h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

the DLA seem to think that i've found one!!!I have various medical problems,one of which is vertigo.I have very little balance ,even when i'm indoors,but outdoors it's pretty non-existant.I have received Disability Living Allowance for approximitely ten years now,and the forms arrived in april for me to renew this(i was awarded it for three years last time,but have had it continually since 1996.
My decision arrived yesterday,and they have decided that i no longer qualify!!!!!My condition hasn't changed,i can't walk outside,at all,and have to use a wheelchair if i go anywhere,although i have suffered from agrophobia for many years,so going out causes me some awful problems in any case.
So,in their infinate wisdom they have decided that i can now walk outside,without difficulty,and am no longer ill!!!
I just can't believe it!!

hi sal
-
sorry to hear that you are having probs
-
the lady that lives in buttershaw that used to be with us on the cb, is also trying to sort things
-
her hubby as bad demeture, and she is herself with bad legs and diabetic, he wont respond sometimes to her trying to feed or wash him, she cant afford a carer, and they say he cant go in care as he as to sign the papers,
-
he doesnt know anyone sometimes, but he as to agree to going in care, and he can say no at anytime later, so the s services wont do anything.
-
the only way she might be able to do something, is to go to court, prove he cant cope, become is, power of attorney, and then get him to where he can be cared for,
-
this i know she will never do.
-
its the old catch 22, again. jim xxx

They need shooting Smufles

Can your local MP help? Maybe worth writing to him/her as well as everyone else you can think of who might bring pressure to bear.

It's bad that there are some people who recieve the benefit when they shouldn't I know - but after them deciding you need it there seems no reason of them to change their minds (if they have one)
Keep trying to hammer some sense into them eh!

I can't get DLA, according to themI can walk, no matter how long it takes to get where ever it is I'm going, I don't need help to feed myself and I don't need anyone to wipe my -nuff said

my friend suffers from osteoarthritis and his vertebra's are crumbling, they told him they would give him another medical in about 5 yrsin case of the proverbial miracle cure - so they can get him back to work etc.

I hope you can get it sorted out soon love

Oh Smurfles, I'm so sorry. Can you appeal the decision? Even that takes precious time, I know. It makes me so mad when people who deserve and qualify for help don't get help. A friend of mine who has an injured back has been applying repeatedly for disability, and her lawyer says she might get it in two years! Good luck, hun, whatever happens.

hi all
-
this is all down to the change to
-
not what you cant do, but what you can do, or what some independant docs say, after reading about a doc killing a lady in the news with to many tablets, makes you wonder, who is pulling the strings on the medicals now, the doc, or the ones that want some off the dla and sick jim

Try doing your appeal through the people at Welfare Rights:

http://www.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/azsearch.nsf/web+info/welfare+rights

What? How can that be? If your condition hasn't changed and you have been eligible previously, the rules must have changed But it seems ridiculous.

I'm so sorry to hear about it sal. I really hope that your GP or MP can help in some way


Fb

Definitely lodge an appeal. The first step is to ask for the decision to be looked at again, if they still say no then that's the time to lodge a formal appeal. I went through the same but the decision was overturned, (from a no to yes), by asking for the decision to be looked at again. My GP, Heart speciallist and Social Worker all wrote in.
Hope it all sorts favourably, don't give up though, payments are retrospective so keep them under pressure so to speak.

*@!&#*@!&#

Could go on for ever and an age about DLA and their rubbishosity, but wouldn't help an iota, other than having some cathartic doodahs of pent up wotnots, but I digress....

I'd really recommend scooching along to the Citizens Advice people Smurfy, if your branch is anything like mine, they really can help get things sorted and resolved a lot quicker and easier and more importantly, they take a hell of a lot of the stress out of dealing with the s. They know who to go to, what with and when.

Good luck

Thanks to everyone,at this moment in time i needed some support.I can't understand why they decided i was "better" when for the past ten years they've known i can't walk without help.I think i'll probably be back quite regularly in the next few weeks!!!<hug.s

hi sal
-
im draeding the brown evelope, its the start of a nightmare for me, if im off the incapasity, im up the creek, ide have to cut back everything. and even consider if to give the house up, and go into sheltered in the lower west bowling area.
-
jim xxx

Hi Smurfles, Sorry to hear about bad news you got, it just goes to show that the folk who really need it, cant get it any more
Mk2 is on DLA and her one is Open Ended, (as she is terminally ill) yet I am due to review in 2010 and going by your news I am dreading it? I was a year at a time, then they gave me 3 years, and that is what you need to qualify for a mobility car, so we have always used Mk2s book for our car.
You can appeal their decision you know, go to your local Citizen Advice office they will help you apply for it. We used them to fill in our application forms as they can be really complicated o fill in, good luck
Smudger.

Smurfls,

I feel very angry about this. I knew they were changing the rules and taking a fresh look at things, but it seems, that as usual it is the deserving cases who lose out, possibly because they think you can't fight back.

Show 'em you can, and follow the advice given on this thread. It seems they will back down if you fight. Is your Doctor supportive? Anyone else who can back you up?



Websailor

Sorry to hear that, smurfles. It must be devastating and I hope you're going to fight the decision.

Thank you ST.You have given me a little hope,although if they think I should be again,after ten years of being unable to get out alone,,and walk outside,then i can't see that they've even read my claijm form.Last Monday(14th) i rang as i had heard nothing,and the information they gave me was that they had rung my GP on the 7th,as they hadn't got the forms back from him,but they'd been told they would be done that week.On thursday(17th),the decision arrived.So,it must have taken them four days to get the forms back,read them,consider the information they had,make a decision,and write to me!!!!The staff have been lovely when i rung,but i can't talk to them,because i every time i get on the phone!!!!

Apparently,as ST said,i have 28days now,to get as much info together as i possibly can,and get it to them.They will then give that to another officer,who will reconsider it,and either let the decision stand ,or overturn it.It will take up to 11 weeks.If they decide it stands,then i can go to appeal!!!
I really don't have the energy to fight them,but this is a matter of principal.....in my mind they are saying that i've been telling them lies for the last ten years!!!!

Smurfles, you will find the energy, and if you are in the right, you must go for it.

Your belief that they think you have been lying all these years is what they foster so you lose confidence. Have courage and fight.

They will be relying on people to be too tired, stressed or ill to contest it. Have you found out what your told them? It seems to me it was a rushed decision. They shouldn't be making decisions that affect people's lives so drastically, that quickly.



Websailor

Hi WS,I have an appointment at the doctors on tuesday,but i must admit i try to avoid going to the doctors.I don't know any of them anymore,they always seem to be changing,and when i ring for an appointment they always tell me it'll be nine or ten days away!!I do get offered the option of going any morning,and sitting and waiting,but there is nobody to take me to the morning surgery,and it means hubby taking the morning off work.Sometimes this is impossible,so if it involves my particular problems just getting worse,i just hope that the symptoms will recede on their own!!!!There seems little point when you're told you'll just have to live with it!!!!
I can't see that any report from the GP will help my case,but i think they havent got the time to go back through my records.
I reckon nothing to becoming 60 very shortly if this is the treatment i can look forward to!!

Smurfles, maybe not seeing your doctor enough was the reason for their decision? As they do put a lot of emphesises on what your doctor says when your case comes up for renewal.
I also tens not to visit my doctor, but its like he says every time that I do see him, that my condition is degenerative and will never improve. I also feel a bit guilty for wasting his time, just to be told that on every visit. Mind you, I do see a therapist every fortnight for the PTSD they say I have, and she passes on her reports to the doctor.
It would be better if you got someone to help you fill in the form though, as they are a bit complex, and a wrong answer can go against you, good luck, and keep keep your head up, and don't give in to them
Smudger.