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DLA in UK - Anyone been approved?

Hey Guys,

I spoke to my GP yesterday and he is supporting me in a claim for disability living allowance.

Just wondered if anyone else in the UK had applied and how they got on?

I hear the application has to be rather an epic piece...

Any advice gratefully received...

Thanks pals

Lishyloo
 
I havn't although we have thought about it because we would love two toilets!
I have a friend who's younger sister is disabled and cannot walk or talk and they managed to get a massive extention becuase it got to the point where they couldnt carry her up the stairs. Also my uncle has/had lukaemia and he has just got one, though I dont know what exactly his is for.
I dont know much about the application process though, sorry.
x x x x x
 

merrywidow

mum with a dogdy tum
applied, got rejected as i didnt need personal care. didnt matter that i was up half the night changing the sheets and my pouch.
apparently us ossomists dont qualify on our own we have to have something else wrong with us. the application is like a essay. " how many mintutes do you need this help?" and stupid questions like that
 

merrywidow

mum with a dogdy tum
holly, you can get 2 loos.
you can also get your water bill capped, we are classed as "vunerable customers" horrible label, but who cares, at least we get cheap water.
ring up your water company and ask.
you can also get a radar key, this is a key for all the uk disalbled toiletss. everytime i have used it i get foul looks from the guys in wheelchair. but i am not screwing the system, i am allowed to use it.
hope this info helps
 
N

Neilfisk

Guest
Hey, I tried and got rejected 4 times with DLA. I had enough and booked an appointment with the CAB and 4 weeks later I got high rate care and high rate mobility. Yes it is a nightmare with the forms but be very specific, ie 'you have to be in near prox to a toilet ant all times and that involes a lot of mess/blood' etc you get the picture. It's well worth going to a CAB advisor and they will help you through the forms and they will also go through the appeal on your behalf if need be.
Hope that helps

Neilfisk
 

merrywidow

mum with a dogdy tum
neilfish, i cant understand how you got high rate mobiltiy. that is only for people in wheechairs and people that have extreme difficuty walking unaided. how did you mangage to get that? when you got rejected for the lower rates earlier.
 
N

Neilfisk

Guest
Hey sharon, the high rate is not only for people in wheelchairs. Thats what i thought as well but its not. Its for people who have difficulty walking/getting up and about etc. Iv good bad arthritis in my legs and back, thats how i got it.

neilfisk
 

merrywidow

mum with a dogdy tum
thats what i said in post 3. crohns alone cant get DLA. we have to have something else wrong with us.
 
N

Neilfisk

Guest
Hi, sorry never read your post properly. It's a nightmare the questions they ask, really stupid questions if you ask me. But the CAB were great.

Neilfisk
 
Hiya, well I sent the forms off - and they were truly epic. I have Crohn's, Celiac, a heart condition, and am waiting for repair of a hernia (can't get fixed until I am confirmed in rmission and off steroids) - so I do have a few things going on, although it is only the Crohn's that drives me to make an application really.

I was totally frank and honest, outlined that I can't ever go far from a toilet, that while I dont have a motor impairment, I do get severe pain when I am walking around, am suffering from chronic exhaustion (anyone else noticed how having the squits for 8 months can leave you feeling a tad lethargic?), and that when I do have accidents, which is frequent, that I usually vomit, often lose control of my bladder as well as my bowels and invariably end up fainting and have to be helped to clean up and get back into bed where I sweat and shiver for hours in the aftermath... so my husband helps me wash and dress, he also keeps an eye on me in the shower because I get wobbly and fainted in there (any excuse), and in fact these days I only get dressed for the doctor or the hospital...so going out of the house is something that requires epic preparation and consideration... I also listed for them all the awful places I have lost control of my bowels this year... I literally had verbal diahroea on the page!

I also told them that my 8 & 9 year old sons have had to help me out after bad bouts, which I dont think is fair or appropriate for kids of that age... they cry when I get sick, and it makes me feel so horrendously guilty.

Also on the food side of things - I don't cook, and I hate eating, it hurts too much - I just have Ensure, athough I have promised hubby I will eat one solid meal per day... so that got me a few ticks...

Also included on the form that my GP has arranged a commode for me for two reasons - to preserve dignity as we only have one loo, and also so there is less distance to travel back to the bed after a particularly bad bout... you can literally flop of it which is good because that is about all I can manage after my bowels have parted company with me!

It's a tough form though, because like all of us, I have some good days... hell I have some great days... but when I have bad days I can be collapsing all day... and what might start as a good day can turn into a bad day in the blink of an eye... you think you are fine so you head to the corner shop, and before you have gone a few yards down the road you are starting to sweat, with the stomach lurching and the bumhole making threats... we've all been there.. At the other end of the spectrum, I got a lift to the doctors yesterday, but felt pretty good when I came out, and it was a nice day, so I started to walk (my thinking was that if I started to take a turn I could call hubby and he would be there in less than 5 mins), it was very painful but I made it all the way home - a good 20 minutes - I felt like a triumphant marathon winner! By the time I got to my door (2nd floor flat) I wanted to do a Rocky style dance on the door mat! Unfortunately I then had to sleep on the sofa all afternoon to recover from the exertion! Hubby gave me a right lecture about being irresponsible - what if I had collapsed before getting to the phone...blah bah bah... he cares too much!

Now I have posted the form though I am scared to have a "good day" in public in case they send their investigators round - I've seen the adverts! (scary) What if I got spied on when I was having a "no poop - make the most of it day"???

Ah well I have sent it now - will let you know how it goes...

On another point - my son has UC and he gets it at the higher rate for personal care... to be honest I would be grateful for the lowest rate... I have been ff work for ages now and it's all getting a bit desperate!

Well I expect they close their offices for Christmas soon so probably won't hear anything till the new the new year - keep you posted..

Lishyloo
 

merrywidow

mum with a dogdy tum
steve i have that, i think i mention it on here somewhere. how long do we have before we start falling over? and when do i have to give up my car?
 
Sharon... yes, I think you have mentioned it before. The prognosis is quite good according to my consultant. I may reach 150 before I can't walk at all, but I'm already at the falling over stage. I'm ok on flat ground, but wobbly on uneven ground, especially in the dark. The local council are turning down the streetlights... they say it's "green", but it's just to save money really.
 
When I worked I used to be a welfare rights adviser - I helped a couple of people with crohn's get DLA, so it is possible, but really difficult.
 
i got awarded high rate mobility and low rate care in april this year. i have crohns and suffer really bad with perinal abscess's and fistulas amongst other crohns problems
 
Location
Glasgow
ive never attempted because i work full time but i did get a 2nd toilet built into my house which was great. got it fitted in 2 days. would have cost 8k if i paid myself.

wouldnt mind a mobility car though, whats the chances of that even though im working?
 
Location
Glasgow
bigtruck - i went to my local councilors office. He is a labour MP and i handed in a letter and told him that i sometimes go to the toilet 20 times a day and there is another 3 people who live in my house and another with IBD, so we would appreciate another toilet but cant afford it. He gave us the grant to get it fitted. His team obviousley chose and paid the builders. but it was the best thing i ever done.
 
i might go to CAB to get them to help me fill in the form. I have a disc derenative order too so not just crohns.

At the end of the day they can only say no.
 
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