Feedback

Occasionally we hear from members about how their claim or appeal went. With their permission we have reproduced some of their emails here. Where the feedback is from an organisation we give the real name of the person and organisation, where it's from an individual we always change their name.

"absolutely brilliant . . . the best guides around"
Found your site a while ago and have used your DLA guides, both mental and physical for adults and children. They are absolutely brilliant and have really helped in my work which is with carers and disabled people; they are the best guides around I’ve found! We help disabled people and their carers claim DLA and AA and fill in the packs for them and with so many people with so many different conditions it really helps to have the different examples in the guides and that level of expertise and experience to fall back on. It would be such a shame to lose them from the site – they are a valuable resource!
Karin Beeler
Carers Support and Information Adviser
City and Hackney Carers Centre

"£4,200 had been paid into my post office account"
Thanks to Benefits and Work I was able to use their knowledge and expertise a month before my third tribunal hearing. I learned how to present conflicting evidence without alienating the tribunal and 48 hours later I had a letter confirming a years worth of DLA. Yesterday I received a letter from the DWP informing me that £4,200 had been paid into my post office account.
Abbie

"Invaluable"
"Invaluable for our team."
Margaret Hill,
Advocacy Manager,
Age Concern
Surrey.

"brilliant and informative"
Thanks to your brilliant and informative applicant's guides, I was awarded DLA high rate mobility and low rate care components. Several years earlier I was turned down for DLA on the grounds that my disability wasn't bad enough. I gave up thinking I could qualify until I found your website and decided to re-apply. Since then I've also successfully helped my father obtain Attendance Allowance using the same formulas. So thanks once again Steve.
Mandy

"over £4,000"
I have just read your email for this month and the good news that one of your members received £2000 back pay for a D.L.A. claim. I too spent over twelve months trying to claim D.L.A. for my severe ulcerative colitis. It was a difficult claim and there where many disappointments it went all the way to a personal appeal, and at that appeal the D.L.A. did not even attend. The tribunal were very good but thorough, they awarded me full mobility and full care awards, over £4000. I had the help of your pages for advise but also had an adviser which was invaluable. If I would have been unwell it would have been in good hands .The money has really helped, thank you all.
Pete

I have been awarded Disability Living Allowance! I am so happy! (This one isn’t from an email, but from the ChronicallyMe blog)
They have given me Lower Rate Mobility and Middle Rate Care allowance. Plus they have awarded it for 2 years. Great news.
I am certain this is down to a strong application with lots of additional information, seven supporting letters/statements from family and friends and a great GP who I suspect wrote a spot on report for the DLA decision makers.

I wholeheartedly recommend subscribing to www.benefitsandwork.co.uk to anyone considering applying for DLA. They also provide advice on Incapacity benefit claims. Their advice guide is just brilliant - it’s easy to follow, it decodes the ridiculously complex DLA form and it tells you step by step how to give the strongest application you can. They also left me in no doubt that I qualify and that I should apply.

"invaluable: there is nothing else like them on the net"
All guides have been a great help, but the PCA has been very useful, particularly the mental health section. Without it I do not believe that I would have qualified for entitlement, probably owing to a combination of my failing to raise relevant points and the assessment doctor failing to ask appropriate questions. The guides have been invaluable: there is nothing else like them on the net.
Regards,
Ant

"Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"
I wanted to say a huge thank you from me and my husband for your invaluable guide to DLA applications (adult on physical grounds).

Having been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in January 2007 your guide gave me the confidence to apply for DLA. Your guide left me in no doubt that I qualified for support.

We followed your guide very carefully and often needed it to translate what was being asked on the form! Without the guide we would made easy common mistakes. Using your expertise we were able to present a strong application.

I am delighted to report that 2 months after submitting the form I have been awarded Lower Rate Mobiity with Middle Rate Care Allowance and have already received my back dated payments!

My award is for two years and I did not require a medical visit - my application, further information and GP statement was enough to make the award.

I cannot praise you enough and feel my nominal subscription to your service was an absolute bargain!
Valerie

"invaluable"
I co-ordinate an information and advice service for disabled people and carers in Plymouth. We support approx. 5,500 people every year. I find your printable guides invaluable and would be very sorry if this resource was lost to us. I find them very enabling for many of our customers. By giving them to people who are willing or able to read through the very well laid out information you provide they have a much clearer understanding of the processes involved and are better informed when we see them at appointment. On a number of occasions your guides have been used to assist a client write their own tribunal submission.They are of course also extremely useful for new/trainee advisers."
Dawn Clarke
Co-ordinator
Disability Information & Advice Centre
Plymouth Guild of Voluntary Service

"doctor virtually asked me word for word most of the questions on your list!"
I went for my PCA two weeks ago, (having downloaded all your info, including your list of 60 questions I might be asked), the doctor virtually asked me word for word most of the questions on your list! I received the good news that I wont have to go for another PCA for 18 months and have now been able to put in a claim for Income Support to pay my mortgage interest
(after having to sell my car and borrowing money to keep up the payments).
I have downloaded all your info about claiming DLA, and sent off the forms a few weeks ago, so I will email you the (hopefully) goods news, and if things don't go well, I shall follow your info for appeals!
Trevor

"almost £2,000 had been credited!"
Hi Steve just had to write to say a HUGE thank you to you and your team for a great website.
I have been trying to claim DLA for my disability for over 4 years! All to no avail, but I found you by accident one day, paid my £16.50 and got in touch with my welfare officer once again, what a result!
I logged on to my bank account one day expecting there to be about £130 in there and found almost £2000 had been credited!
They paid me my back pay from May even before I had any written notification that I had finally been accepted, I had to wait another 3 days before I had it confirmed that finally I would be getting £88 per week.
The shock and overwhelming relief that I have is all thanks to you and my welfare officer who used your pages to help fill in my form.
Now at last I can live a better life without the constant worry of whether I have a roof over my head!
Give yourself a BIG HUG from me!!!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank youXXXX
Faithfully (with tears in my eyes!)
Josie xx

"my income has gone from a measly £88 per week (for over 4 years) to over £270 per week."
Remember me? [See Josie, above] Well more good news! thanks to your website and my welfare officers work with your info, I was awarded DLA, now I have just received ANOTHER cheque from my housing benefit, apparently they have not been paying me enough all this time, as I am now on DLA I am entitled to more H/B and have had backpay right back to Aug 2006!!! I have just received a cheque for over £1,300 and now only have to pay £33 per week rent!! It was £550 per month!

I feel like I've won the lottery.. my income has gone from a measly £88 per week (for over 4 years) to over £270 per week. just hope now that someone doesn't burst my bubble!!!!!

Thanks for all your info and help in the last few months and if anyone I know needs help with their benefit claim I know which direction I'll be pointing them in.... Yours !!!
Josie

"eternally grateful!"
We heard yesterday that Paul got his DLA renewed at the same rate, high mobility and medium care. We are absolutely delighted he hasn't had to see a DLA doctor or go to a tribunal. He suffers from fragile mental health and that would have really made him much suffer badly.
So thank you very, very much.
Lorna

"chuffed to bits"
Id like to share some good news with you all!I applied for DLA in Nov 06, the only help I had was from this site, and today I received my award letter. I've received MRC and LRM, to say I'm chuffed to bits is an understatement, I'm grinning like a Cheshire Cat.Id just like to say many, many thanks for such a brilliant site. Now just need to find out how much Income Support will be entitled to.
Natassa

"successful for all my clients"
Just to let you know that I have downloaded the DLA and AA guides and find them invaluable. I use the format every time and have been successful for all my clients who I thought should qualify. I am a Welfare Benefits Advisor and have been on one of your courses - they are excellent. Please keep up the good work.
Margaret Tonks
Churchdown and Innsworth Community Project

"a great help, and easy to follow"
Hi to everyone ,
Its Tilly here , Just like to say to Steve and co a big thank you to you all .Last November 06, I asked for some advice with help getting DLA for my Sister who has Osteoporosis .
The guides we downloaded were a great help, and easy to follow She has now heard from the DWP, and is entitled to DLA .
She is now receiving - mid rate personal care , and higher rate mobility .We couldn't of done this without your help , as the forms are a bit of a nightmare !
Keep up the good work , its not all doom and gloom out there !!!
Kind Regards
Tilly x

"excellent"
We found the website excellent and hope you will continue to provide the service including your guides to benefits."
Chris Jessup
Patients Benefits Specialist
Bedfordshire & Luton Community NHS Trust

"The best money I have ever spent!"
My appeal goes back to Oct 2004. Lost paperwork took up the first year. Then I had to cancel because of ill-health. Then I had a decision set aside as I did not receive the new appeal date.Today I had my appeal without any representation. I was not looking forward to going it alone but my advice worker couldn't be with me.
To cut a long story short, the 2 men took 12 minutes to reach a decision. I was awarded another 9 points. Benefit backdated to Oct 2004 and advised to try a walking stick. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that DWP doesn't appeal against it.I had no help from my GP and really thought I wouldn't win.
Thank you to Benefits & Work.
The best money I have ever spent!
Without your guides I couldn't have done it.
Justissimo

"Can't thank you enough"
Heard today after only a couple of weeks that my incap benefit has been renewed for 3 more years-phew can't tell you what a relief it was. They didn't even contact my dr for details or send me for a medical-what a blessing.
Can't thank you enough for the guides you publish they were great.
Fiona

"invaluable"
I first came across you guides through the NACC guide to DLA. I now use this on all DLA applications/appeals that I am asked to help with. The Hepatitis C Project gets calls from all over the country (and from other countries) so your guides are used nationally, as well as the fact that I tell everyone else to use them. Hepatitis C is a very 'woolly' condition to describe and your guides tells you exactly what you need to include. I find it invaluable. I find the newsletter really helpful too, as a means of finding out the truth about changes to benefits and the system. Certainly all the people I have assisted with benefit problems, would not now be in receipt of benefits without your info."
Sandy Harrup
The Hepatitis C Project
www.hepatitiscproject.org.uk

"Lottery winning number"
About 18 months ago I was talking to my son's mother-in-law, who has been disabled for about 19 years) and saying how much things have gone up and how benefits seem to never match the pace, when she informed me that she was told 19 years ago that she could claim nothing. I was a bit mad as this was totally untrue and told her to get everything with regards to claim forms and apply. Guess what, although it took a little time, she has got the full Disability Allowance, Care Allowance and Mobility. What did seem unfair was the person who told her originally she could get nothing was a Social worker in a hospital at that time!! She has missed out on all those year not claiming anything but you would think I had given her a "Lottery" winning number. She no longer has to sit in the winter with 24 jumpers on but can (just) afford to heat her house and live a better life.The thing I am trying to say is that it seems a shame that this happened in the first place but more concern to how many more elderly people think they can get nothing. Good new is she follows all your information and passed your web site on to others.
Phil

"I was granted it top whack"
I would also like to say how helpful I found the information on how fill in the DLA form
the first time I was turned down and the second time after reading your book I was granted it top whack as well many thanks.
Daniel

"Wow. What a result."
great news for me.
I invested in your package and completed the Incapacity Benefit form - knowing that, after having a "medical examination" last time I applied, I could expect to have to submit to one this time. And getting angry and upset and embarrassed. In the end I was saying to myself "well, perhaps I am skiving and don't deserve this money.
So I PayPalled the fee, studied the advice and filled in the form. Yesterday I had a letter advising me that I had accumulated the required 15 points or more in x or y or z and won't have to apply again until 2012!
Wow. What a result. Thank you.
Debbie

"invaluable"
I am an advice worker with Sure Start in Cornwall and use your DLA guide on a regular basis. I have found the guide to be absolutely invaluable and print it out for clients so that we can work through the application pack together using your guide as a reference. The "quick tests" sheets have also been really useful in helping clients to see that they may well be entitled to DLA. I have also recently used your guide to Incapacity Benefit, specifically the appeals section, as I attended an appeal recently. We won and in my opinion what swung it for us - apart from the fact that the client was obviously entitled! - was the Supporting Evidence Form, the appeal panel were impressed by this and referred to it constantly at the hearing. Please keep up the good work, it is really helpful to us as workers and to our clients in the community.
Linda Pallagrass

"Unbelievable"
Steve you may remember my sons case for DLA RE Clubfeet.
We were awarded lower rate, appealed for middle rate and then on the day of appeal were advised not to go ahead because of the statement the DLA assessor had applied to our case file. Remember that letter Steve we discussed it in an email couple of weeks ago when I couldn't access the forum.
Well his DLA is up for review in FEB and we filled in all forms etc got letters from Consultants both here and America, GP and health visitor etc, spent two weeks filling in forms and . . . got a letter yesterday the DLA has been extended and upped to higher rate until end of 2009.
"Unbelievable" we were expecting "hoping for" middle rate and are amazed its been upped to higher rate without even another appeal.
It is such a feeling of relief that this is finally over for a while. and I would like to say Thank you to everybody on here for their time and opinions/advice especially you Steve. You are truly an amazing Guy. So THANK YOU.To everybody else, " don't give up, keep on fighting for your Right to DLA" it can be worth it in the end.Once again THANK YOU
Shaun

"I had to read the letter a few times for it to sink in"
I received an IB50 in November and solely used your guide books to complete the form. I spent a lot of time completing the forms ensuring that I followed your guidelines. I have to say I would have found the task of filling in the form daunting to say the least if it had not been for the guide. Using some of your words and some of my own I duly completed the form and sent it off in December 2006. I have just received a letter (after 2 ½ months) from Jobcentre Plus to say I had met the threshold of incapacity under the PCA because I had scored the necessary points and my case would come up for normal review in 2012. I had to read the letter a few times for it to sink in as this was achieved without going for a medical or submitting a Med 4. I put this solely down to the advice in your guide whereby we are shown the framework on how to answer the questions properly. It is obvious that a lot of work has been put in to these guides and they are credit to all concerned. I will be better prepared now for the next round when I expect to be sent for job interviews or whatever they are calling them.
I thank you and your organisation for doing such sterling work and just being there for us. Keep up the good work as it is very much appreciated by many.
Kindest regards
Adam

"incredibly useful"
I used your guide to DLA and mental health and found it incredibly useful - it made me think of things that otherwise I wouldn't have know to put on the form. I also passed it on to both my cpn and support worker, both of who said it was the most useful guide that they'd seen.
Thanks to you my DLA was renewed without problems and without having to have the dreaded medical.
Judy

"invaluable"
We are the Patients Benefits Service for the Inpatients at Bedfordshire & Luton Community NHS Trust – Mental Health Services. We deal with approximated 500 patients across the county, providing Benefit and Work related advice and assisting inpatients with their benefit claims. We have found your website invaluable with special reference to your downloadable guides to benefits. Some of these we distribute to our inpatients to help them with their claims. DLA & AA guides we find especially useful for patients who are applying for the first time, renewing their claims or appealing when their claims are refused. Permitted work and PCA information we have found excellent as it is in a simple language, which is easy to understand especially for our patients.Via our service your guide reaches a large number of patients in the Mental Health Services.I have relayed info to dozens of people and everyone has found it most helpful. When my own grandson was diagnosed with a condition your site was a lifesaver and enabled my daughter to get benefits she would probably never have known about.
Chris Hawe

"brilliantly well written"
We recently helped our son apply for DLA. His situation was complicated as he suffers from a mix of Asthma, Chronic Exhaustion Syndrome and Dyspraxia. We struggled with the forms for some time before I came across your guide. It was absolutely excellent and our son has been successful in being granted lower level mobility DLA and middle level Care DLA. Even though I am an ex-civil servant and experienced in form filling, I am completely sure that without your guide, the application would have failed.Thanks so much. Not only accurate and helpful but brilliantly well written. You have changed my son's life.
Forum visitor

"your work on benefits is a shining beacon of hope"
May I take this opportunity to thank you for your website and advice on filling in the DLA forms. I fill in the form for my brother, Dave, who has had severe ME for 16 years and uses a wheelchair. Last time I used your stuff, 3 years ago, I got him up from low care to medium care and we were delighted. We have tried to get advice from everyone in the Plymouth region, they were all useless or unhelpful. Not to trash them, but the level of training they get is pitiful. Anyway what Dave wanted me to say is that your work on benefits is a shining beacon of hope in the misery that is claiming disability benefits. We think your site is fab and will be emailing the link to your site to all the disabled people we know.
Sally

"invaluable"
I work for a supported employability project in the East End of Glasgow, and our remit is to work with recovering drug/alcohol users, and encourage them to engage in employment, training, and/or further education. We offer a comprehensive, tailored, and holistic approach to helping this particular client group to achieve their aims and objectives. As you can imagine, every one of my clients is in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, and therefore the information that I receive from your website is invaluable in keeping my clients informed, and allowing them to negotiate the maze that is the benefits system today.

"valuable"
I cannot stress enough how valuable your website is to me, and my business. On a personal note, I am a former member of staff at the DWP, who left because of the way the service was changing, and I wish to keep myself informed, and knowledgeable of any proposed changes."
Graham Lamont
Employability Team Leader
Link Up Project
Glasgow, G31 4X

"tremendous"
"I write to give you feedback regarding your guides.I have used them when working in mental health (as a support worker); assisting members of the Travelling community (working for York Travellers Trust www.ytt.worldbreak.com) and also for information when volunteering as an advisor with the C.A.B.They have been tremendous please continue."
Mike Beckett
York Travellers Trust

"extremely helpful"
I have used the guide for applying for DLA on physical grounds this year, 2004. I found the guide extremely helpful as I had previously applied for DLA a few years ago and was unsuccessful.
Christine, Rochdale

"invaluable"
In answer to your question about downloading the guides, I have downloaded a few guides as my husband is disabled and your guides have been invaluable when filling out renewal of claims forms. Please carry on making them available to people like us, it's a great service that you provide and would be sorely missed (if not catastrophic!).Thank you again.
Jan

"extremely helpful"
I have found your site extremely helpful, especially the Guide to Helping parents fill out the DLA application forms for their children with physical disabilities. I frequently recommend your guide to parents who call us at the Helpline. There is another guide which is on the Cerebral Website, which is also useful, but I feel yours if more user friendly and easier to understand. I have recommended your site to colleagues who have also found it extremely useful.
Counsellor, Cerebral Palsy Helpline

"a lifeline for our organisation"
I regularly use your guides in my role as trustee and volunteer for a voluntary organisation supporting HIV positive individuals and families. They are invaluable, concise, up-to-date, easy to understand and above all free. Please, please do not abandon this service, it is a lifeline for our organisation.
Tracy Barnes

"not be seeking further information until this time in 2012"
I see you are in search of good news stories to brighten the otherwise depressing vista. I think I told you a while ago that my GP had received a request for information on my claim for ICB. He was very helpful, and armed with the advice on your site I have had my benefit confirmed and am told that DWP will not be seeking further information until this time in 2012. I think it's worth making the point that I didn't have to exaggerate symptoms, just told the truth about how I am affected on a day to day basis - the point is, though, that I gave much fuller information, as you advise, than I might otherwise have been inclined to do; I had not really taken the decision maker's difficulties in assessing these things into account before.
Simon

"completely invaluable"
. . . Since then I have become a Family Support Worker with a National Voluntary Organisation and a huge part of my work involves helping parents apply for DLA for their children. I cannot begin to tell you the worth of your guides in helping me support parents in their DLA applications. They are completely invaluable. If I had had access to such a comprehensive and well written guide in 1982, it wouldn't have taken me 14 years to apply for a benefit I was entitled to. Please keep up the good work.
Diane

"thanks enormously"
I did have some good news and am happy to share it. It was during the run up to my last anticipated PCA (which i was found exempt from) - that was the first good news - I was 'free' for a further year and a half.
During the anticipation/dread I phoned the CLS for advice, who, during the conversation and my obvious problems, advised me to apply for DLA. I didn't apply for a further 5 months, as I honestly believed I had no chance. They sent me the forms anyway. Then later thought, why not? What have I got to lose? To be honest, it took me this long to face actually filling in all the forms. Anyway I did and I was awarded low rate mobility and middle rate care!! Backdated!!! I could not believe it when the letter came through. It was like a miracle. And obviously, the money helped and still does. What helped more though was being made to feel (I can't think of the word right now - and I know there is one!) that I was no longer overlooked and that my disability had a place. Hope that makes sense. Deserving too, which is something I very seldom feel. The money has helped enormously, and I have plans to go private to get to the root of at least one of my conditions.
This has all been made possible by being a member of this site. I can't stress that enough actually, without sounding like an actor in a crappy, sentimental yank film!! All the information I got to fill out the forms for the PCA and for the DLA application was from this site. So there you go.
I've also made a really good 'cyber' friend and have felt less isolated and alone from being on here.
So thanks ENORMOUSLY for this site.
Tasha

"enormous difference to my life"
Last year, I applied for Disability Living Allowance (I have ME/CFS) and was turned down. I took it to appeal and went before a panel (horrendous experience) and was awarded only the lower rate care component, and no mobility component , for only one year, even though I was obviously very ill and I had a letter from my GP etc.

This year, when I reapplied, I joined Benefits and Work and followed the guide on how to fill in the form. I have just received a letter from DWP: I have been awarded the higher rate mobility component and the middle rate care component until 2010...and this was not at an appeal stage.

This will make an enormous difference to my life! Thank you so very much. Joining Benefits and Work was money well spent!
Samina

"celebrating but kicking ourselves"
I thought Mam might be eligible for Lower Rate A A because of her poor mobility and stiff upper limbs so I followed your website guidance: the application was sent off last Wednesday with 5 pages of additional supporting pages and exactly as suggested in your guidance. It is something I have been meaning to do for at least 2 years but the application process frightened me off. I was informed yesterday by DWP that Mam is eligible for Higher Rate AA and we are both celebrating but kicking ourselves that we've missed out on thousands of pounds of AA.
Trevor

"appeal has been granted"
I thought you might like to know that I have just received a letter from the Tribunal Service telling me that my Appeal has been granted and I do not have to attend on Thursday! Talk about last minute!

I would like to say how helpful I found your site. I followed all your recommendations with regard to my Appeal papers. I also managed to get a "To Whom it may Concern" letter from one of my consultants, which might have helped.

Once again many thanks indeed for your help and advice. I would recommend your site to anyone who has problems dealing with the DWP.
Gill

"chair congratulated me"
Just to say I represented at a tribunal in Plymouth yesterday and as always used info from your site to prepare the submission, not only did we get the award we wanted but the Chair congratulated me on the quality of my submission saying it was one of the best they had ever had!!
Lindsey Churchill, Perennial - Gardeners' Royal Benevolent Society

"I was not confident"
I am writing to thank you for the help and assistance that your guides gave to me when applying for the disability living allowance for the fourth time.

This was to be my last time, and as such, I was not confident of actually getting any further than I had in the past.

I used the guides that I downloaded referring to them as I was filling in my form, and again reading them when I was informed of a visit by a doctor to assess my condition. This was very useful as he had me do stretching exercised and walking so that he could assess me. The placement of my walking stick and other aids where they were visible was also noted by the doctor.

I was only looking to get the lower rate of mobility and no care component of the claim, but the results came through yesterday, and they have awarded me the higher rate of mobility, and the lower rate of care.

Thank you for your assistance, and I will recommend your site to anyone who asks about getting assistance in completing the forms in the future.
Liam

"ME sufferer"
I thought I’d drop you a line thanking you for your service. My wife, an M.E. sufferer, has just been awarded the DLA she applied for and I have no doubt that the claim would not have been successful without the direction from Benefits and Work.
Geoff

" a wonderful website"
Just been to tribunal for DLA won appeal for 2yrs. Was assisted by welfare rights officer from GMB as my wife is a retired lifelong member of the union and didn`t cost us a penny!!
Many thanks again Steve for having a wonderful website we have certainly learnt a hell of a lot from it…….one…NEVER give up the truth always wins.
Trevor.

"absolutely splendid outcome"
Hello: This email is to thank you for the information provided through your web site. This was my 4th time of claiming DLA and by far the easiest. About 8 years ago my first and second application were refused. My second time, about 4 years ago, of applying was granted but at a minimal level after examination by one of their doctors (I strongly disagreed with the assessment but did not feel equipped to appeal the decision).
My most recent application was made using the advice and the step by step method in your members' section. I was a bit wary of paying over the membership fee in case your web site was a scam but did join after checking out your bona fides on the internet. My application has just been approved within just 2 weeks or sending in the forms - and the award was at higher levels than before. Absolutely splendid outcome. I would recommend your service to anyone in a similar position to mine.
Thank you very much,
Mark

"a huge difference to my parents lives"
Just wanted to email and say a huge thank you for your advice on this site.
I applied for DLA for my father in June of this year. I had hoped that he would be awarded the lower rate mobility allowance and perhaps the lower rate care allowance.
I heard last week that he will be receiving the highest mobility rate and care rate. This is going to make a huge difference to my parents lives. They have always been decent, hard working (well Dad can't work now), honest people who have claimed on two previous occasions but gotten nowhere.
I took my time, read everything on site and made lots of notes - culminating in an extra 8 typed pages of information being provided along with the new "tick-box" form. I strongly believe that it was this typed report that clinched the allowances for my Dad.
I think your site is magnificent and I really can't thank you enough for your insight inot the system - when I was completing the forms I didn't know what "they" were asking most of the time, but your explanations made it clear and more easily understood.
Once again a huge thank you for your help.
Kindest regards
Helena

"granted attendance allowance"
I am very pleased to tell you that, having subscribed to your website and taking careful note of your advice, my wife duly completed the forms and sent them off. My wife has today been informed that she has been granted Attendance Allowance (at the higher rate of £64.50 per week).
Many thanks for your help and advice.
Regards
Craig

"making a difference to people's lives"
I would just like to say a very big thank you to your site for the incredibly helpful information on filling out DLA claim forms.
This is this third time that I have completed these forms for my son, the other two times he was turned down and I wasn't brave enough to go to final appeal stage - although I did ask for the decision to be looked at again but failed.
After finding your site I decided to try once more feeling that I was better informed this time and more prepared to go down the appeal route. I used your guide to fill out the application form. After quite a wait I have just received a letter to confirm that he is entitled to Higher rate care and Lower rate Mobility (and no appeal necessary).
Thanks very much again and keep up the good work, you really are making a difference to peoples lives.
Regards,
Tasha

"an enormous difference to our lives"
Just like to say a big thank you for all the help we have gleaned from your website. So pleased to say we are a success story. We applied to have my husbands DLA looked at further, since 1998 he has been getting middle rate for care and lower rate for Mobility. We sent the forms back in March this year and although we have waited a long time to here from them, we finally got a letter telling us that he has been awarded high rate for Care and High Rate Mobillity. This will make an enormous difference to our lives. Thanks once again for a wonderful informative site the small charge was well worth it. Good Luck to all claimants using this site, it really is invaluable.
Linda

"appeal was successful"
just to say thanks for your helpful site.
I only discovered it shortly before my DLA appeal - but it still helped. Especially with my nerves, as i had much more idea what to expect.
so my dla appeal was successful. Now all i have to do is hunt down your IB literature, as heh, guess what i have an IB medical in two weeks ....
Thanks again.
Bryana

"fantastic service"
Thank you for the recent updates and please please keep on with the fantastic service you provide. I was turned down for DLA Mobility and Care allowance last year. However after joining your service I appealed under several issues and was awarded higher rate Mobility and lower rate care.
Regards,
Jane

"Good news!"
Hello
Good News!
I have just had my renewal for IB agreed.
Thank you for showing me how to complete the form correctly.
I also went to see my GP to explain my limitations on a typical day and on a
very bad one with a severe flare up.
Thank you so much for your help and hard work.
Balbir

"recommend it to anyone"
I found your site and its information invaluable in successfully applying for incapacity benefit for my wife last year. It is by far the best website of its kind on the web and I praise it and recommend it to anyone without hesitation.
Thanking you again,
Megan

"successfully appealed"
I have successfully appealed to get my incap benefit reinstated and am delighted to pass on the good news to you, having spent much time poring over the guidance on the benefits and work website. I'm quite sure I was then able to provide appropriate information.
Best wishes,
Pam

"invaluable"
I have just been awarded higher rate mobility, and middle rate care. I would never have done this without your website. The system is appalling and has drained myself and my wonderful fiancée who god bless him has always believed in me. I urge anyone to fight on, but I am sure there are some people who just can't, what happens to these vulnerable people I wonder?
Thank you ever so much, you have been invaluable in my fight.
Hywel

"Bingo!"
I became a member of your site some months ago , the information has proved to be worth more than its weight in gold !I mean this as a fact i have tried to get my wife on D.L.A.for years , always with the same outcome Zero. I filled in the forms as you directed and Bingo!
Joining your site was the best money i think i have spent in a long time and would highly reccomend your service without reservation. Once again thank you for all the help ,
Regards,
Trevor

"absolutely delighted"
We heard yesterday that David got his DLA renewed at the same rate, high
mobility and medium care. We are absolutely delighted he hasn't had to see
a DLA doctor or go to a tribunal. He suffers from fragile mental health and
that would have really made him much suffer badly.
So thank you very, very much. I just followed your instructions to the
letter and it worked. We are eternally grateful!
Justin

"sterling work"
I received an IB50 in November and solely used your guide books to complete the form. I spent a lot of time completing the forms ensuring that I followed your guidelines. I have to say I would have found the task of filling in the form daunting to say the least if it had not been for the guide. Using some of your words and some of my own I duly completed the form and sent it off.. I have just received a letter (after 2 ½ months) from Jobcentre Plus to say I had met the threshold of incapacity under the PCA because I had scored the necessary points and my case would come up for normal review in 2012. I had to read the letter a few times for it to sink in as this was achieved without going for a medical or submitting a Med 4. I put this solely down to the advice in your guide whereby we are shown the framework on how to answer the questions properly. It is obvious that a lot of work has been put in to these guides and they are credit to all concerned. I will be better prepared now for the next round when I expect to be sent for job interviews or whatever they are calling them.
I thank you and your organisation for doing such sterling work and just being there for us. Keep up the good work as it is very much appreciated by many.
Kindest regards
Sandy

"brilliant and informative"
Hi Steve
Thanks to your brilliant and informative applicant's guides, I was awarded DLA high rate mobility and low rate care components. Several years earlier I was turned down for DLA on the grounds that my disability wasn't bad enough. I gave up thinking I could qualify until I found your website and decided to re-apply. Since then I've also successfully helped my father obtain Attendance Allowance using the same formulas. So thanks once again Steve.
Louise

"the lowest amount of DLA"
I filled in the application form just as you explained I should do and I have been awarded the lowest amount of DLA which is ok by me and it helps towards my living costs so a real big thank you I am writing this on my own behalf and you can print this on the site if you want as I am as genuine as they come
kind regards
John

"Its the best money that I have ever spent!"
Just a quick e mail to thank you for your brilliant information which is worth every penny. I have used it and have successfully got DLA today! Its the best money that I have ever spent!
Will

"ME sufferer"
I thought I'd drop you a line thanking you for your service. My wife, an M.E. sufferer, has just been awarded the DLA she applied for and I have no doubt that the claim would not have been successful without the direction from Benefits and Work.
Mal

"middle rate care without appeal or medical"
This site is GREAT. I followed all your advice and my daughter got middle rate care without appeal or medical - I tell everyone about it. Keep up the great work.
Liz

"successful purely on the basis of my submission"
I had previously been turned down for a DLA/Mobility component claim but, with the information drawn from your materials about how best to present my case, I was advised this morning that I had been successful purely on the basis of my submission and the support of my GP. No medical boards or home visits.

I doubt whether I would have been so successful, so quickly without the information your organisation provides.
Jonathan

"I would have made a complete mess of the application"
I down loaded the DLA application form and looked at it in amazement, then I looked for help and found you. Having joined and studied your guide, filling in the form started to make sense. I am positive that without your help I would have made a complete mess of the application, you have to know what the question is trying to ask and what answer you should be writing in. It would appear that putting the first thing that comes into your head will result in failure but with your help giving the same answer but worded as they expect to see it results in success.

The result was my application was accepted and I was awarded the highest rate of mobility D.L.A. And the middle rate of personal care. Many thanks I could not have done it without you.
Charlie

"I did not even have to attend a medical"
Your site is fantastic Steve, I am quite certain that without the information on it, I would not have been successful in my claim for IB (which is coming up for review shortly). I simply would not have thought it necessary to provide the level and detail of information that it turns out is required when claiming, but the information you supply was and is invaluable. I did not even have to attend a medical to be awarded IB and I am sure again that that is down to the level of information that I supplied on my questionnaire - which I would not have done had I not followed the advice on the website.
Many thanks!!
Pete

"awarded 22 points rather than the zero which was originally awarded"
I have just returned from my incapacity benefits tribunal and I am glad to say that on one part of my illness alone I have been awarded 22 points rather than the zero which was originally awarded for my total medical condition at the DWP medical. They also have to backdate my monies to 11th January.
Your site has been an invaluable tool in getting to this point and the blank forms for "Health Professionals Evidence" were filled in by my GP and held great weight.. Again many thanks for a wonderful website and as I go on with my life I will be volunteering for [details removed] and will be able to tell others in my position where to look for advice.
Gina

"your help and advice has helped to change my life"
I would like to say Thank you so much, your help and advice has helped to change my life. I could not believe it when the letter came from the DLA in January to say that I had been awarded full mobility rate and the lowest rate of care for a 3 year period. Never before have I been able to win a DLA award without going through a tribunal. Last time I was awarded the lowest rate of care and low rate of mobility for 4 years, because I was lucky enough to have a Welfare Rights Officer to go with me. But before that I was turned down for 2 years, even after a tribunal.

I fully expected to have no award at all this time, as I had been dropped by the consultants who were treating me, as soon as I was diagnosed as having Lyme disease. This is the disease that must not speak its name, and I think ME/CFS/Fibromyalgia are the symptoms or syndromes caused by the infection. But by following the procedures in your downloaded documents, and taking the time
to get documents together and also writing a diary, I was successful.

Because I can survive now on the DLA award, I should be able to afford to buy the antibiotics I need to stop the Lyme disease getting worse.
Lorraine

"I was told within a week I have the allowance indefinitely."
A big thank you to Benefits and Work. The information on the site gave me confidence when I had my PCA. Now they tell me the decision won't be reviewed again for 5 years.

I also applied for DLA and filled in the form as you advised and sent along a copy of the report written at the PCA. I was told within a week I have the allowance indefinitely. The decision was made on the strength of the PCA report and what I had written. No medical or interview was needed. Thank you so much.
Rose

"she received the highest rate of AA"
I must thank you for the excellent guide lines about applying for AA. I followed the advice exactly when applying on behalf of my elderly, disabled cousin. As a result, she received the highest rate of AA and already her life has been improved greatly. Her better financial situation has meant that she is able to maintain her independence by employing someone to do her cleaning etc. Being free of money worries has improved her self esteem and has made her far more optimistic about the future. The local council have given her a full grant to have a walk-in shower and stairlift fitted within the next few months. I feel that subscribing to your very informative website has enabled me to help her access a better quality of life. Many thanks indeed.
Bev

"ME/CFS . . . higher rate mobility and middle rate care for 3 YEARS"
I have ME/CFS. I was turned down for DLA. Then I discovered Benefits and Work around the same time I decided to appeal. It was no surprise that I was turned down. I didn't ask my doctor for a medical report! I gave one-line answers! I gave no examples! And i did no diary! It was such an appalling application (although I was of course very ill and could not even make it to the CAB) that it is not altogether surprising.

I went to Tribunal much better armed and was awarded HRM and MRC for 18 months. Very sympathetic tribunal apart from the doctor! Two weeks later I had a very hostile IB medical - which I am sure I would have failed if I had not been aware of the 'trick' questions. You can add another new one: "Do you read TV schedules?" I passed that too.

Phew, then its renewal time. I did the form properly. It took weeks. I became obsessed. I was nervous. I used the guides all over again. I would start amending it in the middle of the night if I woke
up. I asked my GP to update her sympathetic report. I felt like I was begging and desperate, but I had to.

Within 3 weeks I received (much to my surprise) a letter from them through the post. Part of me dreaded opening the letter. So soon, it must be another enquiry or perhaps DLA medical appointment.

BUT NO! It was an award of higher rate mobility and middle rate care for 3 YEARS!!! I was euphoric.

Thank you very much. It has been such a great help and I would not have managed it any other way.
Beth