It's Over! A Success thanks to Benefits & Work.

Today I received my award letter only 2 or 3 days after the 'We now have all the information' letter. It came as a shock as I was expecting at least another week, maybe two. I can't tell you the state I was in opening that letter. I was over the moon to be awarded standard care and enhanced mobility. All along. I was dreading losing the car which is my independence. A rubbish public transport system even if I could get to the bus stop would have left me housebound.

Lots of terrible negative results has not helped. So what was it that maybe helped get the correct result? First of all I prepared well in advance of the notification, notes as far as I could date-wise underneath each section of the wonderful B&W guide books/templates. Doing this in advance meant I only had to adjust accordingly to any changes. I also typed (too much for me to have wrote) reams and reams of information of how my disabilities affected me. Not just an example of a 'daily diary'; but relating to each section in detail. I cut out and sellotaped these to the pages. I also included relevant, and only relevant evidence relating to each disability where suitable. I attached my full repeat prescription list (the green forms you get), rather than write everything out. That way they could see clearly and at a glance what I was on. I also took photographs of all my aids and helps, dragged and dropped onto a document so there was around 4 to a page; wrote underneath what. they were (yes I know that may have been obvious), and printed out and also attached as extra information. A full report from my husband who is my carer was included in advance, also a letter of support from the Executive Director of the charity I am a trustee of. Photocopies of equipment provided by the Occupational Therapist department, plus contact numbers of the 2 main people I dealt with should they have needed to confirm anything. I added to these that the OT's could not do personalised reports as they have only 2 OT's to do the whole borough. Finally despite asking my Dr to write a detailed report, it ended up a locum doing a few lines. I added a note to this effect and should they want a report from my usual GP who is a lot more familiar of my conditions and struggles, I would arrange this, unless they wanted to contact him direct.

They did not contact my Doctor or Consultant, stating there was all the evidence they needed. All this pre-preparation in advance was tiring and exhausting, but it was well worth doing and saved a lot of time. From the assessment to the decision was only 3 weeks.

I feel a great weight has gone off my shoulders and I am so thankful I don't have to go to appeal.

Thank you Benefits & Work. The guidelines were invaluable and I will certainly stay subscribed to help you keep funding and helping others. I shall worry about what happens again in 3 years!