Please note: you can visit this disability living allowance page on the new Benefits and Work website.

Only 47% of Disability Living Allowance claims succeed, according to the Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) own statistics. And many people who do get an award may be getting a lower rate than they are legally entitled to.

So, whether you're making a fresh claim, a renewal claim or appealing a DLA decision, give yourself the best possible chance of getting the right award by becoming a Benefits and Work member.

Our unique combination of step-by-step guides, confidential documents obtained using the Freedom of Information Act, support forums and regular updates make us the leading resource for claimants and professionals alike.

Claimed before and been turned down?
We get frequent feedback from people saying 'If only I'd found Benefits and Work before!' Why? Because we know about the commonest errors and biggest pitfalls that cause so many claims to fail and we make sure our members avoid them.

So, even if you've been turned down before, that doesn't mean you won't succeed if you try again with our support.

Step-by-step guides
Our Disability Living Allowance guides are written by a qualified barrister and a welfare rights specialist who, between them, have decades of experience of DLA claims and appeals right up to Social Security Commissioners level. They have both also written benefits information for a wide range of national disability organisations.

Our guides take you through every page of the claim pack, prepare you for a medical examination if you have to have one and explain exactly what will happen at your hearing if you need to appeal a wrong decision.

Exclusive: the only guides anywhere, on or off the net, to the new - April 2007 - adult DLA claim pack are now available in the members area

Our guides really do make a difference
Don't just take our word for it:

". . . absolutely brilliant . . .", ". . . completely invaluable . . . ", ". . . incredibly useful . . . "

These are just a few of the terms used by advice workers and claimants to describe our guides. Read more feedback

Become a member
Membership costs just £16.50 for claimants and carers, (please see the organisations page if you are joining as a professional) entitling you to download these guides and a wide range of other guides and DWP materials as often as you need for a year. Click on the Buy Now button below and you will be taken to a page on the Paypal website where you can pay your membership fee.

Find out more about Benefits and Work membership

Guides and factsheets
Our highly detailed guides to claiming Disability Living Allowance for children and adults are each between 54 and 63 A4 pages. Written with claimants and support workers in mind, they're full of valuable hints and tips on making effective DLA claims. Each guide includes:

• Step-by-step guidance on how to fill in each page of the Disability Living Allowance claim pack

• Hundreds of suggestions on how to make your physical or mental health condition fit the form.

• Information on how to obtain supporting evidence and why it's so important

• Detailed guidance on handling a visit from a Medical Services doctor, including dealing with oral warnings, leading questions and doctors looking round your house

• Check lists and record sheets for you to print off when: keeping records of your claim; telling your GP about your claim; recording evidence about a doctor's visit.

Our 12 page, DLA factsheet Giving persuasive information about how far you can walk can help you provide additional evidence in relation to higher rate mobility. It also explains in detail the kind of evidence DWP doctors are trained to collect.

Our brief, 4 page, DLA factsheet '70 questions you're likely to be asked at your DLA medical' lists questions you're likely to be asked at your DLA medical and also explains the kind of observations the visiting doctor will be making of you and your home. Consult a copy of this factsheet along with a copy of the 32 page medical report form used by DWP doctors, which you can also download from our site, and you will be very well prepared for a Medical Services doctor's visit.

Appeals
If you're appealing against a DLA decision, the odds are on your side: more than 50% of all DLA appeals are successful and the odds are as high as 70% if you attend an oral hearing with a representative. Our 16 page A4 factsheet 'Appealing against a disability living allowance decision' is a valuable introduction to:

• deciding whether to appeal

• completing a GL24 appeal form

• completing the pre-hearing enquiry form

• understanding the appeal papers

• attending a hearing

Our more detailed 37 page A4 guide 'Support for clients with DLA and AA appeals' was written for social workers, housing workers and other support workers but is equally valuable for claimants representing themselves. As well as all the issues above, it covers:

• how to go and watch hearings before attending yourself

• written submissions

• using commissioners decisions

• inviting witnesses

• the importance of what the claimant and their representative wear

• how the claimant should travel to the hearing

• what happens at the hearing

• ensuring the tribunal cannot treat a support worker as an experienced representative

• dealing with difficult tribunal members

Over 50 ways to challenge DLA and AA medical report forms are explained in The best possible ways to challenge a DLA or AA medical report. The 27 page manual includes dozens of fully referenced extracts from previously unpublished DWP training resources, obtained using the Freedom of Information Act, and dozens of sample paragraphs for written submissions.

Our factsheets on renewal claims and changes of circumstances help to ensure that your claim runs smoothly once it's in place.

Become a member
Membership costs just £16.50 for claimants and carers, (please see the organisations page if you are joining as a professional) entitling you to download these guides and a wide range of other guides and DWP materials as often as you need for a year. Click on the Buy Now button below and you will be taken to a page on the Paypal website where you can pay your membership fee.

Find out more about Benefits and Work membership

DWP resources you can download
These are just a few of the many dozens of items of DWP guidance and information you can download as a Benefits and Work member.

You can download a full copy of the 32 page medical report form completed by Medical Services doctors when they visit DLA claimants. By knowing in advance what evidence the doctor has to record you can be better prepared to give accurate information.

Decision Makers Exchange is a monthly bulletin which tells DLA & AA decision makers what they've been getting wrong lately and how to put it right. Use it to find out whether common errors have been made in relation to your claim.

Guidance for Examining Medical Practitioners is used by Examining Medical Practitioners who carry out medicals in relation to Disability Living allowance and Attendance allowance. Use it for demonstrating how little training EMPs receive - they cannot be assumed to be 'experts' and for proving when doctors have failed to follow proper procedures for such things as arranging a visit with less than a week's notice.

Protect your claim
Sign up for the free monthly Benefits and Work newsletter and be alerted to changes in the system.

Visit this disability living allowance page on the new Benefits and Work website.