Hi all,
Thought I would let you know that you can also apply for a Cinema Exhibitors Association card at ceacard.co.uk. Download form and send with a photo and £5. 00 this entitles you to take someone to the cinema for free. Two for one. I use this most Tuesday afternoons when the cinema is empty so I minimise the risk of infection. Don’t go Wednesday as this is orange Wednesday which also runs a two for one scheme but at my local cinema Wednesday is packed.
Margaret xxx
Hi All
If your onc fills out the DS1500 you do not need to fill in the mobility part of the form for DLA. And as said you can get a Blue Badge and your car tax paid for you.
I had critical illness cover tthe time of my diagnosis and was paid out in full for over £140K - rather have big mortgage myself than go through all this, but it has obviously helped us.
Dawn
x
Dawn, I don’t think that’s right. I think that the DS1500 gives you automatic entitlement to the higher rate of the care component, but the mobility part of the DLA form still has to be filled in if appropriate.
Alison x
Maybe I am wrong but I never filled out the mobility part.
x
Hi Dawn
But am I right in thinking you have a Blue Badge, if so I wonder how you got it? I am looking at having to reapply for my DLA and blue badge next summer and want to make it as painfree a process as possible!
Alison x
from the other Dawn 
Actually I applied for a Blue Badge before I started claiming for DLA and got it without any problems. So it would seem having the mobility part of DLA isn’t necessary for getting the blue badge - although with the mobility part it is more or less guaranteed. I did get caught out 'cos I hadn’t realised it was for a set period and you had to apply for it to be renewed so for a few weeks I was using an out of date one! So do check the expiry date on your Blue Badges.
Dawn
Hi
I hope all are well today. I have chest infection and am now on antibiotics received from my GP. Thankfully I do not have a fever otherwise I think I would be in hospital!! Not bad going considering I have only had one cycle of capecitabine. Anyway I digress I wanted to help with getting the blue badge. You can apply to your local authority for the form which you complete get your GP or oncologist to sign and send back to the L.A. with a recent photo and I think £2.00. It takes a few weeks but the LA will then contact you to go and collect.
Hope this helps and good luck.
Margaret xx
Hi
Just adding my experience, I was awarded DLA under special rules DS1500 and the mobility part was given at the same time-nothing extra to fill in.
Sue x
Hello everyone,
As someone who has recently been told I have seceondary bc (bones) it was a great help to read this thread. Although I hope to continue working whilst I can financial support and benefits are realities I am going to have to face at some point in the future. Sorry to ask again but what benefits would I be entitled to? As mentioned above I hope to continue working full time as long as possible, I’m the main bread winner in the household so it is something I need to think about.
Many thanks for any advice.
Myfanwy18
Hi Myfanwy18
You would be entitled to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) as it is not linked to income. Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) is an income-related benefit replacing the old Incapacity Benefit so you wouldn’t get it while working.
Depending on your mobility you may also be eligible for a Blue Badge. Check the links I gave at the beginning of this thread for the disabled rail and bus passes, as I can’t remember - but think they are linked to DLA rather than ESA so you would be eligible for those as well.
Do apply for what you can, it will help ease the burden and therefore the stress.
Alison x
Thank you Alison,
I’ll chase this up - everything is a bit new to me at the moment, I’m not in denial but it takes time to come to terms with a new reality.
Myfanwy
Dear Myfanwy,
I have attached a link to the BCC publication on secondary breast cancer and benefits which I thought you may find helpful.
breastcancercare.org.uk/upload/pdf/Breast_cancer_benefits_Oct_2010.pdf
Very best wishes
Janet
BCC Facilitator
Alison,
Can you please advise on how to claim the disability rail and bus passes. I had never heard of them.
Thanks.
I am so pleased to have just found this thread and I’ve been wondering about possible support and have not been able to access it so far. Luckily I’m still on some sick pay having only been diagnosed in April but I am needing to get support and am finding that I need to know who to ask - it is not forthcoming or easy to find… I even had to ask my GP for the medical exemption form and request occupational therapy support as I can’t get myself in and out of the bath after a shoulder replacement op for my secondaries in my arm. It was very supportive of my theatre to offer me disability access for one year when they saw me struggling with my handbag to pay for tickets and wearing hat for hair loss was probably also a signal. So I’m only just starting to get a picture of support there might me - seems we need our own network as this info does not appear to be compiled… Like Janet, I’m also interested in diability and rail travel so will follow that up - is evidence needed? Also wondering about motorbility as I can’t drive yet (hope to at some point as I’m doing loads of physio to help arm to recover and walking/public transport everywhere is so very tiring…) - will I need an assessment, who by, where etc etc. Thanks for any advice -I’ve founded the discussion on resources and access interesting, I’ve been trying to cope with my own resources but need help to make the most of my life and this site is now proving invaluable -so thanks for sharing
Fran
Hi Fran
If you like detail the google DLA or take a look at this direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/financialsupport/dg_10011925
If you are over 65 you cannot claim DLA.
You could go to the Social Welfare officer at your hospital and ask for help there as I did. But to speed things up Request the forms by calling
0800 88 22 00. Then ask your oncologist if you could have a DS1500 or if you have a macmillan nurse they will help with the whole thing. A DS1500 helps to get things through much faster and usually at the higher rate. It is given to people who are ‘terminally ill’ an awful phrase - and is stating something like you are reasonable expected not to live longer than 6mths! but don’t be put off by that. Many of us here have lived well beyond that and the DWP are aware of this as they check up on us after 3 yrs! Some of us have come up against medics who are not willing to sign a DS1500 if they think we have much longer than 6mths! But others, like mine, said they couldn’t say how long anyone with 2ndaries will live so they sign all DS1500. But don’t give up if you get that line - ask someone else. There are 2 parts to the claim. The first is the care part and the weekly figure at highest rate is £71.40. The second part is the mobility part and that at the highest rate is £49.85.
I am sure there is lots more I could say but others know more about the discounts etc. you can get so I will leave it for them to tell you.
Dawn
xx
Hi Dawn
Thanks for this info and sharing your experience of the DS1500 - really useful if giving me an insight into how to go about things since I felt at a lose about how to start. Am I right in thinking that all the medical examination requirements have just changed? Am wondering if the 6 month issue means that other examination requirements are not required.
I’ve just read about rail cards on this site:
disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/what-is-a-disabled-persons-railcard/am-i-eligible
Hope that helps sossages and others.
Really finding this thread useful
thanks so much
Fran
xx
I’ve just found this useful thread - thanks
My situation: bone mets dx 2006, liver mets dx 2009 at which point I talked to my BCN about DLA under special rules DS1500. Filled in form (I asked not to see a copy of my medical report) and was awarded highest care component, but nothing for mobility. (My BCN told me that the DWP phoned her to ask how far I could walk - I did a 7.5-mile sponsored walk for another cancer charity in May 2010 so I’m glad my BCN was honest!)
I’m now 60 and am wondering if I can get winter fuel payment this year?
Hi all,
Sossages, sorry not to have replied earlier but I’ve only just come back to the forums after a wee spell away.
If you have access to a computer then the link for initial info about disabled bus passes is direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/MotoringAndTransport/PublicAndCommunityTransport/DG_4019388
Bus passes are given out by local councils so do also search for bus pass information on the website of your local council, or give them a ring. The application form will tell you what evidence is required to show that you are eligible.
I see that Fran has posted the link for the disabled persons railcard.
Has anyone also included free prescriptions for cancer patients on this thread? I know it’s been discussed elsewhere and BCC also posted a note about it when they first came out last year. Application forms are available from GP surgeries and oncologists and need to be countersigned by someone treating you.
And I absolutely agree with everything that dawnhc has written about getting someone like a Macmillan nurse or welfare benefits advisor to help you - it really does reduce your stress and leads to a better outcome. That’s what they’re there for!
Alison xx
Alison I don’t think anyone posted about the free prescriptions, but it is always worth repeating anyway.
MrsBlue - glad you got the DS1500 sorted. It’s interesting that they contacted your bcn to ask about how far you could walk re the mobility part of DLA. It seemed odd to me a while ago that some were saying they automatically got the mobility part when they claimed with DS1500. It certainly wasn’t the case when I first claimed, although it did help to shorten the questions/answers required.
Recently when I was asked more questions by the DWP they contacted the Onc at the Marsden. The onc contacted us by telephone but at the time I was sleeping in and Peter did not want to wake me. The onc having ascertained he was my ‘carer’ asked him about my ability to do certain things. I think he asked if I went out and about on my own and Pete said not if he could help it! LOL.
I didnt claim the mobility part when I first got DLA with the DS1500. But later when things got worse and I was a lot less mobile I did contact them again and filled out the forms for the mobility part. So if you do find yourself less able to do things, then do contact them again and get the Marsden BCN to help with this. I think as the Government is looking to reduce costs everywhere I think they will be watching DLA claims a lot more than in the past. I think if anyone is claiming the mobility part they need to be very careful if they consider taking part in any sort of charity fund raising that involves walking/running! Get others to do it on your behalf
Dawn
xx
MrsBlue I forgot to reply to the question re Winter Fuel Allowance. As you were 60 before 5/7/50 you qualify this year. If you are the only one in your household the payment will be £250. If your OH is over 65 he should already be getting it, so then you will get £125 each.
Dawn
xx