Hi everyone- I have higher level mobility and lowest level daily living allowance which is supposed to be until Dec 2018.
in December 2017 I was sent forms as a review which I completed honestly saying certain aspects of my ms hadn’t changed but my balance had got significantly worse and I could no longer do things like carry hot cups of coffee or use the oven - as I tend to fall a lot and that I had had to reduce my work hours.
I also backed this up with notes from my MS Nurse appointment s
I then received a letter on Friday saying they want to do a face to face interview- I’m now worried they are going to reduce my benefits or take my car away - has anyone else had this experience halfway through their benefit period?
Hi I have to go to an assessment centre on Tuesday I didn’t get a home visit I was told that I was fit to drive to my doctors less than3 miles away I was fit to go to the assessment centre 17 miles away . They sent me a letter to walk to the bus which is 0.9 MLB’s from my us this will take me 20 minutes I don’t think so I think it would take at least over an hour with stoping and resting.I then have to get a bus to the nearest bus stop to the centre and then have to walk again. I am dreading it in case I loose my car I now can hardly walk and don’t know what I would do with out it .I am moving from Dla to Pips.On Dla I got 3 reviews but it always stayed the same.
let them know that you can’t make that journey and give reasons. just tell yourself that you are explaining to the feeble minded because they have no idea what ms does to us. get support from welfare rights, if they drop your rate and you lose the car, make an immediate request for mandatory reconsideration. if the second application fails go all the way to tribunal if necessary. carole x
I received a texted giving me 4 working days notice of the assessment .I phoned them up and told them I could hardly walk and they said I had to get a doctors letter stating all this and they had to receive the letter within a week. The Gps here are refusing to work with capita . I have borrowed a wheel chair for Tuesday and my son is coming with me .
thank you- I can get to the meeting - my husband can take me - I’m just worried they will take my benefits off me. My condition has worsened in the respect of my balance and distance I can walk so why would they call me in for a face to face assessment - wouldn’t they just let my payment continue to the end? it’s not like they’re going to increase my money to the higher rate living allowance is it???
PIP is an NHS paper trail - if you have a new symptom - they will expect to see an assessment from an OT or Physio or
see a report from a healthcare professional in your Care/Management Plan. If you don’t have these NHS assessments they will ask to make their own assessment of you - that is why the DWP employs OTs and physios to do the PIP assessments.
Remember it is not about the condition - MS - but how it affects you. So if your condition is worse Capita or ATOS
expects to see your NHS assessments.
Always have your NHS assessment paperwork up-to-date. If you have difficulty
walking to a bus stop - get it documented - go to NHS Wheelchair Services - to discuss your walking difficulties. This will generate useful NHS paperwork.
If your send enough existing NHS reports on you they will do a desktop assessment only without asking to see you.
The fact that they want to see you means you failed to supply enough NHS OT or Physio evidence to ward off the assessment.
I was in a similar situation a few months ago being moved from DLA to PIP. I found the website Benefits and Work really helped me to prepare for my interview which had me feeling very stressed! I won’t lie - it was still quite a stressful and upsetting experience however I definitely felt much better prepared for it! Hope it goes ok for you xx
Hi They have a letter from my ms nurse a report from my social worker and I also enclosed my ms diary which I had been keeping for a year. They said I was fit to go for the assessment as I attended my Gp. I now have now been granted 5 hours a week for help in the house .I received Iv steroids in October from the ms nurses they have that record since September I have been to the Gp nearly every month for a lot of problems with my ms and depression. When I was last in my Gp had a form to fill in for capita .
That’s interesting, so they give you an award with an end date, but reserve the right to reassess you (and possibly change the award) at any point during the year before.
Now why didn’t I expect that?
Oh, of course, because I live in a world where an end date on a benefit award means something.
This is also the world where we all thought when we were given ‘lifetime’ awards of DLA that we’d not have them unceremoniously yanked from under us.
According to the bbc news website today - everyone on PIP will be getting their claim reviewed so maybe this is why I have been called in see link below
"Ministers made changes to PIP in 2017 which limited the amount of support people with mental health conditions could receive.
As a result, people who were unable to travel independently on the grounds of psychological distress - as opposed to other conditions - were not entitled to the enhanced mobility rate of the benefit."
“… in December, a High Court judge ruled the alterations “blatantly discriminate” against people with psychiatric problems and were a breach of their human rights.”
So I guess, the “review” will mean searching the DWP’s database and looking again at those claims from folk
I read it as affecting only those claims related to mental health. And people with maximum awards would be ignored anyway since the review is likely to award more PIP, not less to those affected. Sue
No, the point is just that the DWP will be reviewing claims where mental health is one of the factors which affects their ability to mobilise. They had been found to be discriminating against such people. So it’s only going to affect people with less than a maximum award for mobility. And of those people, it’s just the ones where mental health is at least a contributory part of the reason for their disability.
Some people with MS may also have a mental health problem which makes travelling outside the home difficult. Or a symptom of their MS could be the cause of cognitive factors making travel difficult or impossible.
So if your claim for PIP is based solely on physical health grounds, then you shouldn’t be affected. Plus, if you have been awarded the enhanced rate of PIP for mobility, equally you won’t be affected.
I have ms first and depression 2 my depression can be quite bad . I managed to get the assessment cancelled with help .They came out to the house instead they have just gone and I am quite shaken after the event . I wouldn’t want to go through that again for a long time
I had mine on Monday at home it was just awful took one hour 15 minutes I told her I use wheelchair when out of house with exception of the few short steps to our car. As she went through assessment she kept trying to find out if I walked unaided at any time. She slipped it in at every question whether relevant or not I was totally upset throughout in fact her last question to me was when did you last go out I said we went to Sainsbury’s on Saturday she then said to so I take you walked then. I nearly lost it with her as I was so uptight I said I already told you I use a wheelchair when out and one that is pushed by my husband who in fact was present with me during the assessment and he told her the same. The physical part was horrendous she came across the room and stood in front of me and told me to watch her she wanted me to stand up and balance on one foot. I told her I couldn’t do that without falling she then said show me how you could do it I had my rolater in front of me and it took me ages to even get up holding it but she kept asking why I couldn’t do it and when I eventually managed to get to feet I found it hard to do what she asked she asked why I said I was in pain so she told me to sit down. She asked then to move my neck swiftly from left to right which I found hard as I get pain down my neck when I try this she asked why I told her I have an old whiplash injury. She asked me various other things too. To be honest I’m expecting to lose the lot because of her attitude. Her parting words where it takes 6 weeks before you hear if benefits stopped then she corrected herself by saying er changed.
When she came out to do my assessment on Tuesday she was her for 1 hour and a half my son was with me and he didn’t say very much which I think will look bad.I was supposed to go to the centre but at the last moment it was suddenly changed to a home visit . After she left I was so badly shaken on how it went she kept asking me if I ever forgot an appointment I said I couldn’t remember I didn’t think so that I was stupid .when she asked me to stand up with my rolater My leg went into spam and I couldn’t stand any further she realised I was in pain and said there was no point in asking me to do what ever was next. When it came to the expertise for my next I said I would rather not as I had oestrogen arthritis in it .