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Points refusal for having just one hearing aid?

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1 year 10 months ago #270587 by Joffx
Hi All
I have just received my review decsion and the decision maker states "You said you wear a hearing aid in one ear, to receive points for this you would need to wear two hearing aids" Is this correct I have tinitus but my right ear is mostly effected I wear a hearing aid that boost certain frequencies as I am unable to hear certain sounds. Thanks
Regards
Joffx

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1 year 10 months ago #270589 by LL26
Hi Joffx,
The descriptor 7b says need to use 'an aid or appliance' . I am not aware of any LAW that says you need to use 2 hearing aids and therefore in my opinion DWP is wrong!
You were made with 2 ears, which suggests that this is because with 2 ears you can hear better. If you have hearing loss in one ear then you would not be able to hear to the full extent of a full hearing person. This suggests very much to me that without AN aid your can not communicate to an acceptable standard.
aid or applianceā€ - (a) means any device which improves, provides or replaces [the claimant's] impaired physical or mental function;
If without the one hearing aid you can not hear properly, and hence the aud improves impaired function then you should score points. You may wish to write to DWP to clarify this. However unless you either were not awarded sufficient points to claim PIP or are near enough to the higher level ie at 10 points, then the extra 2 points won't make any difference to your score. If the extra points could make a difference you will need to write a Mandatory Reconsideration letter and explain why DWP is wrong.
I hope this helps.
LL26

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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1 year 10 months ago #270602 by denby
Just on having only one hearing ear. My dad lost the hearing of one ear to severe mumps when I was 4. Mercifully his other ear was fine. But ever after 2 things applied. He could not tell the directions of sounds which can be a safety issue eg when crossing the road. Sometimes he would ask me to tell him the direction a sound was coming from. And the other consequence was that he was always worried that if the good ear's function was damaged eg by excessively loud noise, he would be terribly impaired, so he used to avoid walking near pneumatic drills etc. As a classical music lover and birdwatcher it was a worry.
Just to support LL26's comment and help anyone else on this.
Denby
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1 year 10 months ago #270618 by MrFibro
Hi joffxx,

Maybe the DWP and or assessor is referring to bilateral tinnitus, of which i suffer from too.

But quite frankly its absurd to discriminate between 1 or 2 hearing aids. It's obvious the DWP and or assessors haven't got a clue how tinnitus affects a human being during the day, and even worse / terrible during the night.

Another master stroke being pulled by the dwp/ assessors @ the expense of the claimant. This is below the belt, but there again there's nothing the dwp wont do to score you down, or stop your benefits .

Good luck.
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