New Clients

Welcome to the Disability Advice Project. We look forward to supporting you. As a new client, it is a good idea to prepare for your first appointment, so we can ensure we make the most of your time spent with us. The short videos below include guidance to help you.

Visiting our office

Your appointment can be held online, on the telephone, or at our office. The video linked below gives a quick tour so you know what to expect if you are coming to the office.

Visiting our office video

Preparing for your appointment

You will be given a date for an appointment with one of our expert caseworkers. Make a note of your appointment date. Please let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to attend. Ahead of your meeting with your caseworker, it would be helpful if you could pull together information about yourself/person you care for, to assist us in supporting you. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the information.

Contact details for your:

 

• • GP or nurse

• • Psychiatrist, psychologist, or occupational therapist

• • Social or support worker

• • Hospital consultant

• • People who help care for you (this could be a family member or friend)

Make a list of:

 

• • Conditions you have and how long you have had them 

• • Prescribed medications, treatments and therapies you use or are about to start (include dosage and frequency) 

• • Any prescribed medication you can’t take because of side effects 

• • Details of existing or previous benefit awards

Documents that could be used as evidence such as:

Hospital records, letters from doctors, consultants, social workers, occupational therapists, and other people who help care for you (don’t include appointment letters).

Notes about how your illness or disability affects you:

Think of examples to tell us. It may help to keep a diary.

 

• • How could your life be improved with help? 

• • Can you do everyday activities safely/well? 

• • Can you repeat activities? 

• • Does it take you longer to do the activity than it would most people? 

• • How often do you have problems with these activities?

• • If your health changes, explain how often this happens and the effect it has on you. 

Don’t worry if you don’t have all this information to hand. Your caseworker will help you.
Keep copies of any information/documents you send to the DWP as sometimes they get mislaid.

Photos of important documents

You can use your mobile phone or tablet to take a photo of documents and send them to us via email to support your case. This is also a good way to create a back-up of physical documents if they ever get lost.

Taking photos of documents and emailing them on Android mobile phones

Taking photos of documents and emailing them on Apple iOS mobile phones (2 ways)

Signing and emailing our consent form

Following your appointment, you will receive an email from your caseworker at DAP with a copy of our consent form attached for you to sign.  You will need to sign and return this to us so we can act on your behalf.

Signing and emailing consent forms on Android mobile

Following your appointment, you will receive an email from your caseworker at DAP with a copy of our consent form attached for you to sign. 

To sign a form on an Android mobile, you need to first download the Adobe Fill & Sign App. This app is free of charge and can be installed by going to the Play Store on your phone and searching for Adobe Fill & Sign.

Once installed return to email. Tap the form attachment and you will be given a choice of how to open the form. Select Adobe Fill & Sign, then tap just once. 

The form will then open on your phone. To create your signature, tap the pen icon at the top of the screen. Then tap Create Signature. You will then be prompted to add your signature. 

Use your finger to create your signature on the screen. If you make a mistake, you can delete it by tapping Clear at the bottom right of the screen. When you are happy with the signature, tap Done at the top of the screen.

When you have created your signature, tap the signature box at the bottom of the form. Next tap the pen icon. In the drop-down menu that appears, tap the signature you have created. 

Your signature will then appear on the page. You can drag it to the correct space by moving the box with your finger, resize it, by dragging the blue circle with your finger, or delete it by tapping the bin icon. When you are happy with the signature size and placing, tap anywhere outside the blue box.

When you have signed the form, the form needs to be returned. Tap the share icon at the top of the screen. Select your email account.

Enter DAP’s email address, then tap the send arrow. 

Signing and emailing consent forms on Apple iOS mobile

Tap to download the attachment, this should open the consent form document on your phone.

If this is the first form you have signed on your mobile phone, you will first need to select share file via Markup.

Select the Markup icon (blue pen) in the top right-hand corner and use it to sign the screen digitally.

Select add signature. Use your finger to sign the screen digitally. Use your fingers to pinch to resize or reposition you signature. If you make a mistake, use the arrow pointing to the left at the top of the screen to delete your signature and start again.

Click done. Select new message and email it back to us.