Carers appeal

BillieT

This has probably been answered a million times, but I can't find it..
I applied for carers allowance in January. Mid April I got a letter of refusal, so I appealed on April 21st and on May 4th, I got a letter saying my 'appeal was allowed'
What does this mean please? I rang the carers section, three times. The first time I was told that I was approved, but they didn't have the details yet and I'd be hearing from them soon... The second time I was told that it doesn't mean I was approved, and I just have to wait for more info to be sent out to me. Then the third time they said that - it usually means you are approved, but in this case they are not sure, as they haven't received any instructions yet from the appeals officer. I'm going around in circles.

lulu1

I would take it as they are allowing you to appeal their decision and will send you out more forms to fill re your application

ann0

did it say your appeal allowed or did it say they have received your appeal and will contact you at a later date with a decision.if it says appeal allowed that means you should get your carers allowance?i went through 3 years of shi with them and only got my carers allowance 3 weeks ago.plus it takes a while for the appeals deciding officer to get in contact with a SW department you are put in a pile of probably a couple of hundred appeals let us know what happens

BillieT

ann0 wrote: »

did it say your appeal allowed or did it say they have received your appeal and will contact you at a later date with a decision.if it says appeal allowed that means you should get your carers allowance?i went through 3 years of shi with them and only got my carers allowance 3 weeks ago.plus it takes a while for the appeals deciding officer to get in contact with a SW department you are put in a pile of probably a couple of hundred appeals let us know what happens

Thanks Ann0 - and well done on your perseverance.
It said the appeal allowed.. I also assumed that I was allowed to appeal it. I was ready to throw in the towel to be honest.
I never heard another word from them, but the money was in my bank account on Friday.
So for anyone else who gets the letter saying 'appeal is allowed', it means you got it.

ann0

well done on getting the carers allowance and they have to backdate you contact them about that and ask when you will get it .........its an awful process what they put you through.i ended up going through a review 2 appeals and an ombudsman.i was about to forget the whole thing until i got a call from the citizen's advice to call down to them.on the day i went to see them there was a fella from sinn fein there he bombarded them and didn't stop.a few days later i got the carers allowance

BillieT

ann0 wrote: »

well done on getting the carers allowance and they have to backdate you contact them about that and ask when you will get it .........its an awful process what they put you through.i ended up going through a review 2 appeals and an ombudsman.i was about to forget the whole thing until i got a call from the citizen's advice to call down to them.on the day i went to see them there was a fella from sinn fein there he bombarded them and didn't stop.a few days later i got the carers allowance

The citizens advice people told me not to put too much information on the original forms, when I was first applying. Just to put a few lines of what goes on in our house on a daily basis.

I was turned down after a few months wait, so I decided that it would only bring me bad luck if I appealed it. But then after a few visits to the A&E and the psych unit, I decided to write them a letter. You have 21 days, I sent a 6 or 7 page letter on day 22, and was approved within about 2-3 weeks.

It will make such a difference to us, as the private councelling we will be getting for my son will cost about 150 euro a session.

Oh - and we got the carers backdated along with the Respite payment in June.

baby and crumble

BillieT wrote: »

The citizens advice people told me not to put too much information on the original forms, when I was first applying. Just to put a few lines of what goes on in our house on a daily basis.

This is TERRIBLE advice. If you give the DSP all the information at the start then it will increase your likelihood to get the allowance with our appeal if you are eligible.

BillieT

baby and crumble wrote: »

This is TERRIBLE advice. If you give the DSP all the information at the start then it will increase your likelihood to get the allowance with our appeal if you are eligible.

Yes - I'd guess that's why I was turned down the first time. In trying to keep it as short as possible, I left out lots of important information

ann0

i was told by the cab to put as much info as possible in.that is disgraceful that they told you not to put in to much info.what part of the country are you in.if you are in dublin i can pass on the details of my cab they went above and beyond for me.

grasshopper31

I applied last November, got a letter to say it was refused in April, I appealed it and according to carers section it was sent off to appeals office beginning of may . . I rang for an update during week and was told I was still in a queue to be assigned an appeals officer and could give me no further info . .
Very very slow process. .

BillieT

grasshopper31 wrote: »

I applied last November, got a letter to say it was refused in April, I appealed it and according to carers section it was sent off to appeals office beginning of may . . I rang for an update during week and was told I was still in a queue to be assigned an appeals officer and could give me no further info . .
Very very slow process. .

It's so disheartening when you can't even get info over the phone. I was lucky, in that I was only waiting about two weeks after I appealed. But I didn't really believe I got it till the money was actually deposited into my account, that took another few weeks more. The letters that they send out are not very clear.

I hope you don't have much longer to wait. But don't give up

kathleen37

I applied beginning of April. Don't even know if it's worth phoning them... :0(

The two of us are just managing on my Mum's pension since I had to give up work.

ann0

the thing i find most annoying is the fact that these appeals officers at the appeals office have no medical knowledge

BillieT

ann0 wrote: »

the thing i find most annoying is the fact that these appeals officers at the appeals office have no medical knowledge

Yes, and when I got my reply to the appeal letter, it said that the appeal was allowed, even though there was only a report from the GP. Our report was from a Psychiatrist - we never go to the GP

BillieT

kathleen37 wrote: »

I applied beginning of April. Don't even know if it's worth phoning them... :0(

The two of us are just managing on my Mum's pension since I had to give up work.

In the first message above, I said I applied in January. I actually applied in November, and I didn't hear anything at all till April

ann0

it's an awful system they have even some of the pen pushers in the carers offices have no medical evidence

grasshopper31

It's a dreadful system. . surely there can't be this much of a backlog. .

ann0

BillieT wrote: »

In the first message above, I said I applied in January. I actually applied in November, and I didn't hear anything at all till April

have you applied for any of the allowances and the free tv licence

BillieT

ann0 wrote: »

have you applied for any of the allowances and the free tv licence

Yes. Just got confirmation that I got them them on Friday, Plus free travel

ann0

that should be you sorted also carers doesn't cover the annual gas allowance from October to april

BillieT

ann0 wrote: »

that should be you sorted also carers doesn't cover the annual gas allowance from October to april

I applied for electricity. Is that the same?

ann0

BillieT wrote: »

I applied for electricity. Is that the same?

you will get that once a month its 35 euro paid on the day of child benefit

blazard

BillieT wrote: »

Yes - I'd guess that's why I was turned down the first time. In trying to keep it as short as possible, I left out lots of important information

best not to do that