Recently, we suggested that if you are are finding it impossible to contact the DWP by telephone you should consider asking your MP for help.

It’s clear from your responses that some MPs’ offices provide really excellent support, even if others are utterly uninterested.

It made us wonder if there are other sources of help out there that might not have occurred to lots of people.

So, we’re asking you to tell us about anybody that has made a real difference to your benefits claim or appeal and what it was they did that made a difference.

This might be an organisation, such as a health specific charity or it might be an individual, such as a housing worker.  Maybe it was an online resource? 

Whatever it was, if you think it might be of value to other readers, please let us know in the comments below.

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    Jennie · 1 years ago
    I must admit that I didn't think to go to my MP and I went straight to Citizens Advice. They helped us with my husband's claim when it went to appeal and I got them to help when mine was initially turned down. They have a mine of information and are very helpful taking me through it a step at a time and following up afterwards to check we were okay.
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    terdun9 · 1 years ago
    our MP has happily sent a letter to DWP asking them to please sort out our mixed pension age UC claim still mucking up after 18 long months Basical saying please sort it or my constituent will happily take this to a tribunal. let's see if they answer this
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    tom · 1 years ago
     My local CAB,
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    Mark · 1 years ago
    I had loads of help from Citizens Advice.  

    Wrote to my MP and was ignored. 
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    MO · 1 years ago
    My uncle has been helped by Independent Living to gain much needed Attendance Allowance, they have their own Occupational Therapists and Welfare Rights staff, who provided reports and completed the successful application. I have also since found out that his Health Centre  have someone who helps with benefits advice and application.
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    pusscatsmum · 1 years ago
    my  MP, Chris Loder, has been very helpful, kind and considerate.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      MO · 1 years ago
      @pusscatsmum Glad to hear about good MP’s, my own MP Patrick Grady has been a constant source of support and help with all my dealings with DWP, I also have an amazing GP.  I feel so lucky when I read some others experience's, also Benefits and Work guides are invaluable and I recommend them to everyone, even to my MP’s staff. 
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    Mags · 1 years ago
    My MP helped me with my PIP, as I’m now a pensioner, I asked dwp about whether I would be converted to an on going award, and they said I would have to have an assessment. So I contacted him and he wrote to dwp and about a week later I got a letter from dwp stating my award would be changing to an ongoing award when due last year, with a light review in 2026, 10 years since my award. This all happened and I’m very grateful to him for sorting it, will have to see what a light touch is!
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    george · 1 years ago
    Well i was a teenager when my mum got first diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and then as years went on other things came to join it ( hashimotos disease , sjogrens ) an had prolapsed disc which even now she had episodes which result in  her barely able to walk for a week or more , my mother did not know anything of the esa system or pip so she went to citizens advice twice over the years-   they said they would accompany her to Tribunal , then last minute said they couldn't ( person off sick ) we together got her letters orginized best we could from hospital RA consultant her mri scan on back , thyroid consultant etc and she went alone as didnt want me there to hear all she felt and was going through , second time she went again to citizens advice and some of the advice actually did not help her it even did her no favours  ! So we decided to join another group online with good info in questions asked and you can look at different questions and answers which he!ped us move forward a bit . So we were armed with more info of the system,  so i then helped her trawl through her evidence and i also typed her info for her so it was a lot easier for her as she cant write much at all , she again went alone ( she won the Tribunals twice on her own ) and said citizens were not for her again . Then we came across your website and finally felt more in control and like someone had our back !!   if they try to throw stuff at us again we will come on here to ask our questions and piece together our info . Because of your website mum applied for pip  years after she should have applied  ( she said for years she couldn't apply as couldn't take going through the system again after esa )   She applied and first time got jt  no question , should of got higher points and mobility but was grateful to have got it first time  .
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