the ever-wonderful DLA

[NobbyNobbs]

so far -

refused first time on grounds of an out of date report for a benefit claim, plus statement from a doctor not my GP. asked for it to be looked at again removing report and doctor letter

refused second time, out of date report removed, along with 18 of the reasons why i wasn't eligible, GP report still there. ask for it to be looked at again, plus request a copy of the GP report so i can point out how wrong it must be since the doctor didn't have my notes plus full written statement of reaasons

finally get copy of GPs report, no statement of reasons. GP report confirms i have the conditions i listed on my claim, but doesn't say anything else. nothing in there would indicate that what i had said about my needs was wrong. in sections asking for information on how the conditions affect me the doctor simply wrote 'nothing' twice and then said i had difficulty breathing when asthma plays up. all but two of the reasons still listed are in contradiction to my medical history (no risk of self harm (its in my notes!), no need for support when outside the house (i have agorophobia, so panic attacks, irrational behaviour, and ankle injury which means i fall a lot and can't walk on uneven ground without injury) etc. i've stated this in the letter... but this is the third time i've said it so i dont expect it to be listened to!

 

so do i write another letter (i already had to send in my appeal form because they took so long to find the gp report the dealine would have been passed)? it isn't possible for the conditions i have to not affect me... if they didn't i wouldn't have them and noones contesting that so shouldn't it go hand in hand that they affect me?!

 

or should i do what my parents say and just accept that i'm not going to get anywhere and give up? i really thought i had enough to claim and if i didn't i'd be fine with that, but they dont seem to be making any sense and their decision doesn't seem to be based on any fact. they just seem to be saying no and ignoring things so they can have a reason. my mom keeps saying that i'm not disabled so why would i get it, but i thought it was based on the amount of care you needed above the normal for your age rather than being in a wheelchair or the like? maybe i've got that wrong too

[warrenpenalver]

I get the impression the DLA people are deliberately stupid or awkward to screw over genuine people!!

 

Have you used an advocacy service to help write your forms???? also sounds like your GP needs a slap to write things down properly.

[NobbyNobbs]

i attended a workpath appointment today and after the advisor there went through my needs and so on she produced a list of benefits i might be on and proceeded to go nuts when i explained what was going on with the DLA. she says theyre just messing with me and i have to keep arguing and eventually they'll give in, so monday i'll phone the number to check they're processing the appeal and tell them i'll be sending a letter querying what exactly about the GP letter they're using as evidence as i dont see anything in it.

 

i'm also writing to the PCT asking for them to tell me how to register with an alternative doctors surgery since we live in the catchment area for only one so noone else will take me. i'd complain to the surgery itself but the practice manager is the wife of one of the doctors so you can imagine how far that will go! my sisters medical notes, address and phone number were released to a pharmacist by the doctor husband after the pharmacist managed to stab herself with an epi-pen my sister had given in and for some reason became convinced she'd caught HIV and nothing was done about it when my sister complained!

 

so much arguing just to be treated in a civil manner by someone you're meant to trust with your life...

[warrenpenalver]

It seems every DLA assessment team has their own unauthorised "policies" in addition to the official guidlines that are public access. Either that or they are SO incompetant that you have to wonder it the employees have any positive skills!!!

 

Worst case go to MP!!!

[NobbyNobbs]

ive just had an appointment with an ENT consultant who has said i have 'severe perception deficit' in my left ear (which as far as i understand means that i can hear pure tones ok (still not good) but that because speech and other everyday sounds aren't pure i can't hear them. do i write to the DLA and say this now, even though i have to have an MRI to establish the cause of the problem (suspected nerve damage), or wait until thats done too... by which point my claim might finally be done?

[warrenpenalver]

I dont know if you can add to a submitted claim or if you have to start again. Someone else here might know.

[Tally]

During my application, I was told to inform them of any changes, so I think you would be right to keep them informed of this. I expect it could make your back-payments confusing if this diagnosis results in a higher award or makes the difference between being awarded and not at all.

[NobbyNobbs]

since my appeal is so chaotic i think i'll wait and see what they say, then if it goes to the indipendent tribunal i'll ask about adding it there. i doubt it would change anything because i can't pinpoint any way it affects me (except obviously i can't hear on that side) i never even noticed it until i realised i had to double the volume to hear with an earphone in my left against in my right so i have no idea how long its been that way

[NobbyNobbs]

i got my claim approved today

the bad news is i got low care, no mobility and the information is still wrong!

i dont know what to do now because obviously i've got something, but the letter saying what i do/dont need is completely wrong, ive written endless letters detailing the things i have problems with (and i have medical evidence if they'd care to check!) but they seem determined to ignore them. the letter sent back hasn't changed any information from my most recent appeal, its just changed the bit that says i didn't qualify to that i get low care even though i was arguing their information was wrong and hadn't considered a lot of information i'd sent.

 

so do i leave it, my claim is dated until mid-2010, or do i make the dreaded call and argue again? i dont know if what i'm saying isn't clear or what, but i'm usually extremely eloquent in letters (which works against me cos i can't say a word in public and even my parents have trouble understanding me a lot of the time)so i wouldn't think it was that. i dont mind if my allowance stays at low care if thats where it should be, but i want the information to be right and they just dont seem to understand that is important.

Edited November 22, 2008 by NobbyNobbs

[Kathryn]

Well done for getting this far, anyway.

 

It must be tempting to walk away and accept what you've got for the sake of a quiet life, after all the hassle you've had. I'm not familiar with the appeal process, so I don't know how difficult and stressful it is but if you're going to challenge this decision it's better to do it now now than in a couple if years' time, in my opinion.

 

K x

[warrenpenalver]

I'd agree with Kathryn. There must be some form of regulator/ombudsman that covers the people who do DLA. Definitely worth getting the right result rather than any result.

 

Have you been keeping all copies of correspondance in both directions??? Also start sending letters recorded delivery so they dont do "disapearing acts"!! You may also wish to do a "Subject Access Request" under the Data Protection Act so at least you have full copys of the rubbish theyve written on you and used to make the decision!! From some of the posts on this site the DWP are more decietful and twisted than any criminals!! Either that or they are run buy people who are permenantly drunk, stoned or brain dead!!!

 

Ultimately you could push it to an appeals tribunal.

[NobbyNobbs]

the tribunal was the next step if they said no this time, it would be my third appeal. i have copies of everything, so thats ok, and i have sent it all signed for, but theyve not tried to 'lose' anything. i'm so sick of writing letters about personal things and then them just being ignored like they mean nothing. i dont understand what i'm doing so wrong that they're doing this to me, when i presume they couldn't possibly do it to everyone! i was going to call the customer services people and ask what i'm meant to do since noone appears to be reading the information i'm giving, but i dont know how to get a record of the conversation so that it can't be forgotten or ignored. otherwise i can wait at the CAB drop-in, but they'll be busy with the economic problems and i certainly didn't get any advice from the outreach person except that i didn't look disabled and then got a lecture on trying to be normal.

i'm amazed the governemnt is okay with treating disabled people like this, supposedly we're vulnerable to poor treatment, and they're right there at the top!

[warrenpenalver]

i'm amazed the governemnt is okay with treating disabled people like this, supposedly we're vulnerable to poor treatment, and they're right there at the top!

Because its all about money now and not people. Its the same throughout the benefits system. Frightful to think how many genuinely disabled people there are who give up on benefits after the first refusal.

 

I cant believe they are THAT incompetant all the time. Its a government agency so theres strict policys and procedures and i can garuntee theres no written policy stating "screw over people as much as possible" so it has to be incompetancy or negligence caused by disinterested staff.

[NobbyNobbs]

i phoned the DLA number. they said there was nothing i could do except file a new appeal. i pointed out that the problem was noone was actually reading the appeals. she said that was the system so tough, i could appeal or accept the decision. she also said

- because i have said i have had AS since i was born, but was diagnosed in may they can use anything they like from my life against me- namely a doctor report from claiming incapacity benefit nearly 3 years ago. when i saw the doctor i was no longer trying to claim benefit (and hadn't been for a year!), it was the day before i flew to america to live for 6 months and i saw no point in it but they wouldn't stop sending me letters so i went in, said i was fine and walked out again.

- unless i have a report from a consultant i cannot prove anything

BUT

- it is not about medical conditions, it is about care i need (but now they've convieniently forgotten that incapacity is about illness not care)

-i cannot see a doctor for them now. i can ask (and have done) but if they dont think its right they can say no

- unless i have been to hospital in the last 2 weeks i cannot claim i fall and injure myself regularly, despite having medical evidence that i have nerve problems in my foot, a repeated severe injury to my ankle from falling etc...

- i can't prove i self harm because they didn't ask my GP about it so theres no evidence proving it (its in my medical records, which incidentally the doctor DIDNT have while writing the report which didn't ask about it anyway!)

- once again, its not about medical conditions, its about care so we can't take a medical condition as proof you need care, but we won't let you prove it any other way. according to their report i have agorophobia, but I dont need help because i dont have anxiety outside... uhhh

- I need help to communicate in the home, but i dont need help because i cannot communicate outside the house

 

it goes on like that. pretty much all she didn't do was dance around and stick her middle finger up at me singing 'haha. you have AS so you can't communicate well enough to ever win this'

 

i'm now seriously annoyed at the way they are treating me. they have all this information about me and are basically abusing me long-distance. i'm going to the CAB office wednesday when ive finished this terms uni work, and i'm going to write to my MP too because its starting to upset me now. i cannot fight them because they will not listen. i do everything they say everytime i phone, i give them the edivdence they ask for, but they keep saying its not good enough.

 

the latest thing is that i should get a copy of all my medical records and send those to them!!

 

okay, thats my rant over sorry to anyone who made it to the end. i'm off to go cry in a corner

[warrenpenalver]

IS there any "advocacy" services in your area for mental illness/learning disabilitys???? You may well benefit from an advocate helping you say the right things. MPs can be useful in some cases.

 

You need to get all your medical evidence together in one place, that way incompetancy by your gp can be bypassed by him actually having the notes towrite the right reports.

 

Personally Id keep pushing all the way to a tribunal because at a tribunal you are there in person (if you want to be) and its not stupid benefitd staff but trained proffessionals. You are usually entitled to an advocate and carer if needs be. And also once it is going to tribunal you can send evidence DIRECT so it cant "Go missing".

 

I personally wouldnt let them bully you which is basically what they are doing.

[NobbyNobbs]

update -

i got a letter this morning saying that they had paid me my backpayment on the 25th.

i phoned and said i hadn't recieved any money from them

they said it would probably go in tomorrow then. i decided to check they had the right bank details as i'd changed banks after my initial claim, and had put the new bank details in my appeal letter as advised by the call centre.

they had not changed my bank details and the money has been sent into limbo

it apparently will be 2 weeks before the money is recovered and they can pay it into the correct account.

 

the good news is... this completely proves my point that they are not reading my letters i can now go off to the CAB tomorrow with a spring in my step. the DLA woman on the phone even said that it didn't look very good for the DLA that they seemed to have made so many errors and it must be very frustrating!

 

oh and they also have filed my response to the new result as me wanting it looked at again rather than me wanting to appeal, so i had to get that corrected on the phone too

Edited November 27, 2008 by NobbyNobbs

[NobbyNobbs]

the CAB said they could not help me. i was already doing everything i could and would just have to keep appealing until i felt it was fair.

 

spoke to my doctor today about the form they sent in and how i didn't feel it represented the truth, as was in my medical notes. she said if i could get them to send another form she would go through it with me and i could suggest parts of my notes i would like her to detail in it. very good

 

she then phoned and said she'd looked at the old form and as the questions were titled 'care needs as a result of severe disablement' there was nothing she could do. i'm not severely disabled, and therefore have no care needs as a result.

 

i'm now going to send in copies of all my university reports highlighting why i qualify for distance learning because i can't live away from home (ie, i have care needs!). ive already sent in one copy of these but hopefully by highlighting them they'll see what i want. i will request again to see a DWP doctor.

 

i'm also considering taking my reasons letter in to the doctor and explaining why i feel there IS information she could give that would be relevant. i'll phone the DLA helpline tomorrow to ask about the GP form (and where my back payment money is as that still hasn't appeared!)i just dont want to bug the doctor about this so she gets fed up with it.

 

if none of this works i think i'll just have to give up. this claim expires in 2010, i can spend that time gathering information and hopefully have a better chance when i have to renew. at this rate my appeals for this one will run into starting the next one

 

other than that i'm out of ideas for who could help me. i might ask the disability office if they can give me a copy of all their documents on me because that should have a lot of information in it as my exceptional circumstances and course adaptations are very extensive.

[NobbyNobbs]

i'm still going with this. tribunal letter arrived, but no set date yet. i went back to the CAB who gave me an appointment with a legal adviser. he is writing a letter detailing my specific concerns with the current details.

 

with the tribunal letter came a copy of all the documents used, including a DWP medical report from january 2007 for a different benefit claim. the circumstances of the appointment were sketchy (2 days before i moved to america for 6 months, i was no longer attempting to claim benefit so saw no point in the appointment but they kept saying i had to go)

 

anyway, when i read through the medical report today, i realised its not even about me! it details i have an active social life, many friends, and go to the pub weekly (i dont drink and never go in pubs, too noisy), to a restaurant weekly (i go maybe once in 6 months with parents), to the cinema weekly (again, infrequently and only with family)... it goes on and on like this. i have no trouble sleeping, am smartly dressed, have no anxiety or depression...

my personal favorite is that i can drive safely... i can't drive!!!!!!!

 

so it could be interesting at the tribunal, goodness knows who the report is about, and if it was written about me, how exactly the doctor got that information. it also states i was relaxed in the interview, and sat still, no fiddling (i always fiddle with my fingers, can't sit still...). it also states i can be independent because my mother waited in the waiting room during the appointment... they wouldn't let her come in, so of course she was outside!

 

i'm taking it to my doctor to see if she will write a statement saying the info is incorrect, but dont expect she will. anyone know of other ways to 'prove' this is all nonsense. they wont let me see another DWP doctor, ive asked repeatedly.

[Tally]

You only need to prove one aspect of the medical report is false to prove that it does not relate to you. Proving you don't have a driving licence is probably the easiest one.

[NobbyNobbs]

i had an appointment with the AS CAMHS man yesterday. i spoke to him about the DLA and the fact that they're using the incorrect report. he is going to write a letter next week saying the information is incorrect, give the right information, AND write up that i need lower mobility (which i dont get at the moment), because i now have a support worker because i can't go out without help

 

i'm very happy, he said i dont have to worry about getting information for it, he'll take care of it all for me

[NobbyNobbs]

i have my tribunal tomorrow. very nervous, especially as its in an actual court, which i didn't expect!

[ScienceGeek]

i have my tribunal tomorrow. very nervous, especially as its in an actual court, which i didn't expect!

 

Good luck. I hope it goes well.

[NobbyNobbs]

well that was interesting.

 

after me saying to the decision makers since last november that two reports were false and out of date, i was in the tribunal for about 5 minutes, during which time the two reports were thrown out. when they were raised, there was no nonsense, even the DWP representative agreed they should never have been used in the first place

 

then since that was all the evidence they were basing the decision on, and they had mysteriously not recieved the evidence report sent in by my ASD caseworker, they decided the best thing was to give me the medical assessment i've been asking for for months so that they could actually base their decision on some facts.

 

i was looking forward to it being over, whatever the decision, but at least this is a step in the right direction

[NobbyNobbs]

AAARRRGHH! had the doctor come out and do the report. got a copy of the report which states amongst other things 'forgets to take medication, needs reminding in evenings' and the DWP have now sent me a letter saying theyre not changing their decision. their interpretation of the above statment is 'can self-medicate' how can i fight these idiots if they wont even read the reports!!

 

rang up the tribunal who said 'they have a right to their opinion' but that it will still go to tribunal and i can argue it out there. i want to know what it is on my file that says 'take the P***'

[Mumble]

AAARRRGHH! had the doctor come out and do the report. got a copy of the report which states amongst other things 'forgets to take medication, needs reminding in evenings'

Have you tried a medication alarm? I have one of these, it's attached to my pill box, it's very annoying because it doesn't turn off until I do something about it and take my medication, but it does mean I can be independent in taking my medication. I just have to collect my meds every Monday morning from the office to refill the box which is part of my routine now.

Edited August 18, 2009 by Mumble

[NobbyNobbs]

never heard of that, where do you get them? my mom reminds me when she remembers but thats not all that often as she has other things on her mind. i used to remember better when i could leave them out on the side but with the three year old in the house thats a no-no. its taken me 9 days so far for a 7 day course of antibiotics and i still haven't finished them... remembering morning and night is a disaster

[Mumble]

never heard of that, where do you get them?

Tabtime

 

[NobbyNobbs]

oooh, i'm off to order one of them, can use it to remind me of my inhalers too, even though they wouldn't fit in it!