You definately have a case for appeal. It may be that it's the way in which you worded the form, as I said before. My social worker years ago, said to me when I applied for dla, that you have to think of the worst scenario, almost as if you exagerate a bit re your child's problems. You have to identify their problems, and paint a picture of their worst days, even if the questions they ask don't specifically relate to your child's problems. You can go to town in the extra info section. As I said before, they are only delaying the inevitable, as when he's older they'll have to award it, assuming the disability remains the same of course. It is extremely stressful, and you feel as though you're dealing with idiots at times, but I'm sure you'll get there. Best of luck. Definately get the support from somewhere with this -they might be able to get you an advocate, should you go to a tribunal.

May i ask members not to encourage people to exagerate claims as this will only come back to bite you later on.
As i always say to people be honest but the use of wording is critical to any application.
Detailed yet precise is important when filling in application's.
The worse case basis is a myth that people used to advise wrongly.
The DWP actually warned the citizens advice about this and told them not to advise this as it is wrong and can account to benefit fraud.
My advice is quite simple do a daily diary of care needs over the minimum of 7 days,but if you can 30 days (Example Renewals)
Then get the average day and use this as your basis.
For example you could get the average amount of times you wake up in a night or the average amount of care time during the day.

An example of why using the worst case is wrong.
Our son has a serious metabolic condition and when ever he gets a bug or virus example sickness or the runs he WILL BE in hospital for a couple of weeks at a time with severe dehydration.
When Euan is dehydrated he is sick several times a day and in the night will have the runs through his nappy and in his vest and in his bed etc but this is because of his condition so could be classed as one of our worse days,however it is not average life and if i were to use that as an example the consultant wouldnt support it.

Your application always has to be supported by a consultant or doctor so be wary about what you write.
Also another reason to use an average day and to keep a diary is that if for some reason you get turned down and have to go to an appeal you have notes to refer back to.
Whereas if you go on a worse case day then when it comes to appeal you may forget what you wrote or the GP or consultants report could be used for the reasons for turning it down and if yours varies in a major way from the doctor then it will look bad.

Go on an average day over a period of days over an average period.

But never [color]exagerate[/color] a claim

Thanks for the replys.
And thanks for ur reply too Daniel.
However, I know ur post wasnt aimed at me but i feel the need to defend my self to say i would never over exadurate anyway as it is benefit fraud and its those fraudsters who make it difficult for us who actualy 'NEED' this help & support, and every liar always gets found out so aint worth it in the long run!
But as you say i was also advised wrongly to base the claims on the worst times, however again reading ur advice i did a day to day diary so i could get an over all average of what care my child needed, as i found the questions hard to come by when it said 'on average how many times do you wake to assist ur child'.. to which i didnt realy know until i did a weekly chart to make out the average days/times. And doing this as also helped as i have the information with dates on what happend and when. So thanks for that was a great tip.
And as you say, everything is supported by health profesionals.. Thats why i sent in several reports with my recent claim as i find those forms quite daunting and it is hard to describe our childs needs/disabilitys after all.

(03-10-2010 07:56 PM)Lea89x Wrote:  but i feel the need to defend my self to say i would never over exadurate anyway as it is benefit fraud

You have no need to defend yourself in anyway so dont worry hun.
The post refered to another members post who advised this and i wanted to warn people NOT to do this.
Not aimed at you so dont worry!