Attendance allowance question

Jay_1987

Hi there. 

Applied for attendance allowance a while ago and they received the application 7 weeks ago today. I was advised the last time I called that someone was looking at it and they were close to making a decision and to wait on a letter to see whether I was receiving it or not. Postal strikes mean that mail is all over the place and what I am really wanting to know is are the advisers at DWP not allowed to tell you the decision over the phone if they have come to a decision already? I was advised a decision would be made within 8 weeks of them receiving the letter.

calcotti

I believe decisions are generally taking longer than usual at the moment so they may not have made a decision yet. Whether or not they will tell you over the phone may depend on who answers.

Jay_1987

calcotti said:

I believe decisions are generally taking longer than usual at the moment so they may not have made a decision yet. Whether or not they will tell you over the phone may depend on who answers.

Oh. So some advisers will tel you if a decision has been made and others won’t? Do we know the policy on this? Are they meant to tell you the decision over the phone if you ask? I got a decision over the phone previously but it was quite a few years ago now.

Jay_1987

Just an update on this.

I called and spoke to an adviser who said they still have not made a decision, but if a decision is still not made by a week today they will escalate it for an urgent decision. She said they can tell you the decision over the phone and do not need to wait for the letter.

Murphybear

I applied for AA in the 3rd week of April and got 10 weeks money in my bank account on 6th July.  I got the letter advising me I’d been awarded it a week later.  

calcotti

Jay_1987 said:

calcotti said:

I believe decisions are generally taking longer than usual at the moment so they may not have made a decision yet. Whether or not they will tell you over the phone may depend on who answers.

Oh. So some advisers will tel you if a decision has been made and others won’t? Do we know the policy on this? Are they meant to tell you the decision over the phone if you ask? I got a decision over the phone previously but it was quite a few years ago now.

I can't point at a policy statement on the issue, from experience what staff are willing to reveal does vary.

whizzywoo

I applied at the end of January 2022 and the first payment went into my bank in early March 2022 about a week before the decision letter arrived. 

I believe that it is now taking longer, approximately 10 to 12 weeks.

Look out for a payment into your bank account.   It will quote your NHI number and the letters AA.

Rubyroobs

They are taking up to 12 weeks at the moment. I think a lot more people are applying due to the cost of living crisis and thinking they will give it a go applying. I help a lot of people to apply and whilst some have bene awarded within 9 weeks recently, there have been a few taking up to 12 weeks.

slowcars

Rubyroobs said:

They are taking up to 12 weeks at the moment. I think a lot more people are applying due to the cost of living crisis and thinking they will give it a go applying. 

Are you suggesting that it is acceptable for people to put in spurious claims for benefits because they are looking to want an increase in their income? The cost-of-living crisis should not feature as a reason to 'chance their luck' for a bit more cash.
If that is what is happening all they are doing is making genuine claimants wait longer for a decision.

Rubyroobs

slowcars said:

Rubyroobs said:

They are taking up to 12 weeks at the moment. I think a lot more people are applying due to the cost of living crisis and thinking they will give it a go applying. 

Are you suggesting that it is acceptable for people to put in spurious claims for benefits because they are looking to want an increase in their income? The cost-of-living crisis should not feature as a reason to 'chance their luck' for a bit more cash.
If that is what is happening all they are doing is making genuine claimants wait longer for a decision.

What I'm saying is that maybe people who didn't apply before even though they may have qualified are now being forced into a position where they have to claim as they need the money for extra heating in particular. In my experience a lot of older people are reluctant to apply for benefits when they don't necessarily need the money but at the moment with the cost of living being as it is, they are needing to so yes I think there has been a big influx recently of claims. In my experience working for a charity for older people, they ring up for a benefit check because they are struggling with the cost of living and when we question them on whether they have any difficulties with personal care, it then transpires that they do and may qualify for AA. It's just that they may not previously have thought they would qualify for disability benefit so haven't explored it. AA generally requires a good deal of medical evidence to be awarded. Apologies if I made it sound like I thought non genuine claimants were claiming. 

calcotti

Rubyroobs said: . Apologies if I made it sound like I thought non genuine claimants were claiming. 

It didn’t read like that to me. As you say people who might not have felt the need to claim previously now need to. Absolutely no suggestion in your post that you thought it reasonable for people to make spurious claims.