BIG Benefits Problem...
- Thread starter Pieface
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Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Fuck me, big brother or what....
yep
and I'm sure I read somewhere that 100,000 (it may even have been 200,000) were grassed up last year
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Didn't you say on the other thread that your consultant is talking a minimum of another 12-18 months, with no hard and fast promises that you'll have full mobility and/or recover from the back problems your injury has caused?
If I were you, I'd consult either Disability Advice Service Lambeth or the CAB, because as far as I recall, the significant factor for DLA is that the issue is that your injury is long-term, and ability to work has no relevance because DLA isn't dependent on whether you're employed or not, it's a payment to offset the additional costs of disability.
ChrisFilter
Like a boss.
Shit, sorry to hear this, paesano. What a shit, shit system 
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
In my experience it boils down to two things: Being bloody-minded and blunt when filling in the form, and getting good advice about filling it in. That doesn't mean you'll magically get your claim passed by the adjudication officer, but it does make it more likely.
Also, the more descriptive you are on the form, and the more evidence you can provide in the way of letter(s) detailing your diagnosis/prognosis from your consultant(s), GP, physio and/or other health professionals you have to see because of your long-term illness/disability, the better.
Now I reckon you've got the bloody-mindedness and the bluntness in hand...
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
I've been saying that for years
What you've got to ask yourself is "what have I got to lose?", because it usually boils down to the answer being "nothing".
You don't have to phone the benefits helpline and ask for a form (which they'll then date-stamp and give you X weeks to fill in and return the bugger), you can download it as a pdf file and fill it in at your own pace, using something like "the Benefits and Work guide to filling in the DLA application form" to inform you of the best way to structure your answers.
Like I keep telling my dad, the Treasury love all the people who're too ill, too reticent or too freaked by benefits claims forms to apply for what they're entitled to. It means they have at least a billion sterling unspent every financial year.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
You'd think they think the enormous, long-winded forms would be enough to put people off
The ridiculous thing being that most of the forms are shorter than they were (DLA forms are only about 2/3rds of the size they used to be, for example), but they're still too bloody long!
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
You sometimes get the feeling that they don't actually read many of the forms, just turn the application down.
Always best not to tell porkies, because given that about 90% of the doctors they use are either liars and/or incapable of doing their job properly, that's quite enough to have to deal with without having to remember what you might have "slightly exaggerated".
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
El Jefe posting
DLA isn't really the issue though - I can survive on the ESA, and the extra DLA isn't going to pay my rent, or is it?
Current DLA rates.
Care component Weekly rate
Highest rate £70.35
Middle rate £47.10
Lowest rate £18.65
Mobility component Weekly rate
Higher rate £49.10
Lower rate £18.65
So, even if you just got awarded low mobility rate, it's still an extra £75 every 28 days.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Lambeth suck HB-wise, so it's always worth appealing.Shit, sorry to hear this, paesano. What a shit, shit system
Divisive Cotton
Now I just have my toy soldiers
Sorry to hear about your problems mate.
Here's the lesson - if you want to successfully claim benefits you have to lie
Here's the lesson - if you want to successfully claim benefits you have to lie
wtfftw
roof's about to blow ♩♪♩♬ ♬♩♪♩
Good points. I didn't realise the form is available as a pdf. The deadline is a bit daunting. Thanks.
boohoo
No.
I did deal with a very good person at Lambeth when i applied to housing benefit - very efficient - no bothers. However, trying to get Lambeth to take back the money they overpaid me is another issue. I wrote to them - they ignore it, phoned them they stopped the payment and sent me two letters with slightly different cut and paste to tell me they stopped itand that they would send more details about how to pay back money I owed. Haven't heard anything from them since. Wish i could hand you the cash they overpaid me.
Hope you can find a way out of this. Don't know if anyones suggested this as only read bits of thread -but have you gone to CAB? (And if I find the name of the lady who did my benefit I'll let you know)
Hope you can find a way out of this. Don't know if anyones suggested this as only read bits of thread -but have you gone to CAB? (And if I find the name of the lady who did my benefit I'll let you know)
subversplat
writer of wrongs
In today's Times it says specifically that money overpaid which is the public body's fault doesn't have to be repaid. It's in the first three or four pages, go and have a look!
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
You're joking?
It took me days to fill in b/f's one. In fact, it took me weeks as I put it down because I was too stressed trying to figure out walking distances and times etc.
Then they put him on lower rate mobility, despite him being near to having his foot chopped off and I had to appeal and do it all over again
Same went for his free bus pass. I think it was less than 2 weeks after being turned down for his free bus pass that he was emergency admitted into hospital. These people know fuck all
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
That's interesting. Didn't someone post recently that benefits had been overpaid and the council or dole were now asking for the money back? Can't remember who it was though.
Maybe it wasn't even on someone on here
subversplat
writer of wrongs
Of course they'll ask, what the article was saying is that they don't really have a case if you don't want to, as long as you weren't deliberately misrepresenting yourself
subversplat
writer of wrongs
The DWP don't even know what's going on with that form. I was filling in for mobility and got to that same part about "How far can you walk before being in pain, etc. blah blah" (I remember your thread on it back in the day) and I didn't know how they wanted me to walk, so I called up the 0845 number and basically asked "Do you want me to walk with my crutches or without them?" and they didn't knowYou're joking?
It took me days to fill in b/f's one. In fact, it took me weeks as I put it down because I was too stressed trying to figure out walking distances and times etc.
Then they put him on lower rate mobility, despite him being near to having his foot chopped off and I had to appeal and do it all over again
Same went for his free bus pass. I think it was less than 2 weeks after being turned down for his free bus pass that he was emergency admitted into hospital. These people know fuck all
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
Of course they'll ask, what the article was saying is that they don't really have a case if you don't want to, as long as you weren't deliberately misrepresenting yourself
Actually, I don't think it was the case at all. I think I'm thinking of a certain person who was getting free prescriptions or something?
Ignore, I'm derailing
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
The DWP don't even know what's going on with that form. I was filling in for mobility and got to that same part about "How far can you walk before being in pain, etc. blah blah" (I remember your thread on it back in the day) and I didn't know how they wanted me to walk, so I called up the 0845 number and basically asked "Do you want me to walk with my crutches or without them?" and they didn't know
Yeah, sorry, it did turn into a bit of a thread, but that's how confusing it is and the fact that you have to tell what you consider *lies* because you're not aware you should write about your worse days just makes you feel bad.
I've got a letter from them to say he's up for renewal (or review), so I'll have to do it all again in a few months' time
and I know I'm going to probably be asking the same questions again because this time his legs are slightly bettersubversplat
writer of wrongs
I found a really good way of working out distances using google maps if it makes things easier? You can just plot a starting point and and end point (wherever the pain kicks in) and then google will calculate how far it is in meters
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
I found a really good way of working out distances using google maps if it makes things easier? You can just plot a starting point and and end point (wherever the pain kicks in) and then google will calculate how far it is in meters
Oh, I've googled distances and timed him, but he's sometimes walking faster now which could affect his mobility claim, but that's going downhill. I could time him walking uphill, but they want measurements on flat ground
Fine if you live on flat ground, but Brixton Hill is a HILL, albeit a very tiny incline, but enough to slow you down, and that is where he goes to do most of his shopping, NOT downhill.
I wonder if El Jefe filled the form in so it was to his disadvantage or whether they've just discounted his claim purely on the basis that he can't prove he's going to have difficulty walking after six months? Sounds like he definitely needs someone to help him fill the form in, if only for the mobility issue, especially if his doc's saying that his disability is likely to last longer than six months
Hi El Jefe. I empathise with your situation...
In 2007 I had a psychotic episode and was hospitalised for a month. On leaving hospital I couldn't get ANY benefits and had to go back to work within days of leaving hospital (temping) when I was stoked up on anti-psychotics and suffering with depression.
We have struggled through on one income more or less for two years with rent of £700 pounds a month. My partner runs his own business and has a montly phone bill of £200 and £200 to service his £40,000 debts. We now have two lodgers and I am still unemployed but we scrape by.
The benefit system sucks.
In 2007 I had a psychotic episode and was hospitalised for a month. On leaving hospital I couldn't get ANY benefits and had to go back to work within days of leaving hospital (temping) when I was stoked up on anti-psychotics and suffering with depression.
We have struggled through on one income more or less for two years with rent of £700 pounds a month. My partner runs his own business and has a montly phone bill of £200 and £200 to service his £40,000 debts. We now have two lodgers and I am still unemployed but we scrape by.
The benefit system sucks.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
I just looked at some copies of older forms (I keep copies of each claimYou're joking?
It took me days to fill in b/f's one. In fact, it took me weeks as I put it down because I was too stressed trying to figure out walking distances and times etc.
). The old three-part form added up to 64 pages in all, not including the advice pages at the back, while the current DLA form is, IIRC, about 40 pages.They definitely make some extremely odd decisions.
I always used to suspect that they had a quota system where they'd give a certain number of claims an "approved stamp, and for the rest of the day they'd turn claims down.
Nothing I've seen or heard since has made me change my mind.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
The DWP don't even know what's going on with that form. I was filling in for mobility and got to that same part about "How far can you walk before being in pain, etc. blah blah" (I remember your thread on it back in the day) and I didn't know how they wanted me to walk, so I called up the 0845 number and basically asked "Do you want me to walk with my crutches or without them?" and they didn't know
Not surprised.
I never used the benefits helpline people because they uniformly seem to work from a script, and any question that isn't on the script, they can't answer.
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