Just a general ask to see if anyone else is having a similar ‘problem’ and to see if anyone has any sugestions?
I was awarded disability some years ago alongside full mobility, I had at debilitation cancer, now resolved, but with extensive knock ons, including big step back with the MS!, Was informed by DWP I ha to reapply and do so for this new PIP; well it seems like, I am told, that I can walk/ stand well, have no cognitive disabilities so dont need the mobility element!! ( I cant walf further than 5 metres without help, cant stand for periods in excess 5 minutes, without falling over/collapsing, but hey that’s ok I don’t need the mobility element and only the standard level for the daily living component. This weekend has been awful staggering all over the place, exhausted, and going to Docs this pm to try and persuade a further course of methyl prednisalone to kick this relapse into touch, for a while …
Has anyone had similar problems with this wretched PIP, Personal Independence Payment? Nothing Personal or Independent about it!!
The first thing you need to do is request a reconsideration of their decision. You have one month from the date of their decision to do this. Once they have reconsidered, you then have the opportunity to appeal against their decision.
But, you really need to get some help with the whole thing. See if you can get benefits advice from the CAB or any other local welfare rights organisation. If you end up having to do it alone, or maybe with help from a friend who can help you with wording etc, have a look at the http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/ website. They give good advice on ESA and PIP, are up to date and accurate. It’s well worth joining (about £20) to get detailed, informative advice on how to do it.
Hi to all and thanks, Yup gone through the mandatory process with further lettert from my super MS nurse, and still no joy, no consideration to the letter. I have been granted a tribunal hearing, so anyone with that experience please join in!
I ha have found a good site called Benefits and work, they seem to have some good info, so I joined up and we shall see, Thanks again, trying to keep stress levels in hand and Yes my GP was super, got just what I needed for now with sleep tabs if required!!
You should approach your local welfare rights group to see if that can provide someone to attend with you at the Tribunal. CAB are really helpful in providing support in completing the PIP forms and in requesting a reconsideration. I attended a DLA Tribunal a few years ago and my Trade Union provided a representative to help me with the case and attended with me. I don’t think the format will have changed for PIP. It is a legalistic environment with 3 members, the Chair being a Legal professional, one a GP medical professional and the third a lay person. My Tribunal lasted about an hour and a half and consisted of the panel questioning me on the detail behind my original application and basis for appeal. The chair of my panel was very fair minded and I got across all the points that I wanted to make, they didn’t try any trick questions like where did I park and how I had managed to walk to the Tribunal. My appeal wasn’t upheld but whilst my condition had worsened, they had to judge the appeal on the original application which was 3 years previos, that being said the Chair did urge me to put a new PIP application in, which I did and got higher rate care and lower rate mobility.
I am now retired but have started doing some voluntary work with CAB and I have seen quite a few cases like yours where the medical assessment didn’t really take full consideration of the applicants mobility issue. When filling the original PIP form it is ever so important to have a look at the scoring matrix that is available through any search engine. The scoring matrix sets out the assessment criteria that DWP use and it is also important to assess yourself on the worst days, if you have RRMS. If you had a home medical assessment it is not unusual for the assessor to check your medication and where you keep it ( how far do you have to walk to get it).
In preparing for your Tribunal you need to be clear on the points (factual and included on your PIP form) where you feel that they have assessed or interpreted the evidence that you have provided, incorrectly. On of the things worth checking is the medical assessment that was carried out on your original claim, on mine it wasn’t from a nurse\ clinician who had any specialist knowledge of MS.
From what you say it sounds like you would have the basis for a reasonable appeal, providing it relates directly to the information you provided in your original application or any error in the face to face medical assessment.
I am appalled and disgusted, as well as now being worried that I will lose my lifetime mobility component when I go from DLA to PIP. Bless those politicians and impoverished (B) ankers who need to save £12 Bn from the “welfare” budget.
I hope you can get what you need without a massive battle.
i found NOT putting time on the form helped. I found words like limited or restricted better.
i heard that ATOS convert the minutes you can stand or walk into meters from minutes. A quick Google search showed that very slow walking is 30 metres a minute so standing for 5 minutes equals 150 meters
for PIP 20 meters is the maximum distance for top rate. Having help is considered for PIP
saying can’t walk more than 20 meters without help could suggest that with help (stick ?) you can walk further.
Thought I’d chuck my hat in the arena. I originally applied for PIP in August 2014 after my diagnosis of PPMS following 2 years of worsening symptoms. After filling in the PIP “how your disability affects you” form; commonly known as writing war and peace! I had an assessment in November 2014 and a few weeks later received a letter saying no to daily living component and standard mobility. In the letter it stated that I turned up to the assessment on time, well dressed and well nourished and therefore I did not need any help! I called up for mandatory reconsideration and explained that my family had made sure that I was always smart and fed as they cared about me and know I had self respect; as a disabled person was I not entitled to self respect! I then explained that I was going to send a copy of their letter to every disabled charity in the country as I thought it was disgusting. After a long discussion the DM decided I would qualify for failing living at standard rate but the mobility was to remain at standard.
As my condition worsened I asked for a review in August 2015, during preparations for this I discovered an assessor so guide for PIP online and low and behold in one of their examples a person with more mobility than myself was awarded enhanced mobility. I contacted the DWP and queried this and they refused to budge on it. I decided that I would appeal through the courts at tribunal. The court sent my appeal to the DWP who still refused and a date was set for the tribunal. In my appeal my submission set out all the points where the DWP had failed to take certain points into consideration. The reply from the DWP was just a statement saying they thought they had made the correct decision. In prep for my tribunal I asked for a letter from the GP stating how I was mobility wise at the time of the assessment, I wrote a skeleton argument for the judge and also had letters and appts from every hospital and specialist I had seen.
The tribunal on 1st December lasted over an hour in front of a panel of 3; judge, doctor and disabled representative. I was intensively interrogated for this time, and every trick in the book used to try and trip me up! Before I was diagnosed I was about to take my law finals and had volunteered at the local courts legal help desk for 3 years and also taken some advocacy training, but I still found this a battle and had to have my wits about me. For the average person this would have been very difficult. And I would advise anyone who isn’t either legally trained or easily intimidated to get some form of representation. Furthermore, the DWP didn’t even send anyone to defend their appalling decision! Any way the long and short of it was after 15 minutes of deliberation all 3 panel members came out to me and said they would allow my appeal and that the DWP would also have to backdate the award to August 2014. So there is 15 months of my life fighting the DWP!
My top tips are as follows:
When filling out the PIP form list all the issues you have and give examples of all the problems you face everyday, list any AIDS you use, if you receive help in any shape or form tell them. Try to get letters from GP’s, nurses, consultants etc.
Remember at the assessment you are being assessed from the moment you arrive, not just when you go into the interview room.
Be very clear to the assessor how you got there, what it took to get there on time, dressed etc.
If your turned down then call for MR ( mandatory reconsideration) and go through their decision line by line, their are commonly errors or points they have ignored.
If you decided to go to tribunal then prepare well, get more evidence and if you are not confidant in court or speaking publicly the get representation.
Finally don’t give up, if your entitled you still have to fight for it!
Dear everyone, an update on my PIP tribunal appeal, well I attended, one judge, one doctor, (familiar with MS) and a lady with responsibility for providing support to SSD in regard of MS and disabilities! Well they were very kind, very thorough, the Doctor specific in questions, all in all about 45 minutes and I did feel as if I had gone through a wringer, not them just the stress of it all- They could see the stress, said go out have a coffee, sit and regroup, while they discussed the case, about 30 mins later, I was called back in to be told that my appeal had been granted and 12 points had been awarded re mobility, and the care elements they agreed were correct, for now!!
So I now hav ethe enhanced mobility rate and it was backdated!
So any pointers?, prepare well, be honest, take support, and you hopefully will have a measure of success.
What a nightmare journey you have had. So pleased you got the result you quite rightly deserve, well done. I to was recently awarded enhanced rates. What a terrible system, so many people being put through a lot of stress that they can do without.
Glad to hear u were successful with ur appeal. I too have appealed & am awaiting date to attend. I worried i will need to sibmit a new pip application as i was only diagnosed on 15th April 2016. Any thoughts
Thanx for message of support i had experienced symptoms of poor balance & coordination since December 2010. No support from GP got to the point stopped seeing them as i felt they thought i was a malingerer. Went for routine eye exam at my optician having a history of muscle imbalance in left eye he referred me to opthamologist who had previously carried out surgery on left eye.Opthamolist reported no further muscle imbalance in left eye and referred me for mri and neurology appointment . Sorry for being long winded and spelling mistakes. (Optician appointment January 2015 diagnosis April 2016.
I applied for pip and only received lower rate mobility.I asked for a reconsideration and was awarded lower rate daily living and still lower rate mobility. All the while this was going on i had just had a bad relapse leaving me unable to walk without falling over and loss of sight in my right eye.
Then i received another letter from DWP stating that they had spoken to my consultant and awarded me the enhanced rate of the daily living but still the lower rate mobility.I appealed this decision and then received another letter saying they had scored me incorrectly and i now had 10 points mobility i appealed again and had my tribunal on Monday 25th April.
I had worked myself up so much i was a mess on the morning but still went ahead.As in previous posts it was a courtroom but with only 3 ppl 1 judge 1 doctor and a representative for disabled.DWP were invited but didn’t turn up.The judge never asked me any questions just the doctor it was over in half an hour and then i waited for the decision and was successful they awarded me 12 points for not been able to plan and follow a journey and still 10 points for my walking so 22 points. They also said the decision was set aside that the dwp made last year and both my awards should stand and that it would be inconsiderate to put a date on them.
i left feeling relief for the first time since diagnosis.I also had a repeat MRI on Thursday because i have had 4 relapses in 12 month,so you can imagine the relief.
But NOOOOOOO! the dwp sent a letter now saying they are appealing and i wont be getting paid till its sorted and could take several month if the judge agrees to let them appeal.I have heard they ask for detailed accounts as to why the tribunual awarded me the points
I think you need expert help, of the kind that’s just not available on this forum. Have you had any help with your appeal so far, from the CAB or other welfare rights advisers? If not, perhaps you should try to get some help from the CAB initially.
It appears their server is currently down, but try looking later. They have very good guidance available. I suspect for what you need you’d have to be a member but it’s £20 well spent.
I do hope the DWP fail with their appeal and that its all resolved in your favour soon. I can’t believe they’re not paying you whilst their appeal is decided.
I’m sorry, I can’t give you any better advice except to get some expert assistance.