Two missed appointments for DLA assessment

yellow

2 missed appointments for DLA assessment .   Recent death of my sister , new diagnosis of fibromyalgia , long standing history of bipolar ,   I'm troubled as to what will happen . Any advice would be appreciated 

Liam_Alumni

Hi @yellow,

Welcome to Scope's online community! It's great to have you here.

I'm so sorry for your loss and to hear about the problems you are having. With regards to the DLA assessment, have you contacted the assessment centre?

I've moved your post into our Ask a Benefits Advisor category, so @BenefitsTrainingCo can advise further.

yellow

Thank you Liam 

Sam_Alumni

Hi @yellow did you contact them to explain?

BenefitsTrainingCo

yellow,

Is this DLA or PIP? DLA is normally for a child under 16 and PIP for people who may have been moved from DLA or who are making a new claim when they are over 16.

As Sam says, if you haven't already, please contact the DWP and explain why the appointments were missed. You should get a new appointment if they accept your reasons. If they don't, you will get a letter telling you that your claim has been refused.

It's important at that point to take action:

• ask for a mandatory reconsideration (MR) of the decision to refuse your claim, giving your reasons for non-attendance again. You may have to appeal if the mandatory reconsideration doesn't change the decision AND
• make a new claim (in case the mandatory reconsideration and appeal are not successful). You should still continue with the MR and appeal if necessary because otherwise you won't get back payments.

You should ask for the MR within a month of the decision to refuse DLA/PIP, if you can. You can ask for one in writing, or by ringing up, but make sure you insist on getting an MR notice.

I hope this helps. At the moment, it's a question of waiting to see - but do give them your reasons if you haven't already.

Will