Dla renewal

clee210

Hi I am hoping someone can help me, my daughters renewal for dla is due soon, what happens if you don’t have any new evidence? We don’t see any health professionals now she’s been diagnosed and she attends mainstream school but the way they word her report is very positive and doesn’t highlight her care needs at all, When I challenge the school they just dismiss my concerns, does anyone have any advice? 

woodbine

hi @clee210 send what you have even if its not new.

clee210

Hi woodbine thanks for your reply, I do have old reports from paediatrician, I just don’t understand why the school go a round about way when they report needs at school, I am worried if Dla get in touch with my daughters school it will effect her claim, they aren’t very supportive at all ☹️

Ross_Scope

Hi @clee210

Welcome to the community  

It does seem like it's quite a stressful time for you at the moment which is understandable. Any benefit renewal can be hard to go through, even more so considering it's for your child. Rest assured this community is here to support you as best as we can.

It's a shame that the school isn't being very helpful, have you tried writing to a more senior member of the school staff?

You could send old evidence as mentioned above, but you could always go to your daughter's GP to ask for a letter which outlines her condition and how it impacts her.

clee210

Hi Ross Scope thank you, I always get myself in a state when it’s renewal time, that’s kind of you to say that.

with the school I feel they put a barrier up when it comes to my daughters needs and I am not getting a true picture of her at school, luckily she has a twin sister who is in her class and she tells me things but I shouldn’t have to rely on my other daughter for information.

I didn’t realise my g.p would be able to help, in saying that they do get copies of all her reports,  I will definitely look into that thank you for your advice 

mikehughescq

clee210 said:

Hi I am hoping someone can help me, my daughters renewal for dla is due soon, what happens if you don’t have any new evidence? We don’t see any health professionals now she’s been diagnosed and she attends mainstream school but the way they word her report is very positive and doesn’t highlight her care needs at all, When I challenge the school they just dismiss my concerns, does anyone have any advice? 

Okay, so completely the wrong focus here. 

1 - you do not need “new” anything for a renewal. DWP persist in insisting you need new evidence for mandatory reconsiderations too. That is also nonsense. If you have retained a copy of the previous claim pack - and if not then why not - then start with that.

2 - lack of professional input from medical professionals is often cited by DWP as a reason to infer that a condition is not serious or has improved. However, it can also be used to infer that a person doesn’t want specialist input or there’s no cure or treatment. What it means to a decision maker is what you want it to mean. Address the matter head on and explain why not in detail. Cover all the bases. 

3 - why the obsession with school? School is a significant part of a week but it’s just that. A part of a week. What about before school, after school, overnight, weekends, school holidays, when you’re out shopping/eating or on holiday? The key to disability benefits is not a magic bullet report from one place your child goes. It’s the provision of good real world anecdotes about her ability to deal with bodily functions in every situation. I’ve never met a child yet who got DLA on the back of what a school said. }

Done well their material can help but often it’s irrelevant. School reports focus on the positives about your child and school provision is not based on need but also the motivating of the school to get off their arses and help; the money available and the willingness of parents to go into battle.

A benefit claim is not the battleground for your child’s needs. If you’ve an issue with the provision from the school that’s an entirely separate battle. Whilst you’re pursuing a DLA renewal just forget it and look at the breadth of your anecdotal evidence. 

clee210

I have heard a lot of claims get turned down because of school reports being positive, Also how to you get evidence of how your child is in the real world, my daughter struggles a lot with bodily functions in the settings you have just mentioned, I never even thought of it that way, the obsession with the school is purely because of what I have heard.

poppy123456

Don't look into it too much aboiut what you "hear or read" remember, they will mostly only be the bad stories. Lots of people claim DLA for their children without any problems at all but you very rarely hear the good stories.

Those real life examples shouldn't be too hard, i assume that you spend a lot of time with them because there are a child and you will be the only person that knows how they are affected by their conditions.

mikehughescq

clee210 said:

I have heard a lot of claims get turned down because of school reports being positive, Also how to you get evidence of how your child is in the real world, my daughter struggles a lot with bodily functions in the settings you have just mentioned, I never even thought of it that way, the obsession with the school is purely because of what I have heard.

I think it’s fair comment to say that school evidence is patchy; not directed specifically to DLA attention or supervision; focuses on positives and on what could be put in place rather than what is. It is a leap though to say that claims get turned down because of that. Claims get turned down because the other evidence isn’t sufficiently robust to paint the school evidence for what it is. So, again, back to anecdotal evidence. 

“How do you get evidence of how your child is in the real world?” 

There is nothing to “get”. It’s right there in front of you. When she struggles with dressing, bathing, toileting, communication or whatever the specifics are you need to tell the stories of those specific incidents in detail. It’s no more complex than that. Medical evidence can help with diagnosis but DLA doesn’t need a diagnosis. It can all about symptoms or prognosis or treatments but DLA is about the need for attention or supervision. Only real work incidents can bring that to life.

clee210

Thanks Poppy, your right saying it’s only the bad stories that go about, you just hear so much of them, yes I spend all my time with my daughter and she has so many struggles her daily bodily functions, I just thought you need a lot of reports or evidence to back a claim up, I can definitely but on her renewal about her daily struggles.

clee210

Thanks Mike I will take your advice on board, I think I have been listening to the wrong people when it comes to claiming, my daughter has so many struggles and I thought the school had a big part to play when it comes to claiming but maybe I am just obsessing over it a bit too much, I do have anxiety so that doesn’t help.