Hi can anyone advise me if I am entitled to a motorbility car. I am in the support group of the disability living allowance. I have a blue card which enables me to have my car tax paid. I always thought i wasn’t eligible. thanks x
As far as I am aware, if you’re having your car tax paid you must be getting higher rate mobiilty. If this is the case then you can sacrifice your mobilty allowance and take a motabilty car no problem. Go into a dealer for your chosen car and talk to them - they’ll be only too happy to help and will know excactly what to do. You may have to contribute some extra if it’s above a certain level price wsie - don’t know what this is and not seen it published - that’s where dealer will help. Nina
Thanks broomsticklady. I think I’m being thick which I usually am these days (the dreaded chemo brain) but I think I only claim for car tax. what part of allowance is mobility? x
lanii to get a mobility car you need to be getting the higher rate of mobilty allowance of the Disability Living Allowance.If you do get you have to give up part of your allowance to cover the cost of leasing the car.If you don’t get DLA then you should apply for it.Please ask if you need any more info on that.
L xx
This wil be fun - 2 of us chemo brained!! The only way I know of getting your car tax paid is to be receiving DLA higher mobilty allowance. So if I’m right then you are getting that, then you can get a motabilty car.
Think Dawn may be chemo brained tonight - sounds like she’s replied to a different related post here!! She certainly confused the hell out of me! I may have sinned there - Hell may be a four letter word and enrage the BCC language police in which case apologies in advance 
Nina I am just looking at the post I have supposedly made and am completely puzzled - I didn’t post it - unless I did it in my sleep. I have just been sitting in my chair falling aslelep with laptop in front of me and not made any posts.
MODERATOR have you any way of checking how this has happened?
Dawn
Hi again Fran,
I don’t think the changes you refer to apply to DLA claims with DS1500. The way I went about it was to first ask my onc about the DS1500. Once I had their agreement to this I phoned the helpline no. for DLA and they date your claim from the day they send out the forms. (I remember when I did this that it stated 11 weeks from that date you would hear from them.) Those are the ones you will need help filling in because you do not have to complete them all with the DS1500. I remember when I did this that it stated 11 weeks from that date you would hear from them. I think it becomes even easier if you have a macmillan nurse because they can do the DS1500 and help you with all the form filling. So much depends on the co-operation of those you are seeking help from. They can make it so much easier for you.
Dawn
xx
edit: LOL I have just realised why this post is out of place (and will possibly move again for me typing this!) I should have remembered that if you edit an old post it will move to the date/time you editted. So apologies to Nina, Moderator and anyone else I have managed to confuse. I was flicking through posts earlier on and had spotted an error in one and decided to edit it - shouldn’t be so fussy should I :).
Dawn xx
Hi thanks nina think I have finally sussed it. But for how long the clarity lasts I don’t know haha Pauline x
Hello ladies
I haven’t been on the forums for months and months, but I came across this information today, which I thought others would be interested to know about.
At the end of January new regulations came into force regarding Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), whereby (so it reads) all people with cancer are eligible for the Support Group of ESA, whereas before some people were eligible for the Support Group, but others were put into the Work Related Activity Group.
However, the press release is a bit ambiguous, as in one place it refers to people ‘awaiting, receiving or recovering from any form of chemotherapy or radiotherapy’, but elsewhere it says ‘all types of cancer treatment are seen as having the potential to be equally as debilitating’ (ie not just chemo or radiotherapy).
It looks as though the ESA form will be amended so that people with cancer won’t have to complete the whole form and their applications will be processed more sensitively than in the past, and more importantly, they will be placed in the Support Group rather than the Work Related Activity Group.
For anyone who’s interested, here’s the link to the press release from DWP:
Best wishes,
Alison
Hello eveveryone
I’m very new to your site and still finding my way around. I was wondering if anyone knows if us ladies with secondaries are going to be entititled to the new PIP benefit once DLA is scrapped, if I lose this money I’m not sure how I will survive.
Any insight will be greatly appreciated - Kirsti xx
Hi, I’m still fighting my case for DLA renewal but I understand those with a DS 1500 will have that considered when PIP is introduced. Not sure how much though as they totally ignored my original one when my renewal came up. I didn’t go the DS 1500 route for the renewal as I felt my bone mets had been stable for so long it wouldn’t be right to get my GP to sign one at the time, but it’s been a nightmare to date - even though they knew I was having scans for symptoms I’d associated with bone mets, grrrrr, they didn’t wait for the results just took it all away. I’m also looking at ESA as I have had to stop work whilst on Xeloda, at least for now, and am going the contributions route as my NI contributions are up to date.
Nicky
Hi,
I am sorry but have had problems with memory and forgot to respond - I wish there was still the alert given when a post is made here or am I missing something since the site changed?
My December upper body scan showed good results and Onc was pleased.
2 weeks later I started with prickly sensation and numbness all over most of body (another thread)- more tests and bone scan - all good - yippee
Seem to be gaining a little energy so prob should have given myself more recoup time pre xmas.
Have shelved retirement plans for time being and want to be as fit as poss for as long as poss!
Rosie - how did your meeting go? I hope you are nearer a solution.
Donna
Donnad
My meeting went really well in my favour .
hopefully my company are going to offer me a pay out instead of my taking them to court
I will let you k ow how it goes
Hope you are well ??
Love Rosie xxx
Hi Ladies
Ive been claiming DLA with a DS1500 since 2007, I have liver mets.
My onc has signed 2 previous DS1500 no problem, my DLA is up for renewal in June and this time my onc has refused to sign my DS1500 with no reson given.
i have a motability car and this will have to be returned as without the DS1500 I dont think I will get the higher mobility rate.
I am really confused to why he wont sign it this time as nothing has changed since the last renewal.
Can anybody give me any ideas on what to do next, I really need my car and the £77 I get each week
Many Thanks
Jackie
Jackie do you have a BCN you can discuss this with. If so she may be able to have a word with the consultant. If not do you have a macmillan contact who might be willing to sign it for you or to liaise with your consultant.I certainly wouldn’t give up yet or go down the claim route without the DS1500.
Dawn
xx
Thanks Dawn, Ive wrote a letter to my onc to find out why he wont sign the form, my BC nurse is also going to have a word so fingers creossed
Take Care Jackiex
Jackie, I got my doctor to sign mine and she did it no questions asked, might be worth asking your doc. xxx
I think the DS1500 process is being looked at a little more rigidly than in th epast, and medics are being challenged on their reasons for signing more. It’s intended for people with less than 6 months to live - you’ve had 6 years, so if you look at it objectively it’s questionable as to whether it’s applicable. I suspect your onc doesn’t think you’re likely to die in the next 6 months and thats his reason for not signing.
After what I’d read here, I asked about DS1500 when I got my bone sec dx, and was flatly refused. In some ways I was gutted but in others happy cos she hoinestly thought I’d mor ethan 6 months - and given it was 20 months ago she’s right.
Whereas it used to be standard - and still is with some medics - to say sec dx = DS1500 signable, it seems it’;s less ‘easy’ than it was. By all means pursue, and good luck - but don’t get your hopes up too high.
Nina
I am more than aware that a lot of decision makers are questioning the use of DS1500’s, particularly for just bone mets.
However the 6month thing is one of reaonableness and so is open to interpretation. A few oncologists interpret it as being ;that death cannot ‘reasonably’ be expected in 6 months( if your condition stays the same) .
However another interpretation is that once you have secondary bc, particularly in the major organs, there is no clear way of indicating life span (response to treatment etc). We all know that responses to treatment can change as can the pathology of our tumours. They do vary so much in terms of aggressiveness etc. Therefore for some people it is not ‘unreasonable’ that life expectancy could be 6 months ( hopefully more).
I have had my special rules DLA renewed and at times I have felt guilty. However I know that I will not be around to claim my state pension. I have worked all my life, what will happen to those contributions ? Also because of DLA i have been able to cut my hours and carry on working rather than claim sickness benefits. Without my motability car I could not get to work in the first place as public transport would be too painful and too much.
Julie
Hi
I had my renewal come through in November last year and, as I had been stable for more than 4 years with bone mets, I felt I couldn’t ask my GP to sign a new DS1500 for me as there was no reason to assume I only had 6 months to live. I had accepted that if this situation had remained the same i would not be able to claim DLA once my renewal was due. However I was experiencing some hip/leg pain at the time and this was being investigated. I filled in the initial form from DWP and they wrote back needing more info, this was then the full claim form. I completed this plus a long letter describing my situation, plus other medical problems (brought on by chemo) that affect me but had my DLA refused. At this point I was confirmed as having further spread to my bones and unfortunately liver so I did go to my GP and he agreed to sign the form, still a bit reluctantly but at this point who can tell what is happening with my mets. After submitting the form to DWP, who needed more info from me as I’d lodged a reconsideration, my DLA was re instated and the weeks I’d missed since they had stopped it were also paid. I agree with Nina that its no longer a ‘given’ that you will get a DS1500 signed, depending on your own circumstances. However if you are experiencing mobility problems you can fill the form in with that information and they will review it under normal rules. Very tough for us, who live with mets every day and how it affects us mentally and physically, but the advisor I spoke to on a number of occasions didn’t take any of this into consideration when looking at my circumstances!
Nicky x
ps great to see you posting Julie, hope all is well with you.