Hi

I have a client who was 64 when she applied for dla but 65 and one month when the decision was made that she was not entitled to this benefit. We are now appealing this decision.

Will the tribunal look at whether she met the criteria at the date of the decision or at the point she turned 65?

The tribunal cannot look at any circumstance that was not present at the date of the deicision. The time period that the tribunal is considering is 3 months prior to the date of claim, up until the date of the decision to decide whether the conditions of entitlement are met and, if so, to fix the date that any award would starrt from. The tribunal also has to look forward 6 months from the date of claim to see if the conditions of entitlement would still be met at that point.

Thanks for your help Nevip. How will the tribunal calculate the 3 months prior, six months qualifying period? Will they use the date of the decision (which was after the client turned 65) or the date that the client turned 65?

If the three month period had begun before the date on which the claim was treated as made, then an award can be made from the date of claim. This is Reg 3 of the DLA regs which makes it clear that as long as the claim is made before age 65, the fact that no decision is made until after the birthday is not a problem. Neither is it a problem if only part of the three-month qualifying period falls before the age of 65, as long as the care needs arose before that age.