'Why I went to court for my disability payments'

The number of people going to court to try to win back a key disability benefit is expected to continue to rise this year, a leaked letter seen by the BBC suggests. We follow one woman who took her case to tribunal.

 

Debbie Neal was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease 10 years ago. She takes dozens of pills each morning to manage her symptoms - sickness, high blood pressure and seizures.

 

She may well need a transplant in future.

 

For the moment, she has to empty excess fluid from a tube attached to her stomach, and replace it with new liquid from a bag, five times a day.

 

"It is a burden," she tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. "They say, 'Don't let it affect your life,' but you can only live your life to a point.

 

"I can't even remember what it was like not doing it."

READ MORE HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39745403

It's an awful system. It should go back to the way it was. Yes, I only received lower mobility DLA, (about £36 a week less) but there was logic there.

There's no logic here at all. How can you decide in 30 minutes - 1 hour what someone's disabilities are really like? It was decided somehow, I don't have hearing problems because I wasn't saying pardon every 2 minutes. So, why the hell do I have so many letters from ENT / Audiology then?

DWP don't believe I have any difficulties communicating. Yet. the friend who was present and both parents will tell you the opposite.

I now find myself in the crap situation of my needs have changed; but knowing how illogical they are, (I've come across people who've said their conditions have become worse, informed DWP and they've lost everything) I may have to leave it.

Nystagmite - I imagine there are many people who are frightened to say their conditions have worsened JIC the assessors decide otherwise and the applicant will lose what they already have - so they simply stay under the radar - suffering !

Very wrong indeed.

Nystagmite I too have issues communicating at a normal level in the real world. Unless I can spend hours/days/weeks and sometimes months studying a response, 'live' conversations on standard topics crucify me big time,, but when allowed to study for a time I can deal with it. Probably like you I get very confused very quickly then turn mean, because I cannot be fully understood properly....

Here we can take time that others can do instantly, this is why it is difficult for us and I hate to use this word 'normal' people take it for granted that we too are 'normal' but sadly we are not...

citizenB: I fully agree with what you say, one day I can do a thing easily then the next I cannot, that is the long and short of it. Simply put if the DWP continue to assume that every condition is written down and EVERYONE is affected the same way then things will continue to deteriorate for the claimant.

We are not a book that states this IS what it is we are individuals and different as are our disabilities....

Simply put how can we prove a negative?

Most of what you're saying sounds familiar, Mikey. Unfortunately for me, I was seen on a "good day". The assessment did not take into account that there's a huge difference between sitting in a quiet room with 2 people (assessor and friend) and normal everyday life where you're sat in a room with maybe several people and quite a lot of noise. (such as doctor's waiting room) The latter being physically painful for me. But no, because the former is ok, I've got no such issues, apparently.

I have a long list of rare medical problems (I was even asked what one of them was...) and I know they don't have a clue what they are.

Like you, most of my conditions vary. DWP unaccepted this under DLA (they wrote this on my award notice) but not under PIP it seems. Everything appeared to be based on that one day when I appeared to be functioning ok. You can't make a decision based on that. My hospital letters pretty much stated the opposite. They were written over several appointments. (roughly 1-2 months apart)

Because of the way the questions were worded, (you have to word things in a certain way for me to understand them) it was assumed I have no problems with language. But my friend said I take things literally. Actually, most people who know me will tell you the same thing.