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So, after a long, hard fight you finally get your claim for DLA awarded. Apart from a celebratory bottle of wine and some drunken contemplation of how to spend the, now considerable, back payment, what do you do?

Ever heard of the Special Payment Scheme?

Probably not, as this is one of the best kept secrets in DWP – the ability to request a compensation payment where maladministration has led to financial hardship or inconvenience.

It is not part of your claim for benefit and you cannot lose out because of requesting one – it costs nothing to request, is dealt with by a separate unit not responsible for your claim, and does not affect your level of entitlement. If everyone requested one of these, the Department would have to buck up its ideas (and employ more staff, as it takes half a day just to prepare a single file,) but very few people know of its existence.

In short – there is no reason not to ask for one if you think you fit the criteria, as the worst they can do is say no. You can even request one where you have been turned down for benefits and have lost your appeal – if the conduct of officers during your claim fits the criteria.

Maladministration is generally regarded as bias, neglect, inattention, delay, incompetence, ineptitude, perversity, turpitude and arbitrariness. By now, you’re probably thinking this is a pretty good description of the people who dealt with you.

A payment can be awarded where maladministration has caused any of the following:

Actual financial loss – keep your receipts people; if they mess up, you can claim it back – stamps, phone bills, replacement documents, travel costs, bank charges, etc.

Delay in payment – only where the amount of benefits is over £100 in arrears. A delay is generally calculated at standard interest rates (Average Retail Shares and Deposits rate) or at compound interest rates where it has been a long period of delay. Payment of less than £10 will be discounted.

Consolatory Payments – for gross inconvenience resulting from persistent error, gross embarrassment, humiliation or unnecessary personal intrusion and finally severe distress which has significantly impacted on a person’s mental or physical health.

How to claim:
Write a letter to the Customer Service / Complaints Department of the office that dealt with your claim, clearly heading up the letter “Special Payment Request”. Quote the reference number, and clearly state that you “would like to request a Special Payment on the following grounds:”

• Logically and rationally, give an account of everything that’s happened on your claim:
• Detail every piece of bad advice,
• Every failure to take into account perfectly obvious circumstances (such as the tribunal awarding you it without hesitation after your case was disallowed for no good reason,)
• Every missed call-back and every unanswered letter,
• Every contradictory answer,
• If there’s been a delay in your appeal being written by the Department (they have 90 days in which they’re supposed to write it,)
• If there’s been a delay in responding to your letters (they have 7 days for a complaint and 10 days for an enquiry.)
• Every time an operator has been shirty or rude with you,
• How hard the DLA form was to complete in the first place and how most of the questions on the standardised form are not suitably tailored to mental disabilities.

Now detail how this has affected you:

• The stress levels,
• The amount of time you took completing the form, writing to them, phoning them and worrying,
• The exact length of delay in getting a payment, from the form going in to the payment hitting your bank account,
• The impact on your family life etc.
• Any time off work you’ve needed because of it,
• Any extra expenses that were incurred due to the extended claim process.

Add copies of any receipts, phone bills or actual charges you want recouped, and send it off having obtained a receipt of postage (recorded delivery not needed, as that’s an expense that probably won’t be refunded – get a receipt of posting (free), then phone the office two or three days later to check they’ve received it.)

Now wait up to a month or so for an answer – special payments go to a centralised unit and take weeks to be resolved.

Basically, a special payment claim is an opportunity to get something back for the blood, sweat and tears involved in a DLA claim, and it’s something of a “fire and forget weapon” in that you can dash off a 15 minute letter to claim it, then put it out of your mind and then treat anything that comes out of it as a bonus that you didn’t expect. In this case, the money is for you and the trouble you’ve experienced, not for the child, so claim it and crack open a bottle with it; if you’ve gone through that legal and bureaucratic nightmare and come out with your sanity intact, you deserve it