Benefit Shenanigans Part 2

So my Disability Living Allowance claim was rejected. Not surprising, given the government is aiming to reduce the number of claimants by 600,000 when the DLA becomes the Personal Independence Payment. For those of you who have had the good fortune not to have to puzzle through the DLA application process, here is a very short introduction to the criteria on which they assess claimants:

Care
There are three rates for this component:
1) Lower - when you require help for cooking a main meal once a day
2) Middle - when you require help around the house (e.g. with climbing stairs, washing etc)
3) Highest - when you need supervision at night and more extensive personal care

Mobility
There are two rates for this component:
1) Lower - for if you require supervision out of doors (e.g. if you might wander or get lost without help)
2) Higher - if you have severe physical mobility difficulties

I had been hoping to claim the lowest care component, as I find it increasingly difficult to cook a main meal when living on my own, due to the fatigue caused by my condition and the physical limitations (needing to stand for a long time, lift heavy pans etc). For the mobility component I had been aiming for the higher rate of pay because the pain and fatigue I experience make walking difficult.

It's very frustrating when you come home after a particularly difficult day filled with pain (as I did) and discover a letter on your doorstep which dismisses your claim out of hand. I say out of hand because the assessor took less than a week to reach the decision, and made no effort to contact the health professionals (GP, Consultant Rheumatologist and Physio) I had listed on the form. No medical assessment of any kind has been undertaken, and yet my assessor deems that she has "full and proper information necessary to assess my claim".

My position of being denied the DLA without any medical assessment or even consultation with a medical professional is not unique; this recent BBC article highlights that GPs are being flooded with requests for appeals support from disabled claimants who feel that their claim has not been given the proper thought and attention. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-22406739

In my case, the decision was not only founded on limited and ill-considered evidence, but the reasons given for rejecting my claim were simply not true. I am aware that my position is complex with regards to the mobility component; as many of you will be aware, sometimes I can walk almost normally, but sometimes I am severely incapacitated by pain and find walking difficult even with the use of sticks. Apparently this does not happen enough of the time, however, to warrant my receiving financial help.

Similarly, although I had ticked that I have physical difficulties with cooking such as lifting heavy pans, the assessor bizarrely concluded that I had "no problems with lifting" and therefore deemed that I could cook a main meal for one person. She also rather patronisingly suggested that if I had difficulties standing whilst cooking then I could "sit down from time to time". Wow, I can't believe that after all those years of university and postgraduate professional training I couldn't have worked that one out for myself...

The sad thing is that, with the help of the DLA I could afford to lease a car (under the motability scheme www.motability.co.uk) which provides low-cost motoring for disabled people. This would be a major lifeline for me, as it would allow me to maintain my independence and continue my PhD. Without this benefit, I will still probably find a way to afford a car, but it will be harder. And while the government are trumpeting their aims to get people back to work from long-term unemployment (due to disability or otherwise), there is less talk of preventing people like me from falling into the benefit trap. Why not invest now in some practical help such that I can overcome the barriers I face and contribute to society, not just take from it?

So following the rejection of my claim, I became one of the many people listed in the BBC article above who trundled along to their GP and asked for a letter of support. I also sent a reply asking for the case to be reconsidered. Yesterday, I received an acknowledgement letter which stated they may take up to 11 weeks to review my case. But I am hopeful this could mean they will consider my case more carefully this time. Watch this space for updates.