Mandatory reconsideration has been rejected. I was having a good day and assessment at home for one hr with hubby present so relaxed, honest and spoke clearly with good contact so I am fine. Obviously the variable nature of MS and my constant fatigue was not sufficently evidenced in my written appeal. What grounds has anyone used and what evidence? MS nurse left last month and did not prepare a letter of support as I had requested. Will not be replaced for at least 2 months. Can you use letter S from family members about how MS impacts me, and therefore them?
hi
get advice and support from welfare rights or CAB and go to tribunal if thats what is needed.
my own request for mandatory reconsideration was rejected and now i’m awaiting a date for the tribunal.
welfare rights are going to support me and i have an appointment with them on wednesday where we’ll make our battle plans.
not something i look forward to but i have to do this to show them that they are just plain wrong.
good luck
carole x
Yes girls. You HAVE to fight to get the right decision…as wrong as they are, they cant win! YOU will win.
But I know this is all so worrying for you, scary too!
I`d be pooping my pants if it was me.
Still not had the call to transfer from DLA yet.
It`s a right swine!
pollsx
Hi
As has been said already, you need some proper help with appeal to tribunal, if at all possible. Try the Citizens Advice Bureau, or a local welfare rights service (try the CAB first and if they can’t help as too busy, then ask them for suggestions as to where to get help from).
Have a look at Personal Independence Payment - Citizens Advice or at http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/ You could join their website for access to accurate guides.
Basically, it’s not just what you say, but how it’s supported by evidence that makes a difference. Obviously, you’ve been very honest and said you’re going through a relatively ‘good’ patch with your MS. The problem is that the assessor has only seen you at a good time. In order to prove you qualify for the points associated with the activities, the assessor has to either see physical evidence when they visit you, or have convincing written evidence that backs up your statements.
You’ve not got evidence from your MS nurse, have you got support from your GP? Can you get a letter from them? If they are willing to write you a letter, you need to be clear as to what the letter should say. This is where you could do with assistance from a welfare rights advisor.
Sue
General advice on how to gather PIP evidence - here is how I did it.
If you have not got an MS Nurse, you can ask your GP to write you a care plan and a letter of support for PIP.
You have a right to a care plan and can ask for one at any time!
Of course you should have already sent this evidence with your PIP form!
Anyway - the care plan should be free, the letter will need to be paid for - mine was £12.
Care plans need a longer appointment - so book a 20 or 30 mins slot.
Prepare for this appointment:
- Write a letter or email your GP or MS Nurse listing:
- the PIP points your feel you should score - take the short PIP test here:
- Take the PIP test
- Copy your answers to this PIP test and the scores - and include this info in the letter to your GP.
- Keep a copy of your PIP answers and scores with you and take them to the appointment - talk through the list with your GP.
- when you go to the appointment - that’s what I did - and explained why I needed help with Daily Living activities and Mobility. For example, I mentioned: my history of falls etc.,. bladder problems and other symptoms - but importantly how this affect my ability to do tasks. I went through each PIP question with my GP - while she typed the letter for the DWP, for which I paid £12.
Next
- Get your carers or people who help you, to prepare a written, signed statement on how they help you and
how often.
- I included two signed carers’ statements with my PIP form. In fact 7 documents altogether - GP letter of support for PIP, MS Nurse Care Plan, two statements of care, other Neuro doctors letters on the progression of my disease etc.,.
It took two weeks to gather these document, because of waiting for appointments - so do it ASAP or before the PIP form
arrives.
EASY TO DO.
Good luck!
Fay
Helpful References
ADVICE NOW PIP Mandatory Reconsideration Request Letter Tool
http://www.advicenow.org.uk/pip-tool
Advice Now- How to win a PIP appeal
MS Society PIP
Care Plans
NHS Care Plans Care and support plans - NHS
MS Managing Falls
PIP Citizen’s Advice
Work and Benefits
FOR EXAMPLE: The Letter to your GP or MS Nurse
The letter to your GP or MS Nurse should be like this - because it states where you feel you should score PIP points and why. If you use a list, like this, and discuss your reasons why you need help with Daily Living and Mobility, this can then be included in the letter to the DWP in support of your PIP claim.
If you have never discussed how much help you need at home - when ATOS call your GP or MS Nurse how will they possibly know?
This is where people are going wrong - you must officially document - and put on record with your GP how much help you need or get from others.
There is a space for Care Plans on NHS SYSTEMONE, the computer database used by your GP - you need to get this info about your care needs on there.
DAILY LIVING COMPONENT.
You assessed yourself as scoring the following points for the daily living component of PIP:
1 e. Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal. 4 points.
2 c. Needs a therapeutic source to take nutrition. 2 points
3 c. Needs supervision, prompting or assistance to be able to manage therapy that takes no more than 3.5 hours a week. 2 points
4 f. Needs assistance to be able to wash their body between the shoulders and waist. 4 points
5 f. Needs assistance to be able to manage incontinence of both bladder and bowel. 8 points
6 e. Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their upper body. 4 points
8 b. Needs to use an aid or appliance, other than spectacles or contact lenses, to be able to read or understand either basic or complex written information. 2 points.
10 b. Needs prompting or assistance to be able to make complex budgeting decisions. 2 points
Total points: 28
MOBILITY COMPONENT.
You assessed yourself as scoring the following points for the mobility component of PIP:
11 f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. 12 points
12 e. Can stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided. 12 points
Total points: 24
Have I made this clear?
Fay
Good stuff Fay!
Useful for all of us not yet migrated over from DLA to PIP. Thank you.
pollsx
Best to get this done now - your GP or MS Nurse who knows you might be on holiday when you need them, or
leave their post.
Fays last point is a really good one. Because I was anticipating my PIP claim for months, I was collecting information and evidence a very long time in advance. So I’d learned the rules, understood the points system (you accumulate points depending on specific ‘descriptors’ within certain ‘Activities’), had been keeping notes of my symptoms and was getting evidence from all and sundry.
For example, I had letters from my neurologist that I knew would be relevant, a letter from the rehab consultant I also see, I’d been seeing the physio regularly so she knew me and what I was capable of (so could write me a letter quite quickly), I’d seen a neuro-psychologist, I’d seen a social worker so had a ‘care plan’ written (which I didn’t use in the end as so much of what had been written was couched in terms like ‘she has told me’ and there were too many mistakes in it, like calling my husband by the wrong name most of the way through).
So when the claim form came, I still had the complete the bugger. I still had to reference all the evidence I supplied (so all my statements were associated with evidence), and I still had to worry about it. But the majority of the information was already to hand.
This doesn’t of course help with appeals. Except that the more you understand about the benefit and the system the better your appeal will be.
Sue
Sensible Sue, as always.
Well, I had a frantic two weeks gathering my evidence - rather like doing last minute research for an assignment.
As Sue says:
“I still had the complete the bugger. I still had to reference all the evidence I supplied (so all my statements were
associated with evidence), and I still had to worry about it.”
In fact, what skills do you need to write a successful PIP application?
From what I’ve read on here - those without report writing skills will end up in Mandatory Reconsideration - just because they
don’t know how to approach the tricky form. So, rather than a test of disability - it’s a skills test!
So, I think previous report writing skills are a must - get help if you don’t have them.
Seriously, don’t just ‘have a go’ at the form yourself - ask the Citizen’s Advice or for other professional help.
After all, you are completing a legal DWP document designed to confuse you and slip you up!
Fay
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Yes, absolutely. It’s a skills test. Without the appropriate skill set you may come a cropper. But with help it’s possible to get through it.
Sue