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Waiting time for carer's allowance

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Comments

  • #182
    skate22
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭skate22


    Hi Linda Dub

    So glad you have decided to pursue this. I appealed my decision in sept 2010 and only found out after that I could have sent in for a review. Anyway, in Oct 2010 I got a visit from the local Social Welfare Inspector who didn't return my file to the Appeals Office till end of Mar 2011. Had an oral hearing in Aug 2011 and my final decision in Nov 2011 which was disallowed. I got my file re-opened with the Chief SW Appeals Officer and I am still waiting for that decision.

    You are definitely better to go down the review road and send in as much information as possible, in as much detail as possible and hopefully you won't have to wait as long as you waited for the first decision.

    By the way, remember you only have 21 days to get all this info into them.

    Best of luck


  • #183
    skate22
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭skate22


    So Annoyed wrote: »
    Linda, that's a hard one go for the review. If that fails, go for the appeal and see how it goes. I don't think there's a medical for the appeal, it's only if you're refused the appeal you go for an oral hearing, that's when the medical might be necessary.

    Hi So annoyed

    Just to let you know that you don't have to be refused an appeal to have an oral hearing. Its up to the appeals dept to decide whether or not to hold an oral hearing. I appealed my case in Sept 2010 and had an oral hearing in Aug 2011. I did receive visits from the Social Welfare Inspector in between. Also never had to bring my caree for a medical but her health was not the issue so might be different if someones health and need for a carer is being questioned.

    Again good luck with your appeal. And if you have any more information in the meantime that will help your case just keep sending it to the Appeals Office.


  • #184
    jabarrett35
    Registered Users Posts: 456 ✭✭jabarrett35


    What I found most annoying is that they only wrote to me a month after already knew I had been refused. I got the letter on Monday the orginal date on the letter was 12/4/12, which had been crossed out and 18/5/12 written over it. Thankfully I put my review once I heard I had been refused. Also I looked at their guidelines which seem very vague in the relation to how ill the person you care for has to be. On those guidelines very few would be refused, which leads me to believe that they are not the true guidelines.


  • #185
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    Hi skate
    Im just wondering if i send all my new informatiion bk into carers for a reveiw within 21 days and its unsucsessful do they send me back all the documents so i can send it in to d'olier street with the appeals letter within 21 days of getting the second refusal?whatever documents i send in for review will be ones i use for appeal im very confused at this stage !!!!


  • #186
    ROtt
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭ROtt


    Hi All,
    I sent of application for CA at end of Sept 2011, 18 Oct I rec'd a text saying it had been rec'd and about a month later the documents were returned with a comp slip saying it was being looked into. Today the Welfare Officer called to confirm that my 85 year mother-in-law does live with us & also asked for P60 for this last year for my husband. He has said he will send off the questionaire we had to go through (which was very much like the original form!!) on Monday, and he thought that it should go back in with the September forms to be looked at. He had no idea when I would get a verdict on it. Does anyone else have any similar experience?


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  • #187
    IrishMumOf1
    Registered Users Posts: 84 ✭✭IrishMumOf1


    Hi Linda Dub,

    Sorry to hear about the decision, :( but glad to see you are appealing it, have not been online for a while, no point seeing as I sent mine in Oct and they didn't open it until first week in Nov, reckon its still a long wait, :confused: tried to ring and see where they were working on but I couldn't get through and didn't have the time to spare. :rolleyes:

    And I have busy trying to get our rent lowered with the new guidelines and find out about the Incremental Purchase Scheme. But that's for a whole different thread altogether. :p


  • #188
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    jabarrett35 wrote: »
    What I found most annoying is that they only wrote to me a month after already knew I had been refused. I got the letter on Monday the orginal date on the letter was 12/4/12, which had been crossed out and 18/5/12 written over it. Thankfully I put my review once I heard I had been refused. Also I looked at their guidelines which seem very vague in the relation to how ill the person you care for has to be. On those guidelines very few would be refused, which leads me to believe that they are not the true guidelines.

    Thats a joke imagine rather then send a whole new letter they crossed out date .....The letter i recieved informing me i was refused was like a scrap of paper sliced of a bundle... The letterhead was half missing because it was cut all crooked and print hard read ... very professional altogether.... Maybe those who get passed get the nice paper :))))))))


  • #189
    skate22
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭skate22


    Linda dub wrote: »
    Hi skate
    Im just wondering if i send all my new informatiion bk into carers for a reveiw within 21 days and its unsucsessful do they send me back all the documents so i can send it in to d'olier street with the appeals letter within 21 days of getting the second refusal?whatever documents i send in for review will be ones i use for appeal im very confused at this stage !!!!

    Hi Linda Dub,

    If you are unsuccessful with a review then it is automatically sent on to the Appeals Section. Have pasted some info below from the SW site and their reviews and appeals procedures. Was also reading your other post about the way they sent your refusal to you. This is totally wrong and you should complain about it. Have also pasted from their site about this. This whole system is just crazy. hope this helps :rolleyes::rolleyes:

    If a revised decision by the Deciding Officer / Designated Person is not possible, the papers are submitted to the Chief Appeals Officer for referral to an Appeals Officer for determination. An appellant will be advised of any additional evidence adverse to his/her case which arises from such further investigation and will be afforded an opportunity to comment on it.


    1.2 The Decision
    • The DO’s decision must be in writing and should start with the words “I decide that…”. The decision should be legibly signed and dated by the DO. Where Electronic Signatures are used, as in SDM, these must be recorded on the system.


  • #190
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    Thanks for that skate i taut i had tho get whole application and new info back frm longdord and send it all to d'olier st for the appeal !!!! BTW: letter did hve all that on it but the paper itself was all crooked ... Maybe dat many refusals the paper cutter seized up 


  • #191
    Medusa22
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,400 ✭✭✭Medusa22


    Hi all, I've read through this whole thread and I'm really shocked about how long people have been waiting and also how many people have been refused. It seems to me that you all had genuine cases and it is just awful how many people have to appeal. My partner applied for carer's allowance because she is caring for me in September 2011 and we still haven't heard a decision yet. At the moment we are just living on my disability benefit and it is very difficult financially. Is anyone else having trouble contacting CA? My partner has been trying to get through for the past 2 weeks but nobody is answering the phone and it is so frustrating. An inspector came to assess our means and he seemed doubtful that we would receive the allowance because he doesn't believe that my partner is caring for me enough, I have Cystic Fibrosis and she has to do so much for me!! It is so ridiculous.


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  • #192
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    That is just unbeliveable, seems to me they just pick n choose certain amount yes and no's... My nephew also has CF. hes 21 and his mother got carers allownce ... Last year he moved in wth his dad and his dad then applied for carers on basis he now looks after son.... He got it n obviously his mother lost hers... I know the lad hmself gets payment nt sure which one n his dad defenitely gets carers for hm... I cant see why u wouldnt get it bt tou know yourself nothing suprises me in this country !!!!!


  • #193
    mrsliamo
    Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭mrsliamo


    Hi Medusa22,

    One of the (Many) times I was phoning CA section, I pressed the option for disability allowance section by mistake. They put me straight through to CA section . I did that all the time then - worked each time. Worth a go and it's not really doing anything wrong.


  • #194
    Medusa22
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,400 ✭✭✭Medusa22


    Thank you very much for both of your replies. It is really helpful to know that someone caring for someone with CF managed to get CA, I read your previous posts Linda Dub and I really think that you should appeal because you have such a genuine reason to apply, although I know how draining it is. Thanks Mrsliamo, my partner tried to ring carer's allowance this morning and no answer so she rang the disability allowance section and they put her through and they answered! Apparently the social welfare inspector who visited my partner two months ago hasn't sent a report to CA yet and they are waiting on this report before they can make a decision. I really don't know what he has been doing for two months!


  • #195
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    I never had problem getting through myself but know loads that couldnt either. Thats unreal no inspectors report in yet after two months .... What a mess the whole system is from start to finish n everthing in between... Would not get away with it in another country... there would be riots!!!! I am fuming the more i hear on these boards....fact most us not recognised as carers and then our loved ones not sick enough to need carer is beyond belief ......how can these people make decisions when they prob hvnt clue what its like to have to care for someone !!!!!


  • #196
    aileach
    Registered Users Posts: 79 ✭✭aileach


    Linda dub wrote: »
    how can these people make decisions when they prob hvnt clue what its like to have to care for someone !!!!!

    That is so true Linda. I'm glad that you are requesting a review.

    I got a letter yesterday requesting further information, they want a p45 or letter from my last employer to say when that employment ceased. I don't know if this is a good sign or not but I'm staying positive anyway. Hopefully I'll have the letter ready to send to them by the end of the week.

    I applied initially at the end of Sept '11. The length of time it's taking is so frustrating.


  • #197
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    Hi aileach. Hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones n get approved :))) i sent in loads more info n docs reports for a review on the decision... A lot ot these letters are highly confidential and so i sent thm By express post... Rang just there n was told not on computer yet bt thats not to say havent received them yet... She said the huge amount of refusals means the dublin office is inundated with paperwork so more delays seem inevitable !!!! Best of luck to anyone who is waiting decision 


  • #198
    skate22
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭skate22


    I really cannot understand why there is such a huge amount of refusals. Surely most people who apply for this allowance only do so after they are sure they will get it and have read the criteria for eligibility. The high refusal rate is only making a lot more work for themselves as most people entitled to this will look for a review or an appeal. The overtime in these depts must be adding up. I recently got copies of all my files and have read through them and my file was received in July 2010, official medical section stamped and approved end of July 2010, means test approved end of July 2010 and I got refused in Sept 2010.

    Things seemed to move a bit quicker two yrs ago but I am now still waiting for the outcome of my appeal which was disallowed in nov 2011 but reopened in Jan 2012. My appeal was disallowed on a completely different reason that the reason I appealed the initial refusal.

    I totally understand how everyone here is so frustrated and annoyed and tormented with the long wait and constant paperwork and red tape. Its a constant battle from day one when it should just be a straight forward application.

    God help this country if all carers left their carees to be looked after by the state and the HSE. It would be a complete crisis and the government would be quick enough then to start granting Carer's Allowance to those fully entitled to it. We can all appreciate that the dept is very busy but the waiting time is absolutely ridiculous and they seem to be constantly looking for further info off people when surely this is all in the very lengthy application.

    I'm sure none of these departments or the government would wait 8 to 9 months for their wages because that is what they expect us to do. No pay but you still have to continue in the hope that you might get it. Tough luck if you don't you just have to lie the loss and get on with it. makes me so mad just reading through this forum and what people have had to put up with. I think we should all copy and paste all these posts and inundate the ministers for SW and the minister for Health with them. Oh sorry they won't get them because they must be coming up to their annual 3 month leave. After all it is summer and they need the break. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:


  • #199
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    I cant believe you still have not heard yet thats a disgrace ... I cant undertand how the reason youve been unsuccsessful
    In appeals is not same reason why you refused in first place... How in gods name can they justify that is beyond me !!!!


  • #200
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    I was thinking very same thing last night when joan bruton herself was on sme programme bout treaty.... Only it wasnt a fone in show i wouldve definetly rang in ..... How they can expect a yes vote when they wont pay their own citizens their entitlements.....they want us to trust them
    On this after all cutbacks , banks, financial mess etc i dont think
    So!!!!! I would love one of them To knock at my door to ask for a yes vote id cheerfully strangle them !!!!


  • #201
    skate22
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭skate22


    Linda dub wrote: »
    I cant believe you still have not heard yet thats a disgrace ... I cant undertand how the reason youve been unsuccsessful
    In appeals is not same reason why you refused in first place... How in gods name can they justify that is beyond me !!!!

    Hi Linda Dub

    i was turned down because they said I wasn't providing full time care. I appealed this because I had underestimated in my application the amount of hours I would actually be doing. It was when it went to the local Social Welfare Inspector to investigate that another issue came up. I used to be self employed but had given up before I became a carer. No one believed me when I said I was no longer working even though I had signed off with the tax office 7 months before that. And they have absolutely no proof because I did not work even though I was told that I was allowed to work 15 hours a week but I didn't have 15 hours left in a week. You know yourself how much time is actually spent looking after someone and it is not a 9 to 5 job.

    They never even told me prior to my oral hearing that there would be another issue to discuss so I went to the hearing thinking that I was appealing the original reason that I was refused for.

    I will continue to fight it though because I will not be labeled a liar and a cheat. And by disallowing my appeal that is exactly what they have called me. My own health has suffered now because of the stress, anxiety and money worries due to this. I feel like suing the SW for stress. Like you the more I think about it and see those so called politicians on tv the angrier I get. Its definitely one rule for one and another for someone else. These people sitting in their plush well paid jobs get to decide whether I can afford to pay my mortgage or not this month. :mad::mad::mad:


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  • #202
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    Thats a disgrace skate n i can understand how u feel. My husband was self employed for ten years n we remortgaged four months later he had to sign on ... As u well know we had go tru hell n highwater and they awarded us 27 euro a week for family of five based on his earnings previous year... They actually think we still had money a year later... Anyhow we appealed and a year later won ..... I cannit understand how they can refuse you on one thing and then when you appeal They hit you with that about self employmnt ... No wonder you going down this road i would do exactly same n would not rest till got an apology as well as what you are owed ..... I would contact local newspapers radio etc if they dont get satisfaction. Its about time the public knew how bad this system has become .....


  • #203
    Jasssss
    Registered Users Posts: 139 ✭✭Jasssss


    Skate,would I be right in saying that this person you were caring for is deceased and if so who the f.ck do the department think was caring for what was a serious sick person.This is the question I would be asking the department.It turns my stomach the way people on this forum are been treated.


  • #204
    Medusa22
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,400 ✭✭✭Medusa22


    I just can't believe that so many people are rejected! I think they are all so incompetent in the social welfare departments. My partner rang the inspector who came to visit us two months ago, he then realised that he hadn't sent the report back to CA so that they could make a final decision. So he thought it had been sent but it hadn't! Then he rang back to find out how much is in my bank account and we told him that we submitted all of that in August, he wanted to know why it was so long ago and my partner told him that was when we applied!! So he realised that I have very little in my account now and he didn't ask for a statement because he should have sent off his report two months ago. If my partner hadn't rung CA last week we never would have found out that the inspector never sent the report back and if we hadn't rung him then nothing would have happened! It is just so ridiculous.


  • #205
    mp22
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 6,854 Mod ✭✭✭✭mp22


    If I may point out that this thread is for waiting times for carers allowance and not for discussing the dept abilities ect.
    please note http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055070569

    Thank you
    mp22


  • #206
    skate22
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭skate22


    Jasssss wrote: »
    Skate,would I be right in saying that this person you were caring for is deceased and if so who the f.ck do the department think was caring for what was a serious sick person.This is the question I would be asking the department.It turns my stomach the way people on this forum are been treated.

    Hi Jassss thats right the person I was caring for sadly passed away just a few weeks after they disallowed my appeal. She just gave up in the end. She also got very worried that she would have to go into a home because I was turned down. That she needed a carer was never in doubt. They just seemed to think that I had undisclosed income. My credit card was maxed out and my account was 1,800 in overdraft and my mortgage was in arrears. Don't know what they thought I was spending my millions on or where I was hiding it.
    Oh and I asked them as well who did they think was caring for her because she didn't suddenly get better so that I could go and WORK and also she had another carer for a few years before I took over.

    Am still wondering if I can sue Social Welfare for all this stress and worry they have caused me by calling me a liar because thats what I feel they have called me. Am so pissed off at this stage.


  • #207
    skate22
    Registered Users Posts: 55 ✭✭skate22


    mp22 wrote: »
    If I may point out that this thread is for waiting times for carers allowance and not for discussing the dept abilities ect.
    please note http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055070569

    Thank you
    mp22

    Well it seems to me that people's patience are wearing very thin at this stage and we all have every right to be annoyed. Obviously, the depts abilities to handle and process applications without losing forms etc and returning reports are going to come into question because this is adding to the VERY VERY LONG waiting times. We all understand that the dept is extremely busy but people here are only telling it how it is and what they have come across in dealing with any of these depts.


  • #208
    Linda dub
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭Linda dub


    I couldnt agree more and if we all were not been made wait months and forms and medicals wernt missing meaning we have to resubmit them then we wouldnt be writing these things .... Its the truth and if we cant speak our minds about the way most of us are being treated well whats point in having the boards ? It seems to me its same old story wth the irish .... We have to either put up or shut up.... Once again wouldnt see it happen in another country 


  • #209
    mp22
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Regional South Moderators Posts: 6,854 Mod ✭✭✭✭mp22


    This thread is about as far away from waiting times as it is possible to get. Closed


This discussion has been closed.
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