Ask the Experts

Keeping info updated to get DLA

Q Do claimants have to tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about changes to their condition/impairment in respect of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)?
Tatiana Lawson, by email

Ken Butler of Disability Alliance says: Claimants have a duty to report to the DWP any change in their circumstances that they might reasonably be expected to know affects their right to the amount of, or the payment of, their benefit.

Such changes should be notified to the office that deals with their claim. It is best to notify changes in writing, with a copy kept so that there is a record of what has been reported.

It is important that changes that affect benefit are reported promptly, as any overpayment may otherwise be forced to be paid back.

If someone’s circumstances change and their benefit goes down or stops as a result, the general rule is that the new decision takes effect from the date of the change, no matter when it is reported.

It is important, however, for DLA or Attendance Allowance (AA) that a reduction due to someone no longer meeting one of the mobility or care disability tests is only back­dated if that person knew or could reasonably have been expected to have known that the change should have been reported earlier.

In deciding whether you reasonably could have been expected to know that you should have reported the change, the DWP should take into account:

• how much you knew about the reasons for awarding you benefit;

• what information was given to you about reporting changes of circumstances;

• your ability to recognise when a gradual improvement results in a relevant change of circumstances.

This is partly because many health conditions can change gradually over time, so that no immediate effect is noticed.

A slight change in your care or mobility needs would not normally be a change that you could reasonably be expected to report. But even if the change is gradual there may still be a point at which you could reasonably be expected to know it should be reported.

For DLA and AA, an increase due to developing greater needs can be paid from the first pay day after you first satisfy the three-month or six-month backwards qualifying test period, and if you tell the DWP about the change within one month of completing the qualifying period.

If you are only able to give the month and not the day that you would have satisfied the disability test, the DWP would assume you satisfied it on the last day of that month.

If the change of circumstances happened more than a month earlier, you may still be able to get benefit backdated to the date of the change if you apply within 13 months of the date on which the conditions of entitlement were satisfied.

To backdate benefit, the DWP must be satisfied that:

• it is reasonable to grant the request; and

• the change is relevant to the original DLA or AA decision; and

• there are special circumstances that are relevant to the application (eg, a serious illness); and

• because of the special circumstances it was not practicable for you to notify the change of circum­stances within one month of the date of change.

The longer the delay, the better the reason must be.

Significantly, previous DWP re-assessment programmes of people receiving DLA (eg, the Benefit Integrity Project) have identified greater rather than reduced needs and more often resulted in higher payments than benefit reductions.

Between 1999 and 2002 almost 69,000 people had DLA payments checked and of those, 74 per cent remained at the same level, 18 per cent were increased and only 8 per cent were decreased.

If someone receiving DLA or AA is in any doubt as to whether a change in condition or impairment should be reported, it is best to seek advice from a local advice agency.

Disability Alliance has a free downloadable factsheet on finding a local advice centre available online from disabilityalliance.org/f15.htm

Scooting into unknown territory

Q In May I bought an electric mobility scooter. I am 70, with multiple myeloma (bone and bone marrow cancer), presently in partial relapse. Because I have difficulty in breathing and can only walk a few steps before I have to rest, I have been more or less confined to my flat in Southwark, south London, for two years. I hoped the scooter would help me to get out and about and lead a more normal life again.

After some haggling, the council agreed to provide a storage shed for the scooter, and I am very happy with that. The only problem is that the council refuses to connect electri­city to the shed. They say it would be too expensive and that they haven’t got the money.

What they want me to do whenever my scooter needs charging (which according to the manual is every time it is used), is to remove the two 12-volt batteries from the scooter, take them to my flat, charge them there and then put them back in the scooter. To take out the batteries, I’m expected to remove the scooter seat and unscrew a protective plate. After charging, I have to do the same operation in reverse.

The trouble is, I haven’t got the energy or the strength in my arms. I’ve told the council this but it doesn’t do any good. So now I have an electric mobility scooter in a nice shed but without any way of getting it charged. So much for my hopes of leading a more normal life.
Carol Moody, by email

Kate Sheehan replies: There are sadly no statutory duties on local councils to provide scooter storage or electric charging points and authorities that have provided such facilities on a discretionary basis in the past are now saying No to new requests due to budgetary cuts.

In your case, they have agreed to provide storage and funded the costs of making that possible, but if it doesn’t meet your needs their outlay has been wasted.

Although you are anxious not to cause trouble, the only way forward would be to put in a formal complaint via the local complaints officer and see if the council will review your request. If they say No, you could try to take the complaint further or look for alternative funding from, say, a charitable body.