DLA for child under 16 ... mandatory reconsideration / previous tribunural help

[whatthehelltodo]

Hi all I will try keep it brief - just wondered if anyone could help or suggest anything ?

My daughters issues go back many years and after been told to claim dla from a local charity group we did . This was 2010 / 2011 it was immediately refused on basis of school report as my daughters issues are/were not taken seriously in school ..

A reconsideration took place and was refused (before mandatory ones were introduced ) so we waited 6 months and went to tribunal where we won midrate care .

It was up for renewal in February this year and the forms were posted in December ,Payment stopped in Feb then we were refused ( based again on school report - daughter is of mid/high intelligence lol ) and asked for mandatory reconsideration which should of taken 11 weeks , I called and was told that it was now 15 weeks ...after 15weeks I rang and was told backlog blah .. think we are now 8 months post sending in the renewal and around 22 weeks from requesting the mandatory reconsideration. I emailed my MP with no response .

Some people may take DLA for granted but I used every penny to help my daughter and improve her life skills .. it paid for social skill lessons. gymnastics for improving her co ordination , new bedding and mattresses which are needed often , the things she destroys through picking / anxiety but most of all horse riding which kept her calm and focused - all of which has had to stop

Is anyone else in the same boat ? 8 months of this seems extreme .

[Sarah68]

Hi, I am in a similar position. My daughters DLA was stopped after a review. I received notification by post approx March 27th and have a letter from DWP confirming that they received my request for mandatory consideration on April 10th. A further letter in May states that this will take 11 weeks and not to call until after 11 weeks. On July 24th I called and was told that it had not even been looked at as they had a backlog and were only upto the February reconsiderations!!! I called again on Aug 7th and again told similar - I asked if there was anything else I could send in - and was told no, I asked where my daughters file was - they didn't know where her file was!!! I requested a call back from a manager/team leader as I had in July (which I didn't get) I was told a manager would call in 5-7 working days. I called again on August 14th to find out where my daughters file was stored and when approx. it would be looked at as all benefits had stopped. I was told the file was in Birmingham and that they now had new updates for the timeframe that reconsiderations were being looked at - it is approx. 26 weeks, which far surpasses the target of 11 weeks. I asked when a manager team leader would be contacting me per my most recent request of Aug 7th and was told that target was 7-10 working days, I have still not had a call and I also had a refusal of putting their new target of 26 weeks in writing. It however was confirmed that my daughters file and the reconsideration had not been looked at by anybody!!! Like yourself, every penny goes towards my daughter - sport to help co-ordination and mixing with peer group and also horse riding... it is amazing how my daughter just seems to melt with the horse and the calmness, focus and expressions of sheer freedom, these are the things DLA pays for and currently what I can no longer afford. Just to add my daughters DLA had stopped Feb 2nd - but it took them until march to send official notification!!!

Edited August 25, 2014 by Sarah68

[Ros1609]

There are massive massive backlogs. You need to kick up a fuss, keep calling, get your local MP involved etc etc.

[Sarah68]

Not being funny but I have called and as detailed in my post am well aware of the backlogs which has been told to me by the DWP and I am personally experiencing. I have kept a detailed log of responses and continue to call weekly at this point - kicking up a fuss does absolutely nothing and tends to put you on a back burner, asking questions that require detailed answers does get a little response. I even ask if my call is being recorded because I would like it to be so that it can help with training in the future. As for involving a local MP you are put on a long list of others in a similar situation. What does need to be done is a strict timescale enforced on the mandatory reconsideration phase and more rights for answers to such questions as 'could you tell me the exact dates you sent the letters to the GP and my child's school during the review and can I have a copy of these.' Both school and the GP have stated they received no such letters - I was written to on the 6th March to say both were being contacted - yet by March 26th the review was denied - these are the things that a person should be allowed to question, did they actually send them out and why were they not allowing an adequate response time???