Carers allowance decision

Nelly 21

Hi Folks

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this. I have a claim for carers allowance being reviewed at the moment. I phoned the longford office today and got conflicting answers. One person told me that it was awaiting a desk decision (?????) and I wasn't sure what that meant so I rang back only to get a telling off about ringing at all! They told me I shouldn't be ringing, I could be waiting 6/7 weeks for a decision and that it was with the medical examiner.

I would have assumed a desk decision was for a claim that has been seen by the medical examiner and is now waiting for the deciding officer to see it.

If anyone had any experience with this and might have been told the same info in the past I'd be glad to hear from them

connie1

Hi,

Does anyone know what questions may be asked at an oral hearing for carers allowance, i have applied for carers for my wife, who had major surgery over a year ago, and just called now for a oral hearing. Do i need any medical evidence or doctors letters.

any information would be greatly appreciated

thanks.

Nelly 21

Hi, I've never had to go for an oral hearing but hope to if I have to appeal. My aunt appealed a decision a few weeks ago with a positive outcome. She had sent information with her appeal application to the appeals office but brought copies with her and some updated stuff. She could also bring someone to accompany and support her, her son went with her. She said she wasn't that long at the hearing and all she was more or less asked to do was outline what her day to day activities and state her case. It was over and done before she knew it.

How long have you been waiting for your appeal

jacqui c

hi ive been waiting over a year and a half was refused in march i asked for a review then they sent it automatically to appeals in april have phoned and been told on several times its with the medical examiner but still waiting i supplied more medical letters and the last phone call said i should be waiting a couple more weeks and that was over three weeks ago and nothing im just about to ring again any advice would be greatly appreciated

connie1

Hi Jacqui,

I was exactly the same, kept ringing to the the same reply, with the "medical examiner", i would ring the following day and it could be a different story, this went on for a year and half, untill finally we got a letter for a oral hearing. that was 2 weeks ago and still no response yet. Its a complete joke, the person who interviewed me, had no medical experience and i had to spell some words for him during the interview. They are the kind of people we have making these important decisions, i wish you all the best.

jacqui c

thanks connie 1. i just got off the phone with them the last person said it was with the medical and i should here in two to three weeks but the guy i spoke to today said they should have not told me that as there is no medical officer in appeals its just a decision process once it gets to appeals and there office does not deal with that they are purely decision makers and they get up to 100 appeals a day and also said that they have only had my appeal since 23rd of july yet every other time i was told a different story. not sure whats going on now but after phoning appeals several times to be told this today is kind of bewildering. this has been with appeals since april as i have a letter to prove it, he said that carers didnt send over my file till end of last month ....then why do they send out a letter to say it is with appeals since april from the appeals office ?? sick of it now

jacqui c

connie1 how long did you wait for your oral hearing from the time it went to appeals ? i hope its good news for you

connie1

Hi Jacqui, i know its so frustrating, each person you speak to have a different story, they just dont care to know what there doing. It took 3 appeals to finally get an oral hearing, after the 3rd appeal is was about 4/5 months. you certainly would not need to be depending on it. keep ringing, maybe its just a case of whoever shouts the loudest.

Nelly 21

jacqui c wrote: »

hi ive been waiting over a year and a half was refused in march i asked for a review then they sent it automatically to appeals in april have phoned and been told on several times its with the medical examiner but still waiting i supplied more medical letters and the last phone call said i should be waiting a couple more weeks and that was over three weeks ago and nothing im just about to ring again any advice would be greatly appreciated

Hi Jacqui. I know the whole process is headwrecking. It's not helped my the fact that you keep getting conflicting answers when you ring. Did you get any TDs to look into things for you. I got 3 TDs to look into mine and one of them got me a second review. I was a while waiting but I got word last week that my claim was passed and I was put into payment, arrears, grant and everything. Its no harm putting pressure on them.

Did they inform you in writing that you're review was refused? Maybe it is still in the office in longford? Sometimes when you send in further information it slows your claim. Thats what happened to mine. I sent in more medical evidence and they told me that my claim was then moved to the end of the pile.

About the appeals, you get a letter stating that your appeal has been received and then the appeals office looks for you information from the carers office, that can take 2 months...... then the wait starts! It takes such a long time, if I was you I'd see about some of your local tds to represent you. Best of luck with everything and let us know how you get on

Nelly 21

connie1 wrote: »

Hi Jacqui,

I was exactly the same, kept ringing to the the same reply, with the "medical examiner", i would ring the following day and it could be a different story, this went on for a year and half, untill finally we got a letter for a oral hearing. that was 2 weeks ago and still no response yet. Its a complete joke, the person who interviewed me, had no medical experience and i had to spell some words for him during the interview. They are the kind of people we have making these important decisions, i wish you all the best.

Hi Connie. My aunt had an oral hearing and she waited about a month to get her (favourable) reply. She said the same as you, she had to sit and describe what she did day to day, she was sure she wouldn't get but but thankfully she did. Best of luck and I hope your claim goes the way you want it

jacqui c

thank you nelly21 and connie 1 for your replies . i emailed joan brutons office and she did contact them so they sent me a letter to say she had been in touch and i would just have to wait the wait but no i haven't got a local td involved will contact our local td today it might help hopefully thanks again

jacqui c

nelly 21 congratulations on getting your claim sorted its a very long road but great that its being backdated

jacqui c

sorry nelly21 mind a blank this morning, sick of watching the post . no the first i knew of the review going to appeals was in april when the appeals office sent a letter to say they had recieved my appeal. i sent in for a review and thought that they would deal with it but yesterday the guy on the phone said it was now with them which i thought it was since april but apparently they only got my file from carers on the 23rd of july and i never heard a word from carers to say they had refused the review .

jacqui c

hi just thought id let you know i have an oral hearing in two weeks time ....fingers crossed . connie1 did you hear anything about your hearing yet ?

Annasopra

Guys - If you are looking for advice about oral hearings contact the INOU - they are really good and they know a huge amount about social welfare appeals - 018560088 - Ask for an information officer.

jacqui c

thanks mango salsa will do

jacqui c

had my oral hearing yesterday . the guy was very nice asked me what i do every day and then added up the hours every week i do which is all day every day and said i would hear in four to six weeks. fingers crossed now is all i can do . was in there approx twenty mins . connie 1 how did you get on, any news yet ?

jacqui c

hi all just got my letter back from appeals office i was approved for half rate carers whoop whoop. dont know if i will be getting back money but this is great. thanks for everyone's support, just have to wait for the letter from social welfare to find out the rest