The two-week claim diary
Nothing strengthens a claim like a record kept over time. A fortnight of notes turns an opinion into evidence, costs nothing, and needs no special form. Below are the five things a decision maker reads for.
Write about the bad days
Claims fail on descriptions of a good day. Asked how they manage, most answer the way they would answer a neighbour — briskly, with dignity intact. A form describing somebody coping produces a refusal, whatever the reality behind it.
A diary makes that harder to do by accident, because you are writing on the day rather than summarising a fortnight from memory. Say how often the bad days happen. "Most days", "three or four times a week", "every morning" — frequency is what turns a description into evidence.
What happens to what you write
It stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to us, we cannot read it, and there is no account to make. That matters more here than on most pages: you are being asked to write down the parts of your week you would rather not dwell on, and nobody does that honestly into someone else's computer.
The practical consequence is that clearing your browsing history will delete it, and it will not follow you to a different device. Download or print a copy once you have a few days written down.
Common questions
Why does a diary help an Attendance Allowance claim?
Because it is contemporaneous. Decision makers read hundreds of accounts written from memory on the day the form was due, and a record kept as things happened reads differently from all of them. It also stops you describing a good day, which is what a refused claim usually describes.
How long should I keep it for?
Two weeks is enough to send with a claim. Longer does no harm, but a fortnight is usually sufficient to show a pattern rather than an isolated bad day, and it is short enough that people actually finish it. A part-finished diary is still worth sending.
Is what I write here sent to you?
No. Entries are held in your own browser and never transmitted. We cannot see them, and they will not appear on another device or a different browser. Download or print a copy once you have a few days written down, because clearing your browsing data will remove them.
Do I have to use a special form?
No. A notebook in your own handwriting carries as much weight with a decision maker, and some people find writing by hand simpler to keep up. This is the same five prompts laid out for you, with a printable version at the end to put in the envelope.
When the diary is done, read it beside the nine pitfalls that get claims refused before you fill in the form, and run a sentence or two through the wording checker.