To think that the website for applying for benefits should actually work!!

Mishap Successive governments have a sad and bad history with computer systems and information technology but that just about takes the . A perfect example of yes, I repeat, no.

Do you think it's a deliberate attempt to prevent people from claiming benefits?

I've found out why the site does not work!

Nice lady on the benefits helpline (the one that WAS open and had not taken an extra bank holiday like all the others I rang) tells me that the online benefits claim site only works on out-of-date browsers (viz. Firefox 1 or Internet Explorer 6). I did venture to suggest that this was a bit ridiculous but she thought it was fine!

She said that there is a red box providing this information on the site, but - guess what? - this red box does not appear in my up-to-date browser!!!

Hmmmm!

I have said before on various threads my dad has received wonderful assistance from Social Services. He is 94 and and I don't know if that makes any difference?

He has had home visits to sort out all of his entitlements. If we have any issues we contact Social Services, give them his reference number and any problems have been dealt with. Give Social Services a call, it must be worth a try.

I should think the website will be even more of a problem from today onwards with all the changes coming on stream. It must be awful trying to negotiate it, especially when it is something so important.

My son has decided not to re-apply for his DLA. His claim had been stopped because he had moved house twice and didn't inform them. He doesn't really need the money and thinks it should go back into the pot for the use of others. He worries that he is in some way breaking the law or doing himself a dis-service in some way. He has a trust fund so has enough money to live comfortably. Anybody got any input?

So glad I found this thread, as just about to go to my parents to do this for them because my father needs to be on the higher rate, having become much more infirm very rapidly. I will load his printer with paper and ignore the online option. thanks for the info.

I too filled in hundreds of these as a SW - clients who trusted me would just leave me to fill them in with the right buzzwords and then sign at the bottom.

I used to see so many people who were entitled for many years but had been intimidated by the form and had not applied.

I plan to have a conversation with the online bods in the Benefits Agency as the site is just a joke.

And me! I sit on the appeals and know what we look for! Ask Gracesmum

I was a volunteer Home visiting Advisor with Age Concern(as was) for 10 years. I filled in hundreds of these forms.

I always found filling them in was like doing a formal dance, a sort of benefits dressage. You needed to use the correct words and the correct terminology when answering questions and provide the information in the approved fashion.

If you get turned down, appeal. The procedure is not difficult and the appeal itself is not intimidating, you meet and talk to a doctor, lawyer and disability professional round a table in a room.

If you want any help from the form to an appeal send me a pm and I will willing help.

It always worries me that, in spite of my reasonable education and pretty high IQ, I spend hours wading through some of these forms. I can't imagine how some people cope, especially the very elderly. Everything is careful phrased in words of one syllable and yet the meaning is quite unfathomable. It's also a worry that I have several times gone to inquire about benefits and been handed the wrong forms by the people who are supposed to be advising us.

That's interesting petra - we have tried opening the site on a different computer, just in case part of the problem lay with the laptop - but it's just the same.

I have printed the forms out now - 45 pages! - and am wading through them. It's just like being back at work again!

You are not alone. This was featured on the early evening news.

Just put an explanatory note in with it. The registration is mainly to establish date of claim.

Thanks galen - maybe I'll try the print out route. But they have already registered it as an online application! I am sure there will be a way around it.

Actually, you could print off the whole blank form. I've just managed to access it. Fill it in by hand and then smail it to your local disability benefits centre!

If you've still got problems , phone me tomorrow early afternoon and I'll have a go!