DLA Appeal Advice needed please

I am hoping that someone may be able to advise me. I asked for my partners claim for dla to be looked at again as his illnesses have significantly worsened since he was originally awarded the lower rate of care in 2006.

After some months we had a letter back saying that the original decision was still correct and that he was not entitled to the mobility rate or for a higher care award to be made. We strongly disagree with this decision and need to appeal. I contacted them and asked for all copies of the paperwork which has not yet arrived.

I am now out of the one month timescale to appeal, however I have been assured that my appeal will still be looked at because I have not yet received the documents I requested. I phoned again today and was told that I should write stating that I wish to appeal, briefly explaining my reasons why, and stating that I would send in further evidence once I had received the documents.

I now have several questions! Will I need to write this brief letter using the GL24 form? Should I wait for the additional documentation to arrive or should I press ahead with the appeal?

Also should I seek additional help from the CAB or another adviser to help with the appeal or can I go ahead with it myself? If I do go ahead with it myself, is it permitted to use evidence from the a-z of medical conditions to reinforce my point? By this I mean is it ok to say for example, I provided evidence of such and such a condition, your own a-z of medical information reinforces this opinion however in your letter you dismiss this information?

The letter we received regarding the decision does go through each section and briefly explains why they dont agree with my claim. Is this a statement of reasons? Sorry for the long post but now I have found your website I realise the need to get this right!

Many thanks.

Hi,

I can start off by answering some of your questions.

We usually recommend that members get an appeal lodged in good time, even if the Statement of Reasons has not yet arrived. I have heard that this Statement of Reasons does not tend, these days, to be as detailed as they used to be, so it might be that you have already got what there is.

You might find this helpful

DLA appeals

Certainly people who have some form of representation have a higher success record at appeal, but we have members who have managed to state their own case very successfully. If you wish to seek help

Where to get advice

As you appear to be new to this site, you might like to read this

Welcome to Benefits and Work

Finally, please can I ask you to break future posts up into paragraphs or sections, as this makes it much easier for everyone to read and respond

Hello and thanks for your help. Should I repost my question using paragraphs etc? Wrote the question in notepad earlier ready to post at 8pm and didnt realise I had lost the paragraphing.

busterbilly wrote:

Hello and thanks for your help. Should I repost my question using paragraphs etc? Wrote the question in notepad earlier ready to post at 8pm and didnt realise I had lost the paragraphing.

I certainly wouldn't ask you to go to that trouble but it would be helpful for future posts

Hi bb,

" Will I need to write this brief letter using the GL24 form? "

You can do either, the GL24 Form can be downloaded from the link on this page :

How to submit an appeal

" is it permitted to use evidence from the a-z of medical conditions to reinforce my point? "

You can refer to, or use any evidence that you feel will help with your appeal, so the answer is yes.

As well as the links above, and the other useful ones provided by MHB, you may wish to review :

DLA FAQ’s

&

Appeals FAQ’s

Welcome to the Forum, if you have any further queries, please re-post on this thread.

bro58

Thanks for your help. I

I provided in the region of 70 additional pages with the claim form, explaining my partners illnesses and the effect it had on him in so much detail. It really made me angry when I discovered the a-z of medical conditions as this corroborates the information I gave but which was subsequently ignored/disregarded.

Thank you again