Refused DLA

Crazyclaire

We've been refused DLA for our 14 year old daughter, the reason they have given is that we do not give care throughout the day. They fully acknowledge that she requires personal care for over an hour a day by encouragement , prompting and some physical help.

NeilCr

From CAB

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/disability-living-allowance/before-you-claim-dla/claiming-dla/

You'll need to do a Mandatory Reconsideration now. Please be aware of the time limits

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/disability-living-allowance/dla-appeals/dla-mandatory-reconsideration/

pearl123

Try again but get advice. Like a carers helpline or CAB. Do not give up!

kingfisherblue

Crazyclaire wrote: »

We've been refused DLA for our 14 year old daughter, we were seeking lower rate care. After speaking with them the reason they have given is that we not give care throughout the day. They fully acknowledge that she requires personal care for over an hour a day by encouragement , prompting and some physical help, but say this is not given throughout the day.

I agree that on school days this care is not given throughout the day as daughter doesn't have any type of school plan. Physiotherapy excercises are conducted at home, showering and teeth brushing is done at home. She eats only finger food at school because she needs almost constant reminding to use cutlery during meals.

However as we do not seek middle rate care this shouldn't matter. We had understood "throughout the day" only applies to middle rate. An hour for lower rate. Have we got this wrong?

As ther letter reads:
Help with personal care for about an hour a the day OR
Right through the day etc

So am I missing something? Can you not claim lower rate care alone? She doesn't need help with mobility.

The thing is, it's not up to you to decide which rate to claim. It's up to the decision maker. What you need to do is compare her to another child of the same age. If the DM then decides that she has additional care needs, above those of a child the same age, of around an hour a day, you may be successful.

[Deleted User]

Not having an EHCP will make it hard to claim because that 8 whole hours she is managing fine without promting or encouraging.
Do you have evidence from medical, education and/or social care that these needs exist? They won't accept your word alone.

CakeCrusader

They do reject a lot of DLA/PIP applications, you can phone them up and ask them to look at it again and give them more information over the phone, or you can fill the form in again (if you call them for the form they will date any award from the date that you called, if you download it they will award it from the date they received the form).



It's tricky to fill the form in as you're not always aware of the things that you do, I wrote a daily diary for my son (07:00 needed waking up, 07:10 needed waking up again, 07:20 needed waking up again, this was because he doesn't sleep well during the night and needs a lot of encouragement to get up. This is not normal for a child his age. 07:30 needs help getting his clothes because he can't remember where they are. This is because he's dyspraxic and struggles to organise himself, and this is not normal for a child his age. 07:35 needs help getting dressed because he struggles with buttons. This is because he has hypermobility in his hands, causing weakness and pain in his fingers. This is not normal for a child his age. Go all the way through the day until your child is in bed, and include anything you have to supervise, like bathing, tooth brushing, keeping clean, chopping up food, getting dressed, activities outside the house where you have to be there, getting up and down the stairs, getting ready for bed.



Cerebra have a very good guide; http://www.cerebra.org.uk/help-and-information/guides-for-parents/dla-guide/

poppy12345

CakeCrusader wrote: »

They do reject a lot of DLA/PIP applications, you can phone them up and ask them to look at it again and give them more information over the phone, or you can fill the form in again (if you call them for the form they will date any award from the date that you called, if you download it they will award it from the date they received the form).

Yes you can ring them to ask for the MR but it's always better to put it in writing.



Applying again is also an option yes, but there's a high chance they will be refused again. Asking for the MR then Tribunal if needed is always the better option.

WeAreGhosts

I have "features of" dyslexia, but I still put it on the form. It's for them to judge what to take into account. The dyspraxia could be accounting for her not being able to keep up with writing (it's organising thoughts and getting them down on paper, also handwriting tends to be either illegible or writing is slow). Please don't leave anything out.

poppy12345

Crazyclaire wrote: »

Some helpful responses, thank you. The claim is under appeal the moment. Just before school ended she told myself and her tutor that she struggles to keep up with the writing during exams, which resulted in her leaving out questions, in which case if she has a plan could she get extra time for GCSE exams? Also could this count as extra attention at school? Sorry I am only familiar with My Plan plus which she had a primary school.
We were only claiming for hypermobilty and low muscle tone but in truth she does have some features of aspergers, features of dyspraxia, features of ADD all verified by the hospital letters but just "features of".
However I am trying to claim purely for the low muscle tone and hypermobilty, which does add up to an hour a day. This is because she is obsessed over a job which would be most likely out of the question if she is fully diagnosed with Aspergers, dyspraxia and ADD. It is already competitive, only 0.5 % of applicants get through and you need a class 3 medical certificate, I have no idea how far back they look health wise.

They no longer diagnose Aspergers, it's autism (ASD) You also don't need a diagnosis for a DLA claim.

When you say under appeal, do you mean Mandatory Reconsideration or Tribunal? I'm guessing by the post dates it's the MR? Only 20% of MR decisions change so be aware of the likelihood of taking it to Tribunal.

If it gets as far as Tribunal then i'd advise a visit to your local CAB for help with that process.