DLA / AA Decision Maker - CLOSED - REFERENCE ONLY

somebody_else wrote: »

I'd also like to thank Thantos. It's very brave of him/her considering some of the experiences some of us have had when trying to claim DLA.

As a former NHS employee, I know first hand that the majority of employees are very human and work very hard to provide the best service/care they can - it's the minority of employees that not only give the rest a bad name, but also make life more difficult than it need be.

Could I just ask one quick question? My first DLA award was for 2 years and due to expire in May, my second award was more or less the same. Then my 3rd award was decided quite early, and was for 3 years, but because of time the decision was made it expires in January of next year. I received the renewal forms for this award in July, and within 2 weeks I'd received a letter telling that they'd not had my forms back (not surprising, I hadn't even started filling them out by that point), and I've since had a couple more asking for my forms asap. Why the rush? I know it takes time for the decisions to be made but 7 months?. The cynic in me wonders if this is a not so subtle way to save money - if I fill the forms in as fast as it's being implied I'm expected to, and my award is either reduced or stopped, then DWP saves themselves up to 6 months worth of DLA.

Is that the idea behind it?

Ok, this is an easy one to answer...

Renewal forms are sent automatically by the system 6 months prior to the awards expiring. Reminders are also system issued.

When a renewal decision is made, regardless of when the actual decision is made (early or late) the date the renewal award starts is the date the previous award expires. There are execeptions to this:

Exception 1 is is the award is increased it will be back dated to the day we recieved the renewal claim form.

Exception 2 is is we disallow the claim in its entirity - the date of the decision will then be used. (eg its not normally backdated (althought it can be!))

Exception 3 is if the award is reduced (but not removed entirely) with this one, normally the renewal date still applies, unless the DM establishes a change in yourr circumstances that gives grounds to change the decision from an earlier date (normally the date of decision). This is however rare and we normally do it from the date of decision.

It sounds like your last claim (that cut 6 months) was due to one of the exceptions above - my initial reaction is that it was increased...


so the short answer is no, the aim is not to cut the award by 6 months to save money, but the current award may cut the previous award short especially when increasing the award (which actually costs us more money )

I have added some additonal information to the initial post, detailing what level of care qualifys you for what level of benefit. AA is just Middle and higher rate care of DLA so same qualifying criterea apply.


If anyone knows how to edit the first post so it looks nicer, let me know as simply changing the font sizes and deleting the gaps in it seem to make no difference whatsoever

Sueinbirmingham wrote: »

You are entitled because...you need to be constantly supervised...so that you do not cause substantial danger to yourself or others" (ditto night) I don't want to get it on that basis, I want to get it on the basis of needing help with bodily functions. It's not nice being told I might cause substantial danger to myself or others. But I have no idea of whether I previously established that I did indeed need help with bodily functions.

Ah, ok I understand... Then in answer to your original question, when the letter talks about supervision more than care/attention, what it means is that the DM felt your supervision needs were greater than your care needs - essentially the DM awarded you for those needs as he/she felt they presented a stronger case for the ward given.

That said, for about a year now we have been using a new form called an ENT1 (Electronic notification template). This is a slightly superior notification that (if completed correctly) will address all need you claimed, confirming if they were accepted or not and what the award was based on, so it should be clearer in the future.