Advice needed DLA SOR please

Hi All,

I am asking this for my sister who recently applied for DLA. She was turned down and requested SOR last week.

Received today and I cant believe what she showed me.

Her DLA form was completed in great detail about the condition she suffers and this is what the claim was based on.

Today, the SOR shows that they told her GP on their letter for factual report that she was claiming DLA for another condition she suffers from but not her main and not disabling. They didnt even mention her main disabling condition at ALL, how do these people get away with this.

I have downloaded GL24 for her because I told her to go straight to appeal and not to ask for reconsideration. She intended to go to her GP to dicuss and get detailed report.

My question is, if she were to ring and ask why they ignored everything and ommitted to put the very reason for claiming dla on the gp factual report, would this start a reconnsideration when really what she wants is to straight to appeal. Should she just complete GL24 and not ring them at all.

Thanks Kathy

kathy1 wrote:

Hi All,

I am asking this for my sister who recently applied for DLA. She was turned down and requested SOR last week.

Received today and I cant believe what she showed me.

Her DLA form was completed in great detail about the condition she suffers and this is what the claim was based on.

Today, the SOR shows that they told her GP on their letter for factual report that she was claiming DLA for another condition she suffers from but not her main and not disabling. They didnt even mention her main disabling condition at ALL, how do these people get away with this.

I have downloaded GL24 for her because I told her to go straight to appeal and not to ask for reconsideration. She intended to go to her GP to dicuss and get detailed report.

My question is, if she were to ring and ask why they ignored everything and ommitted to put the very reason for claiming dla on the gp factual report, would this start a reconnsideration when really what she wants is to straight to appeal. Should she just complete GL24 and not ring them at all.

Thanks Kathy

It would be advisable to go straight to appeal.

If your sister rings the DLA Unit, she will be dealt with by the decision explanation team. Apart from anything else, they may try and dissuade her from lodging an appeal. It has been known for this to happen with other potential appellants.

It is illegal to deny a claimant this statutory right, especially by an interested party, in this case the DWP.

Hi Kathy,

My advice to your sister would be to forget 'phoning the DLA Unit or DBU if it's a first claim, as from my experience unless you can speak to the Decision Maker who wrote the SOR, (virtually impossible) she'd be wasting her time.

Return the GL24 ASAP, since as you're aware before the DWP send an appeal to the Tribunals Service to action, it is automatically reconsidered by a more senior Decision Maker.

Your sister can still go to her GP to discuss her problems and if they'll provide a detailed report forward it to the DWP.

There is a reasonable chance that the DM could change the decision if they read it fully.

Interestingly, I was reading last week that in 2009, there were more successful reconsiderations than ever, I think it was 40% were changed in the claimant's favour.

To others who may be reading this, it doesn't alter our advice to go straight for an appeal, since asking for a reconsideration which fails can often lead to a delay of around 10 weeks or more before the appeal is actually sent to the Tribunals Service.

Hope this helps.

Jim

Compiled with MacSpeech Dictate...why type when you can talk.

Sorry CD,

Your reply wasn't there when I started dictating.

Jim

Jima1 wrote:

Sorry CD,

Your reply wasn't there when I started dictating.

Jim

No problem, two heads are better than one particularly if we reach the same conclusion!

Hi Jim and CD,

Thats what I thought, thanks for speedy reply.

Jim, How are you, pleeeeeese dont over do it.

Kathy