DLA feel like crying !

pregwithno4

Feel sick, Ive just got off the phone and been told that my sons renewal has been rejected.
He requires a lot more care than a child his age. He has perthes disease and autism hes 10 years old and is still in my bed because he wont sleep on his own, makes himself sick with worry and anxiety and paces the floor until he is in my room again, has major meltdowns to a point he needs physical restraint, needs CONSTANT supervision. Cant go out by himself, needs to be physically held down. Runs away when out. Has no sense of danger.........t has nearly been killed, if not for the good driving and brakes or the van he just ran in front of. The list is endless.

Ive been told that once I get the decision letter I can ring and go through with a decision maker why I fee that the decision is wrong.
I just dont understand when he needs a lot more care than he used too why its been completely taken away. I was expecting it to go up ...not lose it. What is the likelyhood of another decision maker looking at it and awarding.

I was really thorough on the forms because we have been here before a few years back, he lost his middle rate care. We took it to tribuneral and won, now it looks like we could have to go through all that again.

pmlindyloo

pregwithno4 wrote: »

Feel sick, Ive just got off the phone and been told that my sons renewal has been rejected.
He requires a lot more care than a child his age. He has perthes disease and autism hes 10 years old and is still in my bed because he wont sleep on his own, makes himself sick with worry and anxiety and paces the floor until he is in my room again, has major meltdowns to a point he needs physical restraint, needs CONSTANT supervision. Cant go out by himself, needs to be physically held down. Runs away when out. Has no sense of danger.........t has nearly been killed, if not for the good driving and brakes or the van he just ran in front of. The list is endless.

Ive been told that once I get the decision letter I can ring and go through with a decision maker why I fee that the decision is wrong.
I just dont understand when he needs a lot more care than he used too why its been completely taken away. I was expecting it to go up ...not lose it. What is the likelyhood of another decision maker looking at it and awarding.

I was really thorough on the forms because we have been here before a few years back, he lost his middle rate care. We took it to tribuneral and won, now it looks like we could have to go through all that again.

Did you send in medical evidence that supported your claims?

Since your son's DLA has been refused then you needs to do a mandatory reconsideration and if the decision is not changed then an appeal.

Follow the advice here

http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/appeals-and-mandatory-reconsideration

and consider getting some support from CAB or a disability advisor.

baza52

pregwithno4 wrote: »

Feel sick, Ive just got off the phone and been told that my sons renewal has been rejected.
He requires a lot more care than a child his age. He has perthes disease and autism hes 10 years old and is still in my bed because he wont sleep on his own, makes himself sick with worry and anxiety and paces the floor until he is in my room again, has major meltdowns to a point he needs physical restraint, needs CONSTANT supervision. Cant go out by himself, needs to be physically held down. Runs away when out. Has no sense of danger.........t has nearly been killed, if not for the good driving and brakes or the van he just ran in front of. The list is endless.

Ive been told that once I get the decision letter I can ring and go through with a decision maker why I fee that the decision is wrong.
I just dont understand when he needs a lot more care than he used too why its been completely taken away. I was expecting it to go up ...not lose it. What is the likelyhood of another decision maker looking at it and awarding.

I was really thorough on the forms because we have been here before a few years back, he lost his middle rate care. We took it to tribuneral and won, now it looks like we could have to go through all that again.

I'm confused by your previous posts.
When you lost his DLA last time you did not mention Autism, is this a new diagnoses?
You also said that he needed a wheelchair when going out with you but attended school and would sometimes be too active during the day resulting in cramps at night.

As has been asked did you send in supporting evidence with the application.

pregwithno4

Yes his diagnosis was only made in September 15, he has always had his needs, they have got worse as he got older but when he was younger we always put it down to him being little and in pain.

pregwithno4

yes I sent supporting evidence, his very detailed diagnosis as well as a letter from camhs pointing out his difficulties

missapril75

pregwithno4 wrote: »

I was really thorough on the forms because we have been here before a few years back, he lost his middle rate care. We took it to tribuneral and won, now it looks like we could have to go through all that again.

Just a thought...it seems more and more that benefits offices don't have ready or easy access to past records in the same way they used to.

If, on renewal, entitlement seemed borderline, some reference (by a decision maker) to past records may previously, and in other cases, have indicated why something was actually in payment and may have tipped the scales in someone's favour.

If such access is no longer straightforward - in the same way that other benefit records have long since been filed in remote storage (never to be seen again because it's all done on the cheap by private companies) - perhaps you could suggest that they try to obtain past records relating to the appeal.

They may have missed something or not given proper weight to some aspect of care needed.

If they see that an appeal was previously won by you, they may well revise the decision. They don't really want to have another appeal any more than you do, especially if they don't think the decision will stand up to scrutiny.

merlin68

When i did dds renewal last year, he pulled up her file from 7 years ago.

patman99

You need to ask for mandatory reconsideration. This will take some time, but if successful, they will back-pay the amount outstanding.
If they uphold their initial decision, then an appeal is the next stage.

If you lose the appeal, then the final option is Court.

This is exactley what a lady from essex did and she won.

[Deleted User]

Go to the CAB and ask for some help with this. The wording you use is all important. I waited 6 months for a DLA decision with my older son who has ASD .., and is far more affected than his brother. It was turned down and I had to appeal. 3 months later he was awarded mid rate care and low rate mobility (some time ago). Sent in diagnosis papers etc. His school didn't help, bad school, worse SENCO who said the opposite to what I said and it wasn't true (said he was capable of supervising younger children, like he was a teacher, didn't need any extra help in class (totally untrue, they even applied for extra help during exams).., He used to leave school because he got so stressed, the SENCO basically lied. I was thank god, able to demonstrate to the DLA authorities of the difficulties I had with the school and did win the appeal and disproved what the school said.

I applied for DLA for my younger son who has a diagnosis of ASD, but in many ways is less affected. I did mention he has toileting problems (has accidents) due to stress as well. Had help from my local autism group. Used the right words rather than practically writing an essay. DLA (high rate care, low rate mobility) was awarded within two weeks of me sending the application off (with diagnosis report obviously).

Still can't quite believe it. I can remember how I felt when I got the first refusal though, my son was refusing to eat anything but shop bought sandwiches at the time and it was quite hard affording this on income support. I was living on toast for weeks on end. But we got there in the end.

Go to the CAB, get help with how to word things. You are probably very tired, and someone else helping can make your answers clearer and more to the point.

missapril75

merlin68 wrote: »

When i did dds renewal last year, he pulled up her file from 7 years ago.

Yes, the computer records but not necessarily the actual appeal documents which would include all the arguments for and against. I suspect whatever convinced the tribunal will be in a file somewhere.

Computer records can be quite limited in detail.

I suppose it's possible that all the documents were scanned and are readily accessible but I kind of doubt it. If an appeal was won, and there's a new diagnosis and medical evidence to say support needed is actually greater since the appeal one would be questioning why the negative decision.

To my mind it suggests all past documents have not been checked.

LocoLoco

Do push all the way to appeal, we've just won my son's (again); the DWPs response was like reading about someone else's child, they ignored the huge amount of additional information I sent in and claimed he could do things he can't do. Personally I have always found the DWP an appalling organisation to deal with, incredibly stressful and forcing people to fight they way they do is disgusting.

By contrast, the Tribunal judges were lovely, very professional and polite, we had a long chat, I went through all the information that I'd already submitted and they overturned the decision.

It's a horrible situation to be in but, as others have said, see if there's a Welfare Advisor in your area that can go through it with you; the Autistic Society used to do phone advice so it might be worth checking with them to see if they still offer that service?

Good luck with it, it's a horrible situation to be in x