Appealing award date of DLA award

My client is a once active and successfull young woman now suffering from a severe spinal condition. The fear for the future that this brought about left her mentally crippled and therefore unable to get her DLA claim form back in time. Her GP verified that she was suffering from severe reactive depression and this was mentioned in the "Anything else you want to tell us" section of the DLA claim form. She was subsequently awarded DLA, but only from the date it was receivedby the DLA office, not from the earlier effective date of claim.
Under what regulation should I appeal against this decision, or could anyone quote me the wording of any regulation covering "Delay in returning forms".
Many thanks from a first time forum user.

Margie, maybe someone else will be able to help you better qualified but until then have a look through the Decision Makers Guide around 04204 or the regulations mentioned there.
Late notification of change of circumstances
04204 The one month time limit can be extended provided certain conditions are satisfied1.
1 SS CS (D&A) Regs, reg 8(1) etc

Hi,

That is the norm, an award of DLA can only be made from the date of the receipt of a letter or the claim form. If requested from the Benefits Enquiry Line, it will treated as the date of the call. So not sure what you mean by 'earlier effective date of claim' as presumably this was a first claim ?

We cannot give advice on individual claims see Frequently Asked Questions

The relevant legislation and regulations for DLA are below.

Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 Part III, sections 72 and 73.

The Social Security (Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 1991 parts III and IV.

Also, check out our guides to DLA in the members only area HERE

One of our moderators is a former DSS Adjudication Officer, now of course it's DWP and they're called Decision Makers. Hopefully, if he's online he can confirm my comments or perhaps add some comments himself.

Hope this is of some help.

Jim

adamant wrote:

Margie, maybe someone else will be able to help you better qualified but until then have a look through the Decision Makers Guide around 04204 or the regulations mentioned there.
Late notification of change of circumstances
04204 The one month time limit can be extended provided certain conditions are satisfied1.
1 SS CS (D&A) Regs, reg 8(1) etc

Presumably, you're referring to The Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999 which cover changes of circumstances, revisions and supersessions.

Jima1 wrote:

Hi,

That is the norm, an award of DLA can only be made from the date of the receipt of a letter or the claim form. If requested from the Benefits Enquiry Line, it will treated as the date of the call. So not sure what you mean by 'earlier effective date of claim' as presumably this was a first claim ?

We cannot give advice on individual claims see Frequently Asked Questions

The relevant legislation and regulations for DLA are below.

Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 Part III, sections 72 and 73.

The Social Security (Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 1991 parts III and IV.

Also, check out our guides to DLA in the members only area HERE

One of our moderators is a former DSS Adjudication Officer, now of course it's DWP and they're called Decision Makers. Hopefully, if he's online he can confirm my comments or perhaps add some comments himself.

Hope this is of some help.

Jim

Hi Jim,

You are entirely correct that DLA can only be awarded/backdated to the date of claim.

There was a proviso attached to DLA claims which were clerically issued, that these were date-stamped and provided the DLA claim forms were returned within a six week period, if an award was appropriate, it would be from the date of claim. However, if the claim forms were returned after the six week period, an award could only be considered from the date the claim forms were received back in the DLA office.

This was the case some years ago, but as claim forms can be obtained and indeed completed online, I am uncertain as to whether this stipulation still applies?

I wonder if the claimant's representative is referring to the delay in returning the claim form within a specified period as detailed above?

Hi CD,

Many thanks for confirming my beliefs. It is a great asset to the forums to have
a moderator with your skills and experience.

Kind regards.

Jim.