I have client who was awarded LMob and mid care "for life " in 1996 as result of severe head injury which left him with v bad memory and in a "confusional state" as recorded by his GP on original application.In 2008 he was visited by rep from DLA Dept and replied to a questionnaire as a result of which he lost his award. At the appeal the Tribunal chairman raised question of value of questionnaire given mental state of claimant as evidenced on his previous claim. Chairman seeks guidance from reps since onus is on Dept to show grounds for supersession and he seems unhappy to hold that the Dept was entitled to supersede on basis of a questionnaire not backed up by current medical evidence. Is there duty on Dept to seek further med evidence in this type of case?
Any ideas?
Roger Nixon Belfast CAB

The visit you've described sounds very much like those that were conducted during the DLA Benefit Integrity Project which ran for a period in the 1990's - BIP for those who remember it - large numbers of customers received such vists from DLA Officers - unqualified other than in completing forms and asking inappropraite questions - as a result, countless clients lost their DLA almost overnight. The majority got their awards back but only after having to go through the appeals procedure.

In your case the questionnaire was completed by someone who we assume was not trained and/or qualified in any way in understanding Mental health issues. When a person is referred to a mental health Consultant it takes a period of assessment before a diagnosis is arrived at and appropriate treatment is prescribed - somewhat more proffessional that a 15 minute question and answer session.

To arrive at a decision on the basis of a questionnaire completed by an unqualified person, with no current medical evidence to substantiate the decision is unacceptable, and is even disquieting to the Chair involved.

Of course there is a duty on the part of the DBU in supsession cases to justify a decision, but only one that can be justified by the evidence. In your case they clearly have no such evidence.

Do we know the circumstances surrouding the visit? Was it a notified visit? Is this part of a larger project, or was the visiting Officer from their fraud section in response to some anonymous telephone call...?

The only recent project that we are aware of regarding DLA rate checks, is the Rights Payment Programme (RPP) (some say son of BIP) but at a recent meeting, statistical feedback provided from this project, indicated that it was not a negative experience for many. In that 86% of live claims viewed were correct and remained unchanged, 4% received a reduction (reasons not given) and 10% received an increase of rate or component.

Further information provided, indicated that the greatest number of cases (according to disability code) were those associated with "backpain and muscle/joint problems", these codes are the same as ICD 10 DOE from Dept of Health.

Hope this is useful ?

Thanks for your help.
Roger NIxon

Thanks for the information.
Do you know of any Commissionrs decision which referred to the lack of med evidence on the Dept's part? Rightsnet only goes back to 2003.
Roger Nixon

I can only suggest the Commissioners website or perhaps DA's decisions section

I can't put my finger on any case law at the moment; but it is generally accepted that to remove an indefinite award of benefit (which is what all "life" awards of DLA are) the Dept does need to show that there has been a change of circumstances or that the original award was erroneous. The stanard is or ought to be higher than failure to renew at the same rate on a limited award.