Advice required please.

I was awarded higher rate mobility and lower rate care component. It took 4 months for the DWP to make the decision, it appeared to hinge on a letter from my neurosurgeon.....they wrote me the day after hearing from her to say I had been awarded the allowance.

Two months ago I submitted a change of circumstances form, adhering to their criteria, ie you can work and also live alone) I was turned down I asked for it to be looked at again, they decided to send a Doctor.

I had the whole lot stopped!The visit from the doc was appalling however I'm not going to put a complaint in just yet, as I feel it would look like sour grapes and go against me.

I went to the Welfare Rights and they will help me with the appeal or will it be a tribunal now?

Here is where I need your advice, I work, despite being told by various folks I shouldn't be. The job I do in it's description is physical. however I do very little physical work, thanks to very supportive colleagues and my own adapting. The Occupation doc agreed that to be moved to a desk job would be worse, I can set my own pace with this one.

As much as I would like to admit defeat and leave I can't, my overiding focus is not to lose my home which I have put up for sale. As soon as the ink is dry on the completion form I'm off.

Would I be on a hiding to nothing going to an appeal or tribunal, as I'm still working? If I'm turned down could I apply again at a later date, ie when I have left or been dismissed from my job, I have been told I will be dismissed on incapacity grounds if I have anytime off in the future.
The DWP were aware I worked and the job I did when I first applied.

Hi,

Although entitlement to this benefit is not affected by a person’s work status, employment rates among DLA recipients are very low. Recent welfare policy has set out to encourage more of the population to participate in work through adequate support and encouragement. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has set a target of reducing the number of people claiming incapacity benefits by one million by 2015.

The term ‘incapacity benefits’ refers to a number of social security benefits available to people who are unable to work because of a health condition. Around half of people claiming incapacity benefits also receive DLA. The DWP is interested in this group of people and the potential ways that employment opportunities might be promoted among DLA recipients.

See this DWP Research Paper
Disability Living Allowance and Work Expectations

It is permissible to work whilst in receipt of DLA, so long as the work is of a nature conducive with an award of DLA.

Hope this helps.

Jim

Thanks for the reply Jim, I have read how the Gov't is hoping to reduce the number of people claiming benefit.

I'm sure this info is in your website however concentration isn't so good, do to new medication.

According to Welfare Rights chappie, we sit and wait till we both get a envelope full of all the reports etc.....I assume we then submit a letter explaining refuting etc? or does my claim go directly to a tribunal? I expect I have to attend? Is there an approx time frame for this

Have to say I feel like a criminal not to mention having not a shread of dignity left after writing down all my health problems and difficulties....my own sister isn't aware of half of them!

I appreciate the benefits system in this country is open to abuse and is abused, I've seen plenty over the years in the job I do.However they need to devise a more humane way of dealing with people. Credit where credit is due, all the DWP people I have dealt with have been extremely helpful and friendly, my only complaint is with the Doc.

My GP and physio were quite shocked I had the benefit taken away and suggested I contact my MP...I'm thinking this would be a total waste of time....thanks again.

I have no plans to sit and live on benefits I'm only 53, I've already started to enquire about course etc.I just need a period of time to try and get a little of my physical and mental health back.

Hello, I decided to tag this onto original post to save time.

I contacted the DWP last week to ask for a time frame re a tribunal and when I could expect to receive the bundle of data they have on me. I was told nothing had been logged to say I wanted a tribunal. So it was requested again. Within 2 days I had the envelope. They need to use more robust envelopes, it was pouring rain when the postman delievered it, ripped wide open, elastic band in the bottom, not around the papers, the papers were upside down back to front and not in order. I shudder to think who had access to the info ...

As I expected it was the ATOS report that was the nail in the coffin. I can certainly refute most if not all what he said.

His visit lasted over 2 hrs, he could have got the job done in half the time. Mobile phone ringing, if it wasn t the wife wanting to know what he wanted for lunch it was a son with a computer problem, there was at least one maybe two more calls. He was paid to assess me and give me his undivided attention!

When asking me about spasms and falls he then went on to tell me he also had spasms and had fallen....totally inappropriate and unprofessional.

He was very chatty and jokey, adding his homespun philosophies about all and sundry. My first thought was this is to put me off guard..although I thought I was being paranoid!
He made a remark about how clean and tidy my home was and how alot of homes he vists are filthy, because people cant manage, my sister was visiting from abroad and tidied up, I also pay someone, there is a for sale sign on my lawn....I'm hardly going to live in filth.
Last but not least, he worked into the conversation how he had visited a women 2 weeks previous who claimed she couldn't walk far or dress herself....he took great delight (smug look on his face) in telling me she could drive herself to work and "sprinted the 1500 metres to her office).....totally unethical in my opinion to even mention that.

Back to the bundle of data, I contacted the welfare rights chap to see if he had his, I signed a mandate and he faxed it to Blackpool and received confirmation, whilst I was there. He hadn t received anything, I contacted the DWP they have no record! However a very helpful chap said he would chase it up.

Today the tribinal papers arrived, earliest will be end of November.

I would like your opinion's please...whether to go through with the tribinal or whether Im wasting my and their time. As stated before I still work, but not in the capacity of my job description. Mostly due to the fact I have very good supportive colleagues, who do my share of any heavy work. I do the alot of the paper work etc...I can control my own pace on nights, sit stand and move about...I take frequent breaks.

The area I work in is small (geographically)....it's a hospital, the patient's are in for treatment and are self caring, the odd one needs help, thats where my colleagues come in. I continue to work against medical advice, I have no choice, I will be dismissed on incapacity grounds should I have any time off.
The occupational health doc agrees, that being redeployed to an office job wouldn t work, I can t sit for very long, stand for very long etc..I have more control in the job I'm in.
Once I lose my job it will be extremely hard to attain another. I have chronic debiletating pain, so bad that I have imprints of my teeth on my lips, I have other health issues on top. I manage to get through my job with sheer determination which has now lead me to suffer from depression.I'm only as good as my last shift....I can't think of whether I'll be there next week.

Am I on a hiding to nothing re the tribunal...?

I also saw, but now can't find, a mention that you can make a new DLA claim even though you have a tribunal in the offing?

My downfall was I more or less stated what I couldn t do or what I had difficulty with, I didn't go into detail or the emotions of it, however if pathos is what they want thats what they 'll get!

I've half an email written to my MP, doubt he can do anything but he can listen to my ranting re the system and the utter waste of the ATOS.I and everyone else no doubt are made to feel like criminals, at least I do, having to go before a panel of three people, when I have letters of support from a neurosurgeon physio, my GP is more than willng to write a statement.I'm hoping to get a letter from one of the pain clinics I attend.

If you've managed to read this far, thanks, I'd appreciate your opinions.

Hi,

It's impossible for us to give advice on individual claims. See FAQ
You need to seek 'face to face advice' from an organisation such as the CAB, or Community Legal Advice

Members need to bear in mind that we are not an on demand welfare rights organisation, and that the forums are not part of your membership, but are provided as a courtesy, in addition to you being able to access members only guides. All moderators have chronic ill-health themselves, and work in a voluntary capacity, and at the moment the forums are being inundated with queries, so expect long delays in replying to general queries.

Kind regards.

Jim

I do apologise, feel free to delete the post.