letter sent to MP in response as to why no DLA

hi all

well after almost 2 years of having been sent away on numerous occaisons from DWP for my husband applying for DLA after suffering life changing illnesses........I again requested the assistance of our MP......who has helped us with getting PCT funding etc etc to travel the country for the very many professors and specialists who have been needed to diagnose his injuries

the MP said that the letter from the DWP mentioned that we had failed quite a few times on applying for DLA..and that we had not followed up on the Higher Tribunal after failing the 1st Tribunal

below is my letter sent to him

we have just re-started a new DLA claim pack the 3 rd one to date.we have tried to follow as much as we can the advice that has been given on thios brilliant forum and site

I will let you know the out come...but we are not holding our breath

hope that it helps you all

migmogs xxxxx

Dear ****

thank-you for your letter dated 30th Sept 2010

We have been amazed by the responses from the DLA and the Tribunal.

On the Tribunal front, Being made to attend a Tribunal which takes place at a Court of Law, surrounded by and being made to sit with people going into Court for all kinds of crimes is extremely distressing, when you have never been in court before and are a law abiding person, who is very ill. Then to be made to sit much lower than a judge etc etc as they look down on you is completely humiliating, it was awful and makes you feel like a criminal even though you are NOT one. All that you are doing is asking for your rights.

The Tribunal would not accept that Edd has memory problems and therefore he needed help in answering his questions, I was NOT allowed to speak and assist Edd. Although they wanted him to remember back to the previous July , as well as throwing questions in about the now. All of this completely confused Edd. I was told to shut up when Edd got his dates mixed up or leave the room.......by the time I was allowed to speak, Edd had got so many things muddled up as to when different parts of his illness progressed from one thing to another.......yet what he said was so heart renderingly sad and honest......I was too upset and confused myself by then to help sort out the mess .........They wrote that we had exaggerated Edd's illnesses in making their final judgement. Which is absolutely outrageous, as you know how many drs and specialists we have had to hunt down to get Edd the care he so desperately needed. They spoke about Disabled people not being able to go on holiday or fly on a plane...because Dr ***** after describing Edd's illness had written that Edd's oxygen levels where at 97%, meaning for us that he was safe to travel to a warmer country for the winter.......but they chose that as a reason NOT to award DLA.....there was NO disabilities rights that day.....as disabled people are allowed holidays..just like able bodied people.....when they where told about Edd burning and harming himself with hot things when running the bath or cooking.....they told him to wear a heat and fire proof glove....the fact that his tremors meant that he would have spilled all over the floor the food cooked was of no consequence to them.....they told him to put a thermometer in the bath because he cannot feel hot from cold..........and has burned himself on numerous occasions......yet they did not take into consideration that he goes dizzy from bending to standing and that that action could leave him in a collapsed state....they said that we had exaggerated over the help that Edd needed both day and night......when he collapsed in spasm and pain.........that for Edd's toilet needs that we could have a commode downstairs in our very open plan home.......and that even though I am disabled myself, that some how by magic 1 of us would somehow have to get this mess back upstairs to be emptied and so leave us safe from germs etc etc......I could go on and on....we where dumb struck...but we where not on our own...Not 1 person sat around us that day in that awful Court House where awarded DLA

So although we completely disagreed with the decision, we chose NOT to go to the Higher Tribunal it was all so distressing. Edd is far too ill for what they make you go through and for how you are treated.

But with Edd's condition worsening yet again, and now with a Diagnosis of what is disabling him so badly

Edd has re-applied for DLA once again, this time I have sent in 8 different reports along with the DLA form, including a report from his Neurologist Dr *******, who describes Edd's problems in detail and describes Edd as a very disabled man.

This has been a shocking 2 years for us, Edd has now been told that he will never recover or get any better from both his damaged lungs and his Small Nerve Damage, it is all too late for any recovery now, he has also been told that he will never work in any capacity ever again. To be told these things when you are a man of 50 yrs of age ( he was only 48 yrs old when he was injured) who truly loved to work long hard hours, to bring home a decent wage, and have a decent life style, week in week out, a man who has never asked for any benefits at all through his working life, and then be made to feel like a criminal for asking for assistance, is a shocking indictment of what is happening in our country.

Yes there are people out there who are NOT disabled and who are illegally working alongside of gaining DLA benefits and yes they should be routed out, but from official figures the bogus DLA claims only amounts to @ 8%, so yes these people should be routed out, but not at the expense of genuine cases.

Being honest I sometimes feel as if all of the chasing and searching that we have been made to do over the last 2 years was all in the end, in vain, as it didn't save Edd's lungs and it didn't save his very damaged nervous system, as we found out too late and so couldn't assist and help him

If he fails this time with his application for DLA, then we are at a complete loss as to what to do, we where given advice from a professional who works in this field in how to fill out the form this time. and as said before we have sent in 8 different reports at the same time

I will let you know of the outcome

and thanks for all that you do

maybe you could lobby the MP's to support the disabled though, as they are having a dreadful time out there

warmest regards

Wow. So sorry you are having such a rubbish time. Do, please, let us know how it goes?

I think this is more a failure of the Medical Profession to diagnose properly. It seems to me that instead of listening to Edd, they have diagnosed him as "workshy". A working class illness unfortunately.
(Sic)
I am glad you have managed to get a diagnosis at last and think this is the key issue.
I hope that your new claim goes well.

Helen,

It is unfortunate that you see being "workshy" as a working class illness.

It is not an illness, nor is it confined to the working class.

Regards, Pud

hi all

my letter to the MP was to show him the awfullness of what "ill /disabled" people have to go through to get their rights, at a time when they are probably at their most vulnerable and are also too ill to cope with what they are put through

My main point is that we felt embarressed, humiliated, criminals, we where mrotified sat with all these people and their solicitors who where there at the same time as us...to defend themselves against all kinds of crimes......we where there purely to try and get a benefit for my seriously injured husband....not because we had done anything wrong, but because of the state of the Tribunals being held in Court

I also thought that the patronising remarks from the panel that day and their reasons for why not being allowed DLA was a disgrace...their glib ill thought out reasons for why NOT to allow DLA where insulting to say the least.....we where dumb struck with their reasoning and answers...no-one was going to get DLA as they looked down on us as "scroungers" not as people applying for their own rightful dues, because they had sufferred serious injuries and illnesses that rendered them disabled.

it was this hypocracy......and it was the way that we where deliberately undermined with the setting and the way that we where spoken to, so patronisingly....with a dr there who had no idea what injuries edd had and couldn't understand their impact on his life....yet he passed judgement on us that day....even with evidance in front of him.....to say that there where dissabilities and help needed...that I wrote to my MP and asked him to lobby his MP's about how dreadfully disabled people are being treated in the uk today

I hope that he takes my words and uses them in places that might help us the disabled person to be seen as we are, human beings with dissabilities and illnesses that sadly we haven't asked for...and if we where brutally honest.....we would change places with an able bodied person at the drop of a hat to get full, mobile health back if we could

I'm very sorry to read what a dreadful/awful time you and Edd have experienced recently. Please do not give up your fight for Dla.

If you have the time and energy do send a copy of your letter to Mp to the Tribunal Service letting them know how badly you were both treated on what date and where.
Wishing you better luck for the future.

Keep your chin up, and take care