Incap Benifit

[shadowedseraph]

I'm just in the process of applying for incapacity benifit etc, anyone have any tales or advice to share? especially if you can tell me anything about the mysterious nay mythic DLA

[Vorpalblade]

DLA is an artform. what i did with my application was think of my worst case scenario and i described that. it got me middle and higher rate allowance.

dont know anything about the other benefits as i work.

DLA is an artform. what i did with my application was think of my worst case scenario and i described that. it got me middle and higher rate allowance.

dont know anything about the other benefits as i work.

[kissprudence]

Hi Seraph!

Bladey is right. When you write out your application (which is indeed an artform!), only describe your worst possible day. Tell them about your illness and how it affects you when it's at it's most terrible. Doctors, counsellors and advisers at the jobcentre will tell you to do the same.

Don't leave anything out for fear that they'll think you're a total nutter - that's generally the idea! It worked for me. I don't care how nuts they think I am. I only exist on paper as far as they're concerned anyway!

Good luck!

KP

xx

P.S. If you've been formally diagnosed, it'll all go through your doctor anyway. They'll contact her/him for written confirmation of your condition. That'll help. The other thing to remember is that you'll have to be patient! They really like to take their time over it! (Background growls and snarls!)

[shadowedseraph]

Thanks guys any advice on incap?

[mrs tree]

my doc signed me off so got incap automatically that was years ago now get it indefinately after doc filled out some other form they requested.

It was a long time ago I applied and had been in the to for over 6 months

[rebeccaborderline]

I dont even remember applying for Incap, somebody did it for me when I was in hosp, and Ive been getting it ever since, no questions asked (about 4 years) so guess GP must have filled something in?

Just had my DLA renewed; I got CPN, psychotherapist and shrink to write individual supporting letters, and sent it all together with my careplan and the forms. I also told my GP what was going on, and he got me to go in to see him before and incase they contacted him.

As Bladey said, I wrote about my worst type of day scenario.

good luck

rebeccaborderline

[Barebones]

you should get incap if you payed enough tax or somthign like that. its not like dla where you have to share the most bad but if you been off sick for long period somone should of told you that normaly you go on incap short term benifit first then you go long term.

not sure made any sense im no good at this.

[kissprudence]

Thanks guys any advice on incap?

Oops! Sorry Seraph!

I should have stated that my advice was for incapacity benefit! I now get DLA too, which you may qualify for. You can apply for DLA once you have been granted incapacity benefit.

Sorry for the confusion!

If you need any advice or assistance in filling out the forms for incapacity benefit, they have people at the job centre who can be very helpful with this. You could either call them, or go along in person and ask.

Hope that helps!

KP

XX

[wednesday]

I looked on the DLA website and it read as though you only get it if you need to pay for care. Is this true?

Do you have to say you need the money to pay for support?

[rebeccaborderline]

No, I dont pay for care but get DLA, higher rate for care, lower rate for mobility.

rebeccaborderline

[Serenity River]

[ am on DLA middle rate care low rate modbity and i have a carer my boyfriend

got to CAB and they can help you with the forms and give you some idea what to write in the foums

Serenity

[PanickyPolly]

Good luck with it all but please be warned...it can get very very messy indeed if you're not on the ball. I applied for Inapacity Benefit over a year ago for both mental health porblems and a physical disability and six months after my claim started I was called to an appointment at an assessment centre where they ask you about your symptoms and basically check you are not lying (inspite of the fact you have to continually give sick notes in). I explained to the doctor at the assessment centre (who's a GP) that I have severe anxiety and depression and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (a connective tissue disorder that effects the joints causing them to be very unstable and dislocate easily) and he had a quick look at me took a few notes and I was on my way. A couple of weeks later I received a lettre form the DWP telling me I'd been found fit for work and would I like to sign on for jobseekers. I was taken off Incapacity and put on Income Support at £40 a week. I went into severe depression and anxiety, becoming suicidal and unable to leave the house. My step father had to help me with bills and buy food. The doctor had basically said he disagreed with me about my problems. Bizzare. He also said I dind't have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome at all let alone that it effected me badly. This in spite of the fact that he had never heard of it and could not spell it. There are only four specialists in the entire country who deal with EDS and one of them was mine and I had a letter from him confirming I had it and that my jopints dislocate so badly I cannot walk. Even so this was dsmissed. It took about 6 months to sort out and I had to make the use of a solicitor and take it to a tribunal. Since then I have been accused of lying by the Medical Servcies Team who arrange the assesment centres. This is a very very common accurance. People even worse than me have been accused of lying and found fit for work. There have also been reports of forms being altered. There was an expose about it on BBC radio last spring. they made my life hell and I blame them partially for how ill I am right now as I was getting better until they got their claws into me.