DLA Appeal

cazziej

Can anybody tell me this?

My husband applied for DLA and was refused. With the help of a benefits advisor he appealed. The benefits office then wrote to him to say that they had requested further information from his GP and that if they had not received a reply by 30th May 2007 they would proceed with the appeal without the information.

I know the GP has sent the information off (last week).

Does this mean that they won't even look at the appeal until the 30th of May? How soon is he likely to hear from them?

Thanks for your help.:T

cattie

It sounds as if they are waiting to get the gp's report before looking at the claim again & they may then decide in your husbands favour so he won't have to go to appeal. If this happens then you shouldn't have to wait too long for a letter to let you know.

Has your husband requested an oral appeal (in person) or a paper appeal where applicant doesn't attend? Oral appeals have a much higher success rate than paper hearings.

cazziej

Hi Cattie, thanks for your reply.

I'm not sure what was requested as it was done via the Welfare Rights Officer.

Will just have to sit tight and wait for now!!

Best wishes

Carol

dooby

cazziej wrote: »

Can anybody tell me this?

My husband applied for DLA and was refused. With the help of a benefits advisor he appealed. The benefits office then wrote to him to say that they had requested further information from his GP and that if they had not received a reply by 30th May 2007 they would proceed with the appeal without the information.

I know the GP has sent the information off (last week).

Does this mean that they won't even look at the appeal until the 30th of May? How soon is he likely to hear from them?

Thanks for your help.:T

Hi.

It may be possible that the Decision Maker who made the new claim decision did so without medical back up and thus meaning their case isn't strong enough to take to an appeal board OR it could be that whatever was written in the appeal letter/request held new information which could lead to an award being made. A Gp report isn't anything to worry about. A lot of people think that they ask for medical reports so that they can disallow benefit, that is not the case, DMs have to be able to justify their decision and sometimes, whether favourable or not, a medical report from a professional is the only way a strong decsion can be made.

Even if the report isn't rec'd by that date for whatever reason and the Appeal submission gets written, once the report is recieved, if it points to changing the decision his case can still be reconsidered on the grounds that there is fresh evidence.

cazziej

Thank you Dooby.

Will wait and see.

Best wishes

Carol