Appeal against Attandance Allowance refusal?

[ringtor]

My husband was diagnosed with VD and Alz in June. I applied for AA and have just received a letter of refusal. It seems to be based on his physical needs and not to make any allowance for his mental vagaries. I do not have to provide 'frequent or prolonged watching to prevent substantial danger to himself or others'. But he can put the main light on and start to go downstairs at 3am when he is quite wobbly. So if he gets up I need to be awake.
Alz Soc told me to go to the CAB but they are shut this week. Should I appeal before seeing the CAB so as to be within the month given?
Grateful for any advice. My husband is 80 and I am 79.

 

[marionq]

Definitely appeal. You might want someone to help you fill in the form who is accustomed to doing so. Immediately after diagnosis we had a visit from a charity for the elderly (like Age Concern). We did not need anything from them but the lady filled in the form while asking my husband and myself questions.

At your age you are exactly the people it is meant to help.

 

[ohno!]

Sadly it is down to how you fill in the form and whether you have a helpful GP or consultant on your side.
You can just write to them and say you do not agree with their refusal of AA and that you request a re consideration.
If you can find the time try and do a diary type day in the life of ..... letter to send them with your request for a re consideration.
You really just need to paint a picture of real life at home with your poor poor husband, as unfortunately many of the decision makers have no real idea of what life is really like caring for someone with dementia.
I hope that helps a little.

 

[Nebiroth]

I think your problem is that you do not meet the criteria of "frequent" or "prolonged" criteria in your description that you put in the claim.

"Frequent" and/or "prolonged" have specific defintions in the rules, and the claim assessor applies those according to what you have said in the form. It has to be a given number of events over a specific time period, also, "day" and "night" have specific hours, because someone who qualifies for the benefit for day or night gets th elower rate, whilst someone with day and night would get the higher.

The assessors are not permitted to use "common sense" or to infer a need - they can only be guided by what is actually said in the form, no more and no less.

So unfortunately, if you said you sometimes need to wake up when your husband does at 3am then that will be neither frequent or prolonged, it is not often enough or long enough.

However, if someone had to stay awake in case he woke up and started to wander then that is different.

I suggest if you appeal, which you can, then you get help from a "professional" form-filler, such as from the AS, Age or something like that.

They will know how to put things down and probably think of a lot you wouldn't because you would think it irrelevent or trivial. You do not need to exaggerate, but do need to give a full picture - it is impossible to put too much information, because anything irrelevent will be ignored anyway.

 

[jaymor]

My husband had Alzheimer's for well over 4 years before he qualified for AA. During this time he did not require a lot of help so pointless us applying.

When we did he had the lower rate and when he needed help and watching through the night he was granted the higher rate.

They look at how many hours during the day they need help.

It is how you word it that helps. I said my husband could dress himself. I was then asked to say how he managed it. I said I hand him his socks and help him put them on and this I did until he was dressed. So really he could not dress himself if I was not there handing him clothing in the right order. So it pays to just think each question through. Left to his own devises he had no idea which order to put his clothes on.

Jay




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[massy]

hi ringtor. I don't know if this is any use but I rang Social Worker 2 weeks ago and she came on a home visit for carers assessment. She asked if my mam was receiving Attendance Allowance, which she is but she said because she is up at night she might be entitled to the higher amount. She said that her office used the services of Well Being to sort out benefits. The man from Well Being called last Thursday, ordered the forms which came Saturday and he called back today and filled them in.

 

[Nebiroth]

To qualify for the higher rate you need to have a given amount of help/supervision throughout the day and the night.

If you only need it throughout the day or the night, then you only get the lower rate.

Many people think you get the higher amount for just night because obviously this is more difficult to arrange and often more stressful for everyone involved. However, for AA purposes, no differential is applied!

As said above, an "expert" will know what to put and the oifficial defintions of things. The example is a great one, someone cannot dress themselves if they need someone else to prompt them as to which garments go where, to dress in the first place, or even to help put armes in sleeves etc. But lots of people think "unable to dress themselves" means something like being paralysed where someone else has literally to dress you.

Always worth remembering, AA is about the help you may need, not the help you get when you're applying. This is because AA is, in theory, a payment to obtain that help.

 

[Dearie Me]

We were recommended to apply for AA by the CPN, who did a referral direct to the DWP. They then sent someone out who met us, questioned us and completed the form. It was then awarded, despite my concerns that the guy who came out would be working in their interests rather than ours. He knew exactly what phrasing to use and questioned mum skilfuly , more so than the CPN sometimes manages.

 

[Spamar]

I agree with all those who said use someone who knows the 'language'. OH qualified for AA as soon as he was diagnosed with help from Alzheimer's soc. In the last year, this has been upgraded to higher rate, with the help of ageuk. She also suggested that I might qualify for DLA, which I did. I would ever have applied for it myself!

 

[MERENAME]

Yes, write them a letter simply stating that you wish to appeal. Then get in touch with the CAB or Welfare Rights as soon as they open in order to find a rep that will go to the tribunial with you and put forward your case.

If you cannot leave your husband overnight alone then a good rep should be able to make a case for higher rate.

 

[Nebiroth]

As I said earlier, the higher rate is only paid if the person needs care throughout the day and the night. If it is the day or the night, the lower rate applies.

Also, be aware that DLA is being phased out, and replaced with PIP.

This change affects everyone currently receiving DLA, except those who are aged 65 or over. DLA can be continued beyond age 65, to 75 as I recall, if it is awarded at a younger age.

It does not affect Attendance Allowance in any way. If you are over 65 when you first apply then you apply for AA. This has slightly different rules, notably, there is no Mobility component, and any references to mobility outsid eof the home are ignored.