to or to train her up to do it.

You use the same analogy as I always do about my husband, some of my friends think its strange because they are whole without a partner (and so am I in some ways) but for us we are the other half of each other.

SandraScarlett

My friend phoned to say that she enquired yesterday of the status of her award, and was told that they hadn't looked at her letter yet, as they were "very busy", so the requested documents haven't been sent. Also, her "look at again" telephone request of a fortnight ago, could take 11 weeks - which is what they told her last week.

I had to laugh, to myself, as I am going into hospital next week, and will be off my feet until May, and my friend said "once you've had a bit of a rest, you'll do another letter for me, won't you"!

xx

SandraScarlett

My friend informed me yesterday that she's received a letter, dated 3 weeks previously, saying that her award had been looked at again and still refused, and she had a month to appeal.

She'd phoned them and pointed out that when she'd phoned to enquire as to the status, 7th March I think, she was told nothing had been decided yet .............. so how come they'd reached a decision over a week earlier, according to the date on the letter! Something is very wrong here.

She was told that she had to get her appeal in by next week, which of course is Easter, so I did another letter for her, pointing all these discrepancies out, enclosing another copy of the letter she sent on 22nd Feb, which requested a copy of both the ATOS report, and the Decision Maker's, which hasn't even been acknowledged.

She did ask for these copies again during her phone call, and was told they'd definitely be sent.

xx

SandraScarlett

Sadly, my friend visited me today and she has given up trying to get her DLA reinstated, as she is so worn down by it all. I was fully prepared to carry on with more letters, but she has said she now dreads reading more indescrepancies each time a Brown Envelope arrives.:(

I did the Appeal letters for her last month, and she hasn't had an actual refusal yet, but she has said that I'm to do no more. As others have said, if she'd have done nothing, her HRC and LRM would have continued for another 3 years, but she did what she was supposed to do, and informed them of a change in circumstances.

She finally got the copies of the Decision Maker's letter and the ATOS doctor's report, and whilst some things in the report were wrong, others were correct, but contradicted in the DWP letter!

So for anyone thinking of trying to do an Oliver Twist, and asking for more, it may be better to stick with what you've got. I'm really angry inside, :mad:, because it appears that honesty isn't always the best policy.

But she looked so defeated today, and brow beaten, that I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help to her.

xx

seven-day-weekend

What a shame that she feels she doesn't want to continue. However, that is her choice and must be respected.

Maybe she does not fit the criteria any more, because the goalposts have moved, whereas she did at one time, maybe that is what the problem is. However, he Appeal may still be successful.

My son's girlfriend gets Low Rate Mobility and Care because she fulfilled the criteria for these when she applied for her DLA. She is totally expecting to lose it when she is transferred to PIP because she will almost certainly not fulfill the revised criteria.