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DLA some movement


Llwyncelyn
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I've signed up to the petition and have also emailed the Exportability Team asking them why they're telling me one thing but the Minister is making an emphatic statement that this benefit will be paid to all people claiming prior to moving to another EU country.  There is a link on the Facebook site to a YouTube video which shows the Minister and the questions being asked.

Right, where's Oliver Letwin's email address .............

Edit:  Right, email sent, copied to Roger Gale, offered myself up as a case study.

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This is probably a complete poisson rouge and nothing new, but OH has received 2 letters in the post this morning from the Exportability Team (stapled together, same envelope).

Basically, they ask for the completion of forms relating to date left UK, employment status, how she would wish the payment made, etc, etc. Also, "What happens next" "We will write and tell you what the decision maker decides."

 

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Just to make it absolutely clear to those forum members not affected by this issue, the petition referred to in PaysansG posting yesterday -

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/ECJ-DLA/

- is open to anyone to sign if you disagree with the undue delay that the UK Government are guilty of in not implementing the judgement of the European Court of Justice ruling over 15 months ago.

This forum did a magnificent job with the French Health Issues. Please help a very much smaller group get what is rightfully theirs by signing the petition now.

You do not have to be in any way disabled to sign the petition.

Thank you.

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A result for me!

I have had a letter from the DWP telling me that I am now entitled to the care component of the DLA. The entitlement is from 28/6/7 which is the date of our move to France. I wrote to them last July after reading through this thread. My request was followed by an acknowledgment and then a couple of forms to complete.

Thank-you to all those who provided information here. I don't know whether the benefit would have been reinstated without actually claiming for it.

Best wishes to all those who are still pursuing their claims. I hope they are resolved satisfactorily.

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Lorna ............

Just to clarify:

  • Do you remember roughly when you returned the forms you mention to DWP?
  • Have they said that you will receive 20 or so months worth of backdated DLA?

All the above sounds good: pleasing news & more than promising for all thus affected.

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Well done Lorna.

Gardian, I think the reason they could deal with Lorna so quickly is that she would still have been live on the computer.  The period between her move and her new claim was under 14 months so they had all her information available.

It's only the people who had a lapse of 14 months between ending their last claim and their new claim that now seem to be caught in the log-jam.

There are some interesting updates on the campaign site, which can be accessed through the Facebook site mentioned above.

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[quote user="Gardian"]

Lorna ............

Just to clarify:

  • Do you remember roughly when you returned the forms you mention to DWP?

  • Have they said that you will receive 20 or so months worth of backdated DLA?

All the above sounds good: pleasing news & more than promising for all thus affected.

[/quote]

Hi Gardian,

The forms were posted back just before Christmas so probably arrived at the DWP a bit after. The letter I have from them is dated 22nd January so they were pretty quick. We lost ADSL for over a week after one of the storms so I was a bit late posting on the forum.

The letter says that I am entitled from 28/6/7 which I am assuming means that I will get it backdated. I hadn't received anything last time I checked my bank account. I'll let you know when I do. The letter didn't say anything about when payments would start again.

 

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[quote user="Tony F Dordogne"]

Well done Lorna.

Gardian, I think the reason they could deal with Lorna so quickly is that she would still have been live on the computer.  The period between her move and her new claim was under 14 months so they had all her information available.

It's only the people who had a lapse of 14 months between ending their last claim and their new claim that now seem to be caught in the log-jam.

There are some interesting updates on the campaign site, which can be accessed through the Facebook site mentioned above.

[/quote]

Thanks Tony.  Yes as you say I just got my claim in within the 14 months so maybe that has enabled them to sort me out quickly. I delayed over returning the forms (had a query over one question and then procrastinated) otherwise I might have had a result even faster.

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[quote user="lorna"]

The letter says that I am entitled from 28/6/7 which I am assuming means that I will get it backdated. I hadn't received anything last time I checked my bank account. I'll let you know when I do. The letter didn't say anything about when payments would start again.

[/quote]

I have just checked my bank account and an anonymous credit has appeared dated yesterday. The amount is very close to what I had calculated would be my backdated care component. [:D]

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And now I have had a letter informing me that a payment has been made to my bank account.

There is one minor hiccup.[:(]. The letter states that the payment is for Attendance Allowance which is of course wrong. My award letter came from the DWP in Blackpool, the payment letter has come from the Pension Service in Newcastle. I'm not sure how much the error matters as I believe the amount paid is correct. However I thought it better to be safe and have phoned the number given. After going through the now standard id rigmarole (husbands make sure you know the date of your wedding including year [:)]), the very helpful advisor told me I had the wrong department and is going to ask the right department (I'm not sure who that will be) to ring me back.

I think this error has occurred because I asked for the payment to be made with my pension - it seemed the easiest way - and these are two different departments. Somewhere along the way the DLA has been transformed into AA.

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Hi Tina,

Yes, I wondered if they had swapped it for some reason but I am under 65 so wouldn't be eligible  for AA. Also I only qualify for the lowest care component (would have had higher mobility[:(]) so the amounts are not compatible. At present I suspect it is just a simple mistake. I am not querying the award and am very happy with the result I have had from the DWP exportability team, I just hope this isn't going to turn into something more complicated than it is. I just want the Pension service to reissue the payment letter mentioning the correct benefit. If I don't hear from them in the next few days I will try writing.

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I've been following this thread closely as I also had my DLA payments stopped in July 2006, when we moved to France. After appealing (as advised to on this forum [:)]) I have had nothing but trouble & what I can only describe as incompetent help!!

Having moved from Northern Ireland my appeal is being dealt with by “The Appeals Service” in Belfast who have absolutely nothing to do with the DSS & are a separate sub-contract organisation who seem to know nothing about the changes in the EU legislation (during one phone call the clerk asked me to let him know if I heard anything about the EU ruling as they had never even heard about it!!)

I received a letter yesterday stating that I have to attend a tribunal, in Northern Ireland, on 6th March. This is the 3rd such letter I have received & although I have written & phoned them explaining that due to the circumstances of my appeal a tribunal is irrelevant, I am still being asked to attend a hearing. At least they say I can claim a refund on any Ulster Bus fares .... brilliant!!

I would love to know if there is anyone else from NI experiencing similar problems – or if anyone has any suggestions? ...... before I pull the rest of my hair out!!

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Hi ali-cat,

We also moved from N.Ireland on 6th October 2007.  After spending all the proceeds from the sale of our house to supplement Incapacity Benefit and a small civil service pension every month, we are also waiting for a decision to be made by the exportability team.  Here is the latest email from them which we received yesterday:-

 

I just wanted to give you an update on the situation as I had previously indicated that the Decision Maker should be looking at your case this week.

 

Additional guidance was received in respect of the exportability issue, and the Decision Maker was finally able to decide a number of cases this week. The Decision Maker considered your case carefully, however an issue has arisen in respect of your case and a number of similar ones which requires further clarification from the Department’s legal people. I can appreciate that it must be frustrating for you that we haven’t yet made a decision, and I’m sorry for any inconvenience or hardship this is causing. I can assure you however that this issue is currently being given the highest priority within the Decision Making team, and once the further advice we have requested is provided a decision will be made without delay. I will keep you updated on developments.

 

Because there was no movement on the exportability of Disability Living Allowance  in N. Ireland, we had no choice but to apply to the Caf for AAH in May of this year  and finally received a payment from them in December and one in January.  We are still waiting for February’s payment but there is a hold up (nothing new), they can’t understand why the amounts of Incapacity Benefit and pension were a lot smaller in December than they were in January of last year. They must not have heard that the exchange rate has fallen dramatically in the last year.

Anyway, I think that because we have claimed a benefit from another country, this is now another excuse to hold up on the decision.  They may even decide that we are not entitled to any Disability Living Allowance from the UK.  If this is the case I hope they will reimburse us with the amount owing up until we claimed AAH in France.

 

I don’t think this will be of any help to you as you are at the appeal stage, which I hope we don’t have to go through as my husband wouldn’t be able to get on an ulsterbus as he uses an electric wheelchair (even if we could afford the flight back).  But it was good to get it off my chest.

One good thing to come out of all this is that the wig makers could be making a fortune from us all if this carries on for much longer.

Good luck,

Wild Geese

 

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Thank you PaysansG & wild geese for your replies. I really wish that another, more appropriate department was dealing with my appeal. A department that actually deals with DLA or the exportability of benefits - which has as least an inkling about what is happening & not just an outside agency that the Northern Ireland Civil Service has passed all their cases on to.

I guess I'll be back on the phone on Monday morning trying for the 100th time to get the facts across & desperately trying not to either lose my temper or (more like me) bursting into tears with frustration. What a nice way it'll be to spend my Birthday!! [:(]

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[quote user="PaysansG"]

We have been formulating an idea, which will require the involvement of other campaigners if you are all up for it? (Nothing physical involved [:D]). 

kind regards

Tina

[/quote]

I've not received a reply to my email either Tina.

Up for it, bloody right we are, well some of us.  The only way to grab the attention of the current government in the UK is to become revolting peasants and being revolting and disabled peasants could be even better.

Perhaps I need to start dusting off some of my other contacts in the Commons and the Lords, like the Labour Peer who did the bar for us when J and I finally married 11 years ago :)

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[quote user="PaysansG"]

Get dusting, Tony [:D]

In the first instance I'm thinking that we should get as many people as possible to hit the Exportability Team inbox (and I have a name!) with demands for reinstatement!

Will put something together next week.

Tina

[/quote]

If I can be of any help - count me in.

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Another Northern Ireland person who has been cut off  here... I went for a medical and all the guff. Got a "no longer eligible" result, so asked for an appeal. I was told this would take 4 to 6 months to come through, but money stopped immediately.  So thinking I had months to wait I came on holiday to France. While away for 4 weeks (2 weeks after the decision), through the post there had been an appointment for appeal, a notification that I had not turned up for the appeal and that was it - No more DLA. After a lot of arguing I eventually managed to get another medical. This one came back, Yes I was eligible (always had been, always will be), but because a 2 year period had elapsed (fighting for another medical) and I had not claimed !!!! or signed on [8-)] - that was it I was no longer entitled to anything except stamps being paid toward my OAP only. Firstly I have enough stamps for my old age pension, secondly there is no way back from this situation ever.... So that's it, I now have to wait and live on fresh air until I am 63. I have only just looked at this thread (thinking about the DLA is not somewhere I like to visit very often, it winds me up too much), but a least now I know I am not the only one who has been s**t on from a great hight [:@]
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[quote user="Nell"]. Firstly I have enough stamps for my old age pension [:@][/quote]

Oi Nell, less of the old age, we're really at the age that the government is scared off - if people could organise the pensioners, not in the Pensioners Convention or anything like that, but properly, the Uk government would be in serious trouble, think of just how many of us have had our savbings in the Uk hammered by the current financial fiasco when the bankers have still got their jobs and their bonuses.

We're the baby boomers or thereabouts and we're also the age cohort that started the civil disobedience movements in the 1960s and 1970s.  Ok, for some of us this is personal but it's also the political dimension that we need to use, remember many of the MPs in the Commons are actually our contemporaries.  And although I may have been on the other side at demonstrations, it doesn't mean that I didn't agree with the demos in the 1960s and 1970s and once I left the Police, I was free to take part in those demos that I felt strongly about.

No direct action yet and probably not at all but with the internet we can bombard the DLA, Ministers and MPs with mail.

Nell, you should try to contact this Spanish ex-pats group who brought the case in the first place and have asked for enforcement against the Uk government, it could well be that they have NIreland people who are also in the same position as you and Ali because if you were and are entitled to DLA, the government and their agencies are actually working againt the ruling - go for the Europe route, the decision, though long was unambiguous.

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Since this whole question of the exportablity of DLA began, I have been in a hopeless task trying to get an answer to a simple question from the DWP.

It is:

As IB is, and has always been an exportable benefit, people who receive it can continue to receive it when living in Europe, and because it is an exportable benefit, it entitles you to an E121.

As DLA 'is/should/will soon be' (?) an exportable benefit, will this also entitle the recipient to an E121?

I have been asking this question for 16 months now, but still no one at any of the departments I contact are able to give a conclusive answer.

E121 means  we can move to France, (house sale and exchange rate permitting) whereas no E121 means it will be more difficult.

Still, I guess the government have one or two other things to deal with first.  [Www]

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ebaynut, I can only answer from experience and as IB means an E121 then DLA should bring the same additional benefit.  Perhaps this is one of the issues that the Uk government is seeking clarification on from the EU - but I think not somehow, I think that it will be, just nobody is willing to say so.

Perhaps a letter to the Minister would get a final response - Rosie Winterton, details above! 

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