I asked for my clain to be reassessed and recieved a letter on saturday, saying no again. I dont think they even looked at it and definately didnt take my letter into account. I rang them on 1st nov and then sent more written evidence to them on 7 nov. They wrote to me on the 8th, so they wouldnt have recieved my letter. I rang them again today and they wouldnt tell me anything, the lady on the phone tried to say that couldnt see my file. I am now going to appeal. im seeing my gp tomorrow and wondered if it was wirth telling her that im going through the appeal?
When you ask for your claim to be reassessed I don’t think they look at anything new. Just look over the form that you filled in to make sure that they made the “correct” decision.
When you appeal you can include new material in an attempt to point out why the decision they made was erroneous. (not new conditions, just a fuller description or supporting medical evidence) Many people win appeals because the quality of this submission is so much better than the original form that they filled in.
Don’t forget that there is a time limit to appeal. It is 28 days from the decision letter. In your case because you asked them to look again it is 28 days from the 2nd letter. You need to fill in form GL24 to appeal. It should have been included with your decision letter but can be downloaded from direct.gov
What you should realize they are earning a lot of money from this Government. People like you and me are ideal fodder to take essential benefits from and how they do it they could not care ATOS.
You can appeal by ringing 0800 882200; you will then receive all the correspondence from your doctors so will see who is to blame. It is invariable your Neuro or GP who are being scarce with the truth: the DLA assessor can only go on what’s in front of them. Sorry to say ATOSers are now involved they seem to be reading from a different hymn book.
The answers below are occurrences doctors would not know about. It is far better to attend a hearing but you can ask for one in your home (bit self destructive if your not badly affected) or a reconsideration (bit pointless as they have already made a decision).
At the appeal there are 3 people asking questions, a doctor, solicitor and social services agent. Don’t worry there usually very nice and make you feel at home.
Just a few ideas of the way you should answer the questions.
While hobbling along the High Street I keep near to the shops. This aids me in two ways; I am less likely to fall into the road and I can stop and look in shop windows to get a rest. I can testify that Ann Summers has the best window display.
To get High Rate you must show you need help during the night. Say something like, “I get up 2/3/4 times per night to go to the toilet, sometimes to no avail.” “My husband has to accompany me; this takes about 45 minutes each time and obviously breaks his sleep.” “It’s amazing just knowing he is there gives me so much confidence.” “He has to accompany me because once I fell over and slept where I lay that night, good job it was the middle of summer and warm.”
The hearing lasts about 20 minutes and then you are asked to go to another room. Another 20 minutes and then you are asked back in and told the result. It is very important to have someone attend with you.
Simple rule ‘don’t say one word when 100 will do’ in other words explain in detail. Always quote your worst; they appreciate MS is a variable condition but don’t you say it. Be very careful though as there are some mistakes you could make like do not say you’re housebound as that begs the question why do you need the mobility component? Say “I would like to go out more if I could afford to” The examples are that examples if they are not true don’t use them.
Excellent, thank you. Yeah suspiciously thet didnt put an appeal form in witrh the 2nd letter and the lady on the phone this morning sounded almost bored by my call ( there was audiable sighing!) i will download the form online as i dont trust them to post it to me.