dla disaster

[mikeydt1]

sorry about this posting,

after waiting long 17 weeks and yes that is 17 weeks for my reconsideration on wednesday the 19th of this month i received what i honestly thought was a decision letter.

this letter went in to details about benefit increases and showed when my claim was due to end and how much they were paying however underneath all of this bull it then went on to state that my future payments would be £164.40 a month.

overleaf it then stated that they might look at my award again to make sure i was getting the right amount.

this morning out of the blue i got a call from those people at bootle asking me to have a home visit, i am sure she knew a decision had been made because she asked this at the beginning of the conversation. i told yes a decision had been made to which she then telephoned the dwp but they were still insisting on a medical which totally shocked me.

i telephoned the dwp but they insisted this letter i received was just a notification about increases. question if this was the case and my benefit was ending this month then why on earth in this letter does it state what my future award is going to be?

as far as i am concerned i feel that the dwp do have more than enough information for a decision without this medical, i have supplied supporting evidence from all over the place plus they also have my doctors g.p report and yet they are still not satisfied!!

another question should i let this examination go ahead or telephone on monday and tell the dwp i feel they have enough information and just ask for an appeal to go ahead so that they can't do any further damage to my case.

i did tell them this morning that i was thinking of taking it to appeals and the dwp person tried to put me off!

i do know that atos are as bad as they come and can do lots of damage to peoples case.

as much as i read the letter i got it does look like an award was made then some person has over ruled it.

mike

[Stepheninleeds]

The letters are automatic, it is not related. If you are getting any DLA then you will get a letter. If you are not getting DLA then it is an error. Refusing to cooperate will affect your benefit, it can stop it. If you have not been officially told what your award is then it is still ongoing & the home visit is part of this. They can insist on a medical, no matter what you feel they have. I had one the first time, not the second, & same with my mother. Some do not have them the first time, but may subsequent.

Your greater worry is in refusing & asking for an appeal. I am not sure you can until this current decision is made.

[mikeydt1]

hi stephen,

i have had tos medicals before and have had a taste of their lousy treatments and have gone through appeals.

in respect of the claim according to them my claim ends in a few days so basically i won't be on anything to loose. to throw in confusion in the letter it states that from 11/4/12 my benefit will go up and then below this it then states what my future payments are going to be.

if my benefit ends in a few days then why is my benefit increasing and why mention future payments? i will let you try and figure this one out because i can't.

i am not refusing any and have nothing to loose going either route.

if you had waited this long how would you feel getting such a weird letter? seeing a decision in the letter only to find out they have messed around.

i think i know where the problem is, when i asked for a reconsideration they also sent out the dbd434 form which was running side by side by side with the reconsideration claim as they call it which could be conflicting each other.

i will have to ring on monday to see where the problem lays.

mike

[Carneucopia]

You could well be right there mikeydt! - that asking for a reconsideration when the renewal was almost due is not so much conflicting - but confusing things a bit.
Stepehne is quite right though. The letter you received was the annual one about the increase which would go out anyway regardless of what else is happening. I had to state your future payments because your existing award was due to finish later than the increase date. There is nothing suspicious about that at all.

What is more likely to have caused delay, and maybe even the perceived need for a medical, is if you have completed both forms (the renewal and the reconsideration) close together. And it isn't clear which one you sent in first, or if indeed you did send in the renewal as well.

If you did only send in the reconsideration then that would be looked at only up until the renewal date, at which point your claim would stop because of the lack of the renewal form. If you sent in both forms the reconsideration would be looked at first, again up until the renewal date, then the renewal would be looked at on the basis of the recon decision. Obviously any slight differences between your answers on the 2 forms could then cause further problems.

[mikeydt1]

morning people,

i would like to clear something up as there seems to be some confusion on here. i got a renewal form in december 2011 which i completed and returned and within 3 weeks i got a decision like so many on here they were not awarding anything.

the practice after this is to ask for a reconsideration which i did immediately upon receiving the above decision.

shortly after asking for a reconsideration i was then sent out a look again form which i filled in and returned, according to them they did not receive it so i was sent another look again form which i filled in again and returned to which they received.

when i completed this look again form i submitted many supporting letters, doctors letters, letter supporting my needs, letters from hospital, letters from social services and yet even with all this and my g.p report they are still not happy.

basically when i got the first decision i was given a choice between a reconsideration or going to appeal, with them mucking me around something chronic i wish i had gone straight to appeals.

it is so annoying waiting all this time supporting my claim which did cost me to find out that these people wouldn't be satisfied with anything.

it is one thing getting letters of support but they just don't count for nothing as far as these dwp people are concerned.

my advice from all of this is to go down the appeals route, for me i have just waisted weeks with these morons.

mike

[Stepheninleeds]

Ley me say again Mike, the letter is automated. It does not take into account your DLA is to end, they never do when talking about increases, you get a separate letter for such things. Do not be confused on it. The computer that created this letter has not been told your DLA is to end, it is another computer that has, or program. The fact that human program the system does not matter, they always blame the computer, or you actually. It is never their fault, always ours. They send a letter saying you have been awarded bother high rates of DLA. 6 months later they send one saying it was wrong & you should only get MRC & LRM, it is your fault for not telling them, even though you could not possibly know.

Carn could be right. It is a nightmare for you, I have been there. It is hell going through it, even a normal claim is hard enough. It is not set up to be easy.

I have an idea on why it is taking so long & why they want a medical. Based on what I went through with my renewal. I discovered they tend to contact each person for evidence separately, then they wait for a reply from that person, then contact another one, & so on. Each one can take a month or more. I had to keep calling & trying to get them to contact whichever person they were waiting to reply, & remind them to reply & that is was now urgent. This sometimes worked, depended on who I spoke to. As to the medical, sometimes the information they get back is confusing to them, or appears to conflict, or is on the border of one od the DLA rate levels.

I went for appeal the first time, & glad I did, though it too nearly a year. I had the CAB to help me with it all. A lot of the information the DLA sent related to my claim was in another language. The reason I ws turned down was simple though.

All I can say is to keep calling, ask what is going on. If they say they are waiting for a report or a form back, ask who. You will get those who say they do not know, others will check & say who it is that has not yet sent it back. You can then contact them yourself & ask them if they can hurry it up & why. You can also ask DLA to contact them & remind them the form has not been returned & that it is urgent. You can also ask them to ask them to contact the DM & inform them your benefit has ran out, you are in serious trouble, etc. Sometimes it works, soemtimes none of it does, again, it depends who you speak to on the phone.

[mikeydt1]

hi stephen,

you brought a smile to my face with the dwp sending you something in another language.

i do have a more serious issue and have had to ask an m.p for help, i have so far asked twice for my paper work which we once mentioned and for reasons unknown the dwp have refused to send anything.

welfare rights told me to get an m.p invlolved if they refused so i have took their advice.

one question i have just done a check about the doctor they are sending and he is splattered on the internet, not say what but am i at least entitled to choose another doctor if i have got concerns?

mike

[davewhit]

morning people,

i would like to clear something up as there seems to be some confusion on here. i got a renewal form in december 2011 which i completed and returned and within 3 weeks i got a decision like so many on here they were not awarding anything.

the practice after this is to ask for a reconsideration which i did immediately upon receiving the above decision.

shortly after asking for a reconsideration i was then sent out a look again form which i filled in and returned, according to them they did not receive it so i was sent another look again form which i filled in again and returned to which they received.

when i completed this look again form i submitted many supporting letters, doctors letters, letter supporting my needs, letters from hospital, letters from social services and yet even with all this and my g.p report they are still not happy.

basically when i got the first decision i was given a choice between a reconsideration or going to appeal, with them mucking me around something chronic i wish i had gone straight to appeals.

it is so annoying waiting all this time supporting my claim which did cost me to find out that these people wouldn't be satisfied with anything.

it is one thing getting letters of support but they just don't count for nothing as far as these dwp people are concerned.

my advice from all of this is to go down the appeals route, for me i have just waisted weeks with these morons.

mike

there are many people that submit letters with dla forms and they do take note of what has been said, so what you need to ask is why are your letters not helping your case ... do they confuse or contradict ...... going stright to appeal would not have helped as the first stage is a recon by another DM

also regards your health problems are your claims of help needed in line with whats wrote on needs under your illness on the a to z of medical conditions web pages ? if not have you explained why your needs are different and possibly greater than average

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/s...al-conditions/

so for example if you claim you need say 2 hours help a day with a problem and they say no or little help needed have you said why ?

[mikeydt1]

hi dave,

many thanks for the reply but i am wanting to know if i am fully entitled to change the doctor they are wanting to send, he is splattered as a problem doctor on the internet,

i will ask on monday why the supporting letters are not helping with my case. no doubt they will fob me off like fobbing me off with not sending my paper work.

this morning i have filed a complaint and have asked for an m.p to get involved.

many thanks,

mike

[Stepheninleeds]

Glad I made you smile Mike, we never do at the time though.

Mike, you do need help, so get it. They cannot refuse to send any details relating to your claim, you have the right to it all. So get someone to help you fight this.

No, you cannot change the doctor. You have no rights on that. Only time this might be possible is on specific gender (When undressing could be required) or religious grounds. I am not sure if this has happened though.