Disability Allowance appeal allowed- Timeframe to start receiving payment?

MDoco

Hi,

I have been going back and forth with the Disability Allowance people since last September. Finally I received confirmation that my appeal was allowed in the last few days.

I want to ask if anyone knew roughly how long it takes to receive the Disability Allowance payment? Am I looking at weeks or months until I start receiving payment? Any experience to share?

Cherry Blossom

It’s paid on a Wednesday, you should get it next week and any arrears owed to you within the next few weeks.

Dempo1

Just to say, I've seen previous threads on this and it can take a few weeks particularly if there's additional allowances awarded 🤔 it will be backdated however.

MDoco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120555224#Comment_120555224

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120555998#Comment_120555998

Thanks for the responses. The letter from the Appeals Office was dated 28/04/23 and no payment has come through yet unfortunately. Hopefully next week.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120583865#Comment_120583865

Before your payment is finalised by DA they first of all have to find out from your local SW office if you had any payment from them in the interim period while you were waiting.

If you did then whatever you got from them will be deducted from any arrears your due.

If you didn’t get a payment from your local SW office and you don’t have any means right now then you should apply for SWA to tide you over.

MDoco

Lads (and ladies), I have one more problem.

The amount that I am owed in arrears seems to be incorrect.

I did not receive any payment from them in between that would reduce what I am owed.

What am I missing here? If the claim is backdated and I had to go through an appeal, am I not supposed to be entitled to a payment in arrears from the date it was backdated to until the date that the first Disability Allowance payment was made to me?

TooTired123

I’m reading through this thread and so far you seem to have just had a letter from the Appeals office stating that your appeal is allowed.

Have you subsequently had a letter from the Disability Allowance stating that your DA is being awarded?

“Appeal allowed” is not technically the same as DA being awarded.

Did you get the figure from the Dept? How did you reach that figure? How do you know that your payment is being backdated to October?

Theres a bit missing here!🙂

MDoco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120636822#Comment_120636822

Sorry, yes, the appeal is allowed and awarded.

I received a letter from the department saying that Disability Allowance was awarded after my appeal with the Appeals Office was successful. The letter also said Disability Allowance would be backdated to when the initial application was received by the department.

SouthWesterly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120638112#Comment_120638112

Did you receive supplementary welfare allowance while waiting? This would be taken into the calculations

MDoco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120638151#Comment_120638151

No, I didn't receive the supplementary welfare allowance while waiting.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120638112#Comment_120638112

So who are you living with and what is their income? This information will be used to determine how much DA you will get every week. Do you have a dependent spouse? Dependent children? How old are the children? Does your spouse or partner work? How did you reach the figure of €4500? I see now that you deleted that amount from your post. We can help you to understand how much you will get if you tell us a few details.

MDoco

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120638323#Comment_120638323

I deleted some of my post because I thought I was sharing too much information.

No spouse/partner. No children. Awarded DA at full rate of 220 per week. Limited assets (less than 10k), no other income. Disabled adult living with parents.

Edit: I am not trying to be evasive. I just have a bad habit of oversharing information sometimes. Sorry.

Cherry Blossom

The full rate of DA before 1st Jan 2023 was €208 not €220 so that may account for some of the difference.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120639599#Comment_120639599

Ok that’s perfectly understandable and I’m sorry if it appears I’m prying.

Cherry Blossom is helpfully pointing out that the amount payable from the date they opened your application to December 31st would be €208 and €220 from then till now. Are you certain they’ve said that they’re backdating it to then?

MDoco

I am 100% certain they are backdating it. I have the letter right in front of me. I have gone over everything repeatedly to make sure that I didn't make an error/oversight.

Moving on to how to proceed from here - If I need to go about escalating/disputing the figures, how do I go about that? What recourse is there to dispute to the amount owed? I mean don't have the money for a solicitor or anything. What options would be available in that respect?

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120644105#Comment_120644105

I know that they will be backdating it, you have said that the letter you got from them says that they will be backdating the claim to the date they got your application.

That doesn’t mean that if you sent it on a Monday, for example, that your claim was received on Tuesday .

There could be up to 3 weeks between your posting the application and it being opened.

If you are unhappy with what you are awarded then you simply write back to them and tell them that you don’t understand how they reached the figure that they are proposing to pay you. They will respond with a breakdown of the calculation.

Why are you expecting that they will award you an amount less then you have calculated you are entitled to?

There is no need to be thinking about complaining disputing or solicitors at this stage.

If you are still unhappy when you get the breakdown then you follow the complaints/appeals procedure. Eventually if you are unhappy still with how your case has been dealt with then you could go to the Ombudsman but right now you are still awaiting the payment, and don’t know what it’s going to be.

MDoco

This situation has been resolved to my satisfaction. A mistake was made on their part.

I want to thank users here for their assistance and providing helpful information. Thank you all.