Refused DLA

Hi,
My stepson has been refused DLA (first attempt)despite having sent a copy of the Consultants report along with his forms, proving his illness.
He intends to appeal,so I accompanied him to see our new GP, who was not in the least bit supportive.(Previous helpful GP has retired)If he were to see a private Doctor (I think they charge about £75)and they wrote a report about how is condition affects his daily life, would that help with his appeal?
Thanks

Amber wrote:

Hi,
My stepson has been refused DLA (first attempt)despite having sent a copy of the Consultants report along with his forms, proving his illness.
He intends to appeal,so I accompanied him to see our new GP, who was not in the least bit supportive.(Previous helpful GP has retired)If he were to see a private Doctor (I think they charge about £75)and they wrote a report about how is condition affects his daily life, would that help with his appeal?
Thanks

As you are no doubt aware, DLA is based upon ones needs, mobility and/or care.

Whether spending £75 on a private Doctors Report is really a subjective matter. It can depend on weight of other evidence you also have, any conflicting evidence etc etc. Also in anycase the DWP may still make enquiries with his GP in anycase.

Hence you/he really need to obtain some face to face advice from a Welfare Rights Agency/CAB etc, who can go through all the evidence you/he has/have and both help you/him and advise whether it is really worth spending the £75 at this stage.

It is just not possible to give the advice you are seeking on a forum without seeing all the evidence.

Pete

I'mso sorry that your stepson has been refused his claim - its becoming all the more common to have to go to appeal to get a positive result.

What you need to do is to say what the disability is,but more importantly what you have to do to cope with the disability.For example: its not enough to say that he is doubly incontinent, you have to say that you have to change his pads 6 times a day and wash him each time using a hoist to lift him to do so, plus change his bedding and twice a day which results in you having to do 4 lots of laundry each day (remember this is an example) - thats the sort of evidence they want to see.

As Pete says your CAB/welfare rights agency can help you fill out the appeal forms and will help you focus on the care aspect rather than the medical effects.

Good luck with your appeal - and do use the resources available here - they are really very good!

When I did my first DLA application I, wrongly, assumed that the Decision Maker would have some medical knowldge or, at least, a great deal of common sense. Therefore I didn't expain in great detail what my needs were - and my application failed.

I was advised to apply again, rather than appealing, and this time I wrote down in detail my every care need - repeating myself if neccessary. It was time consuming and demoralising, but the result was better than I had dared to hope. I think you need to do this for your appeal, I have heard that keeping a diary for a few days can help show the level of care needs.

Good luck!

Hi Pete,CAB has closed down where I live.Where else would I find a welfare rights advisor?
Thanks

Thanks Roseleen and Mrs hurtyback,I will take your advice and have my stepson write more detail.