Disability Allowance?

Jasssss · 24-06-2013 5:51pm

Ah thanks livemusic4life but what does an 'assessment in person' mean .

livemusic4life · 24-06-2013 11:06pm

Jasssss wrote: »

Ah thanks livemusic4life but what does an 'assessment in person' mean .

Just to ensure that a medical assessor views you in person, otherwise you can be turned down again. As happened to me. i was turned down 3 times before i was advised to ask to be assessed in person

flutered · 24-06-2013 11:19pm

Jasssss wrote: »

Yeah, your obviously smoking the bleeding stuff.

been there put up with the schit and i have the t-shirt.

bucky08 · 24-06-2013 11:24pm

hardly slavery now is it, able to work 19 hours a week what is the difference with 39 hours a week???

Jasssss · 25-06-2013 12:03pm

Jesus, you were turned down 3 times.That is crazy,but fair play to you to keep going and i know people have to but that extra pressure on top of someone who is already sick cannot be good.

livemusic4life · 25-06-2013 3:37pm

Jasssss wrote: »

Jesus, you were turned down 3 times.That is crazy,but fair play to you to keep going and i know people have to but that extra pressure on top of someone who is already sick cannot be good.

Yep, and I could barely walk, all because my specialist letter didn't have the magic words "unfit for work for a minimum of 12 months"

the stress was horrendous, but that's why I post on these threads, to help people avoid the mistakes i made.

Max001 · 26-06-2013 10:36pm

livemusic4life wrote: »

Yep, and I could barely walk, all because my specialist letter didn't have the magic words "unfit for work for a minimum of 12 months"

the stress was horrendous, but that's why I post on these threads, to help people avoid the mistakes i made.

Had a similar experience. Was refused after waiting a year to hear, appealed and asked for an examination plus sent as many GP and consultant's reports as possible and about six months later was granted DA. The only helpful info I got during the process was via here (which a few years ago was minimal) or from my CWO.

Jasssss · 04-07-2013 7:57pm

Hi I have just heard that my application for Disability for my child has been refused.I now want to ask for a review,can anyone tell me how i can word a letter to the Dept of Social protection .Even though i sent in very strong medical evidence with this application i will have to sit down and think of where i will get more.The reason was not enough medical evidence and to be honest i honestly am flabbergasted .Can anyone on the forum help please.

livemusic4life · 04-07-2013 8:35pm

Jasssss wrote: »

Hi I have just heard that my application for Disability for my child has been refused.I now want to ask for a review,can anyone tell me how i can word a letter to the Dept of Social protection .Even though i sent in very strong medical evidence with this application i will have to sit down and think of where i will get more.The reason was not enough medical evidence and to be honest i honestly am flabbergasted .Can anyone on the forum help please.

A review will take a long time, you just need to be aware of that, unless your child is receiving another SW payment that requires a medical assessment.

Hows this?

Dear....

I am writing in relation to the letter i received on .... saying my child was ineligible for Disability.

I would like to request a review and for my child to be urgently assessed in person by a medical assessor.

Please find attached updated medical information
Kind regards
blah blah

Jasssss · 04-07-2013 9:27pm

Livemusic4life, I rang the other day to ask if they had received my sons application and they had,the lady on the phone said that they had but said that she was not allowed to say if my son was refused over the phone but that it would be a good idea to have more medical evidence at the ready and that a letter would issue shortly.If i am to read between the lines the application was refused because of medical evidence,but im just waiting for the letter.When this letter arrives do you know after it says you are refused etc what are your rights if you are not happy with this decision.

livemusic4life · 04-07-2013 10:22pm

Jasssss wrote: »

Livemusic4life, I rang the other day to ask if they had received my sons application and they had,the lady on the phone said that they had but said that she was not allowed to say if my son was refused over the phone but that it would be a good idea to have more medical evidence at the ready and that a letter would issue shortly.If i am to read between the lines the application was refused because of medical evidence,but im just waiting for the letter.When this letter arrives do you know after it says you are refused etc what are your rights if you are not happy with this decision.

Yes, at the end of the letter it will give you the details of who to write to if you are unhappy with the decision. That it will go to review. If it is the first time that you've applied for disability for your son, then the chances are that your son is a victim of the first time refusal policy (unofficial) that i was told about. I asked for a parlimentary question to be asked in the Dail, looking for the figures of the number of people refused at the first application.

There is no guarantee that your son has been refused. But the lady on the phone is probably well used to the fact that the majority of applications are refused first. She was probably just trying to prepare you.

It takes a lot of work and a lot of phone calls and hassling to get anything done. I personally found Sinn Fein fantastic at pushing the issue for me. I have never voted for them in my life, and probably never thought i would, but they did so much work to help that they'd get a serious consideration from me. Try getting in contact with your local Sinn Fein Councellor or representative. I found that the other parties just didn't give a s&&^ and didn't bother to even reply or gave you a complete fob off. I literally could not walk or stand when i was refused for disability the first time, i've had numerous operations and epidurals in my spine. And it was only through fighting that i got it. You have got to be brave. It is not a process for the faint hearted!

Best of luck and if i can do anything to help, drop me a pm

Regards
Cli

Jasssss · 04-07-2013 10:57pm

livemusic4life,thank you so much for taking the time to answer me i very much appreciate it.

livemusic4life · 04-07-2013 11:44pm

Jasssss wrote: »

livemusic4life,thank you so much for taking the time to answer me i very much appreciate it.

thats what we're here for, to help

Jasssss · 17-09-2013 7:19pm

My son was refused again.Now its down the road to the appeals office in Dublin.Jesus Christ this is a nightmare.What are these people looking for.I am pulling my hair out,I have sent in very detailed reports letters etc. Where in the name of god am I going wrong.What do i need to do ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

livemusic4life · 17-09-2013 7:58pm

Jasssss wrote: »

My son was refused again.Now its down the road to the appeals office in Dublin.Jesus Christ this is a nightmare.What are these people looking for.I am pulling my hair out,I have sent in very detailed reports letters etc. Where in the name of god am I going wrong.What do i need to do ahhhhhhhhhhhh.

Don't forget to ask for a request an "oral" review. To be reviewed in person.

Jasssss · 18-09-2013 8:37am

livemusic4life, Thanks I am going to hand over my sons file to an advocate for people with Disability's If you meet the Criteria I really think there is something wrong in Longford.

livemusic4life · 18-09-2013 2:06pm

Jasssss wrote: »

livemusic4life, Thanks I am going to hand over my sons file to an advocate for people with Disability's If you meet the Criteria I really think there is something wrong in Longford.

I'll keep my fingers crossed, make sure you give me an update

mlumley · 18-09-2013 2:15pm

I have just got DA, after 18 months or more. I was refused twice, then took it to appeal. That took me over the "must last 1 year" , that they refused me for. Just told appeal office, I've been on sick for over 1 year, so meet the conditions. Just keep on at them, you'll get there. I know it's frustrating, it's designed that way, in the hope you give up.

Good luck to you.

degrassinoel · 20-09-2013 2:13pm

Just got a phonecall from the social welfare this morning to say that my illness benefit would be 84 euro per week. And that i should appeal for supplementary welfare allowance to cover the other 104 euro i should be getting on top of that.

Has anyone got any advice on what to do as i cant speak to anyone in the health centre until monday regarding the supplementary allowance? I've called and left a message with my details but they wont see anyone until monday for some reason.
Any idea of how long it takes to come through?

I actually cannot live on that amount of money, i spend as much as that on food (specific diet for crohn's disease) every week. I wouldn't even be able to afford a train or bus anywhere at that rate or even doctors, hospital and prescriptions.

I've applied for a medical card recently but i doubt that'll come through anytime soon.

livemusic4life · 20-09-2013 10:55pm

degrassinoel wrote: »

Just got a phonecall from the social welfare this morning to say that my illness benefit would be 84 euro per week. And that i should appeal for supplementary welfare allowance to cover the other 104 euro i should be getting on top of that.

Has anyone got any advice on what to do as i cant speak to anyone in the health centre until monday regarding the supplementary allowance? I've called and left a message with my details but they wont see anyone until monday for some reason.
Any idea of how long it takes to come through?

I actually cannot live on that amount of money, i spend as much as that on food (specific diet for crohn's disease) every week. I wouldn't even be able to afford a train or bus anywhere at that rate or even doctors, hospital and prescriptions.

I've applied for a medical card recently but i doubt that'll come through anytime soon.

If you have a printer, print out the form before you visit the CWO, there is also a form for dietary allowance which my mum gets. That must be signed by the doctor. Get that filled out too before you go to the CWO. Supplementary welfare is a max of 186 - two euro less than the full social welfare, don't ask me why.

You need to bring ID with you, And a bill in your name, along with a bank statement or credit union account.

They are generally very quick at sorting out the money once you have your forms filled out correctly.

There is a section at the bottom of the SW form, where you can put all relevant info for your outgoings.

livemusic4life · 20-09-2013 10:57pm

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Supplementary-Welfare-Allowance.aspx

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Dietary-Supplement.aspx

degrassinoel · 21-09-2013 12:31pm

Thanks a lot

ash23 · 30-09-2013 1:23pm

I was denied for DA for being 4 per week over the means test. I was on FIS also but that was stopped until I heard back from DA. Now I'm not sure what to do. I was going to reduce my hours anyway as I'm not managing very well with full time.
But the appeals process for DA is so long and if I can't get FIS to top up my income, I won't be able to afford to reduce my hours or I'll end up homeless.

Not sure what to do.

livemusic4life · 07-10-2013 6:11am

ash23 wrote: »

I was denied for DA for being 4 per week over the means test. I was on FIS also but that was stopped until I heard back from DA. Now I'm not sure what to do. I was going to reduce my hours anyway as I'm not managing very well with full time.
But the appeals process for DA is so long and if I can't get FIS to top up my income, I won't be able to afford to reduce my hours or I'll end up homeless.

Not sure what to do.

were you physically assessed, because you have to be completely unfit for work for an expected term of 12 months for disability. You're still working when you applied.

ash23 · 07-10-2013 6:36am

livemusic4life wrote: »

were you physically assessed, because you have to be completely unfit for work for an expected term of 12 months for disability. You're still working when you applied.

I don't think that's true....your disability must be expected to last more than 12 months but you can still work and claim disability allowance. I wasn't physically assessed. It's.a neurological condition so most of the symptoms aren't,physically evident. Sight, balance, neurological pain etc.

Jasssss · 07-10-2013 11:10am

Ash23,yes you are right you are allowed do Rehabilitative work but do you know I really believe if the Department can see that you can do any sort of work at all ,they will refuse you. Well that's what I was told by a TD the other day.But good luck its a nightmare of an allowance to navigate.

GF2013 · 08-10-2013 5:10pm

Ash23, i've also got a neurological condition, affecting balance/sight etc. It's called Mal De Debarquement Syndrome. Anyhow, because it's an invisible illness i'm worried I may be turned down for DA as I look completely normal. I had a social welfare inspector call to my house this morning about the DA claim, any ideas if this is good or bad???

ash23 · 08-10-2013 6:22pm

I've no idea to be honest. I didn't have anyone call. I just got a letter lookingg for 6 months bank statements and 8 weeks payslips. If my income had been below.the limit, I might have gotten a visit or needed to be assessed. I don't really know.
My condition is relapsing remitting MS so I can be perfectly ok.for a while and then have a bad relapse and then recover again so im not sure if that'd be taken into account when they'd assess me.

GF2013 · 08-10-2013 6:33pm

K thanks, hope you get it sorted soon, nothing worse than the added unnecessary stress of waiting for a decision!!!

tony1980 · 16-10-2013 8:25pm

Sorry if this is the wrong place to post.

My wife is on Disability Allowance a long time, she has a condition called Ankylosing Spondylitis which requires an infusion of remicade every 6 weeks. She has a medical card and works the allowed hours each week and earns the maximum of 120 every week on top of her disability allowance. She finished work two weeks ago and is on maternity leave, she is due in 3 weeks.

We were advised previously not to change over to maternity benefit even though it is worth more money as it is so awkward to go back on disability allowance as many of you have experienced, so we have not applied for it. Anyway, we noticed last week that her account balance didn't look right and have confirmed today that she hasn't received her disability in two weeks. I get paid monthly but luckily I am paid this Friday.

She received no letter to say she is cut or if there is some other problem. We will ring tomorrow but Is this unusual to have received nothing and not be notified if say for some reason she was cut? I find it crazy that they could do something like that without any warning, luckily the baby wasn't due this week or we would have been fu**ed!!!

Disability Allowance?

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