(PIP) Personal Independence Payments

Everyday living
1

Hi Guys,

Was wondering if you could give me (and others) some advice with this new PIP scheme please?

I only heard of this today on the news and have been looking it up since. I got dignosed 14 years ago with MS and as you all know things just get worse and worse. Its hard though, as every day / week is different. Some weeks I literally can not got out of bed anf others I feel, well ok (ish) the pain never goes away and nor do the other lovely things such as tremours, shakes, headaches, and having to use a tube just to take a wee etc. I try my best to stay strong and deal with this. One day I no doubt will need to use a wheel chair but try to stay positive and not dwel on that thought. I do feel quite useless to others a lot and decided to look into being a volunteer, you know put something back. Not sure if I’ll even be able to do just a few hours here and there, but wanted to give it a go???

Thing is, I don’t want to put myself through this, trying to be useful for a change to others and put something back if I’m going to get reassesed and lose this (what used to be DLA) money we NEED to help live on. I’m sure same as you all, we stuggle just to get through but the thought of losing this high rate DLA is so scary. Waiting a few years to see as well. The stress of this worry for us all is just too much. I NEED my mobility car.

Mobililty cars are used by people who need and deserve them, what wil happen now? Now we all dont and wont have proof of three further years of high rate DLA which is what you need to even get on the mobility scheme? Will the car Co pull out of mobility cars…see I don’t have a spare 10k under my bed to just buy another one.

Is this a pilot scheme, or defenite? I know new claimants from today will have to claim this PIP and understand that, but for us all whom are already on DLA we should just be switched and not have to go through the process and some Dr and office deciding if we should get money to help us live. Don’t they see what this will do to us all?

I understand cutbacks, but this is just going too far. The government just see “lets save and make cutbacks as we’ll get back into power” when what they’re actually doing is making things worse and no way will they get back to do this again to us all. They also don’t see what it is like having a disability like ours. How things change for us from day to day. It’s not as simple as a bad back or broken bone which is there or it’s not…our’s is different and I am so worried what this will do to us all. The way things are for me personally even on high rate is times I can’t eat or have any heating on as it is. I can’t work as I am just too sick, what is going on??? I used to be proud and happy to live here, the goverment used to look after us to a point, but now, now we’re just a drain by the looks of it…WE ARE NOT we are here, we are important and this isn’t fair or right.

Even “if” we manage to get this PIP we’ll be getting much much less than what we’re now expected to live on…So do I do a few hours trying to make a difference and see if I can take my many pain killer, be in agoney, try to hide my shakes, go through the pain barrier that we all live with, feel so tired I could sleep for a week, pretend I didn’t just fall but act like I wanted to land against the wall…or stay at home, feel depressed, feel useless but be safer when trying to claim this PIP??

Rant over, thanks guys

2

Really tired and off to bed so no time or energy to answer your post properly, sorry. There have been quite a lot of threads about PIP over the past year so you might find you get a lot of info if you use the Search function. At the very least, this reply will get your post back up to the top of the first page.

Fwiw, if you are on indefinite DLA, you probably won’t have to worry about PIP for another eighteen months or so. Hopefully the government will have found their conscience before then :frowning:

Karen x

3

Thank you Karen. I hope the gov see by then too. Yes I’ve got until Oct 2015 but the wait is awful…the no knowing. I will have a good look. I have found a few things since my post about this PIP. I hadn’t heard of it until today on the news. So I’m in a panic about it. Feel physically sick. Since I heard my pains are unbelievable. Just trying to imagine the damge it’s going to cause…and to us all. Even more sleepless nights ey.

I’ll try to remeber that the gov is doing the right thing forcing ill people to work or giving even less money as I cry into a pillow with pain so as not to wake the kids, or the feeling that someone has ironed all over my skin as I brush past my bed sheets.

The gov is trying to show a shake up and look good…fix it all, but what they’re actually doing is effecting everyone but the wealthy and healthy…wrong wrong wrong.

For people whom are on DLA and that shouldn’t be…yea fine, but we are ill. This MS is enough without the worry of starving, which is what will happen. I already have to turn the heating off most of the day and be cold, go without food, you know …basics, but if they took away what we have…just awful. Cant imagine how bad it would be.

For the first time in years and years I just wanted to try and put back. I dont think I’ll last long in a voluntary job anyhoo, but wanted to try. But now doubt I can risk doing 4 hours a week trying to not feel useless in case they think I’m fit for work. I am not. Plus things are going downhill faster than I thought. Life stinks with this MS. I am usually really positive, but just feel like for the fist time ever, no point in the fight…

The gov, for the fist time EVER make me feel like a burdeon

But thanks again Karen x

4

PIP is NOT a work-related benefit - even somebody who IS working can claim it (as per DLA), therefore I don’t think you should make a link between voluntary activities, and whether you would or wouldn’t get PIP. PIP (like it’s predecessor, DLA) is meant to help with the additional expense of living with disability, and is not about getting you “back to work”, or indeed establishing whether or not you could work, since it wouldn’t matter if you already were. Completely nothing to do with it.

Tina

5

Sorry, “its”, not “it’s” - I do know the difference, just not at this time of night.

6

Thanks Anita .

Problem isn’t the work related bit as I know that.It’s more if they believe I am able to work. Do I have to tell them when they assess me? I did call the DLA a few months back and checked about it and they told me to go for it and no I didnt have to inform them. It would only be for a few hours a week but just when I thought I could get a life, no I cant. It’s hard as somedays I could do a couple of hours I think, and others I can’t even weight bare. The DLA used to be if you could walk, but in pain or severve discomfort and had to take breaks under 50m you’d still get the high rate. But how now will this be applied? I read this before

"The problem is that the goalposts have been moved and the criteria to qualify for the enhanced rate severely restricted.

From now on the only people who will qualify for the enhanced rate are those who can “stand and move” less than 20m (around 60 feet).

This includes with the use of aids such as a prosthetic, crutches or a walking stick. Anyone who can move further than this distance will only qualify for the standard rate, even if they then need to use a wheelchair for longer distances. Furthermore, anyone who can “stand and move” more than 50m becomes ineligible for the benefit completely.

Under DLA, the cut-off point for the ‘higher rate’ mobility component was 50m, and for the ‘standard rate’ 100m, so this is a huge change. 20m is a very short distance indeed – a bendy bus is roughly 20m long

To give you an idea of what this might mean, think of someone who is able to walk with a walking stick around their house and from their front door to the road or garage to their car but would have to use a wheelchair once they arrived at their destination. At the moment they would get high rate DLA. They would qualify for Motability and could get an adapted car. Under PIP they only get standard rate as they can “move” more than 20m. They lose Motability and their adapted car.

How do they now get around, as public transport is clearly unsuitable?"

So if you’re using a walking aid for the 20m or more, even in agony, with shooting cramps all over, foot drop, knee jerk, shakes, etc you’ll not get the higher rate or mobility car, which we need as do most. You can only stand and move now?? If we dont have a car i’ll be left house bound and just sit at home and rot. ??

If you dont get the higher rate of this PIP you wont get the top ups, any extra benefits, agency workers, carers etc. People who do not have any family or friends will literally just be left. They wont have the money to survive let alone be able to get the things we as disabled people need to survive

The gov often state that they want disabled people to lead independant lives…but how can we with this new PIP system? Most will either be forced back to work, when we cant and then not get any pay or stay at home as we are unable to travel even just for fresh air to feel alive or see your Dr etc. If I am having a bad day and using my stick with a lot of pain I can make it to the car (more than 20m) but I wont have a car to get to the GP and there are no buses to get me to my consultant? I know they say they will refund travel but they only bus fares. They have ambulances, yet I have called for them before and I havent given them enough notice. I did use one once but I was very late and missed my appointment. Not just Dr’s but life in general…seeing family or friends, going to the school, parents evening, shopping (even if I wait in car). I depend on the car all the time. I want to be a mummy and not a pain and make my kids ashmed. Without the car I will be left indoors for good. Then there’s the money aspect and the extra top up we get for being ill, they all stop.

Why do they want to do this to us? I dont know why they dont keep the DLA system? they say they will save millions, but thats at the cost of ill people and then the knock on effect will cost them even more. There must be another way to get those claiming whom shouldnt off the DLA and not at the cost to our health.

Benefit shake up is one thing…this is another. Is this just a scheme or is this all going ahead for real? Is there any bargaining on this, or are the rallys and protestors a waste or time? They need to look at the pit falls of this. It cant and wont work, how can it? The questions to be asked are very similar to the DLA ones, so why even change? They could have revoked claimants at the renewal stage without doing this.

thanks

7

Diane I see where your coming from, there doesn’t appear to be the severe discomfort part in the new PIP and like yourself a big part of my ms is severe pain even before I start to move which is only exaccerbated on movement with the added burning, tinglng etc you know what I mean so I too worry if in fact I would keep HRM. I don’t have a mobility car, this time around we decided to use the money to buy a car over the three years which when this came in I was relieved we did. You will have to try not to worry as you know the stress is going to make you ill. There are some great members on here who can give you lots of great advice, vent on here people are here to listen. Take care x

8

Hi Dianne,

I completely agree with all you have to say. The change in criteria for higher rate (or enhanced as they call it now) will affect many people and is a cause for disagreement.

However – please don’t get in a frenzy about it. Worrying to the point of stress is not going to help your condition. It’s many months before those of us with indefinite awards will be looked at and who knows what might happen by then. The most constructive thing you can do is join www.benefitsandwork.co.uk (about £20.00 per anum) They will keep you up to date and advise the best way of filling in the form.

A bit more about the voluntary work angle.

DLA (and later PIP) is not an income replacement benefit. You could work 100 hours a week and still get it. The criteria is geared around the personal care that you need and not how you would function in the workplace. For example DLA asks about how you wash and bathe – ESA asks if you can use a keyboard and mouse – a very different emphasis.

If you think that a few hours voluntary work would help you (and many people who visit these boards volunteer) it would have NO effect on your entitlement to either DLA or PIP. (I’m not saying it might not impact on ESA but that’s another story)

Jane

9

Everyone, The new PIP assessments that will now be starting and will role out to everyone in the next few years do cause a justifiable amount of anxiety. However its crucial that people spend time reading and understanding the guidance published by DWP.

Below is a worked example on mobility from the guidence. In this example the individual would be awarded higher rate mobility. Its so important to make sure that you have all the facts on how assessments will be done and what an adviser will be looking for when you describe your condition.

Worked example 2
Mr Y is
able to stand and move with a walking stick. He can walk up to 50 metres at a slightly slowed pace with some discomfort. After this distance he starts to experience increasing hip pain. He can continue to walk, but his pace slows even further and after 100 metres he needs to stop and rest. This takes a lot out of him and for a few hours after he is unable to go more than a few steps without experiencing further severe hip pain.
It take
s Mr Y between one and two minutes to walk 50 metres the first time.
In the
Moving Around activity, the HP should work their way through the descriptors considering each aspect of reliability, to find the one that best describes Mr Y’s ability to complete the activity reliably.
A
Can stand and then move more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided.
B
Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided.
C
Can stand and then move unaided more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres.
88
D
Can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 metres but no more than 50 metres.
E
Can stand and then move more then 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided.
F
Cannot, either aided or unaided. –
(i) stand; or
(ii) move more than 1 metre.
•
Safely – there is no evidence that this activity poses any risk to Mr Y’s safety. He has said he experiences pain but he knows when to stop and rest. There is no indication that this causes him any harm.
•
To an acceptable standard – this is not an issue in this instance.
•
Repeatedly – Mr Y has to stop and rest after walking 100 metres and experiences increasing discomfort after the first 50 metres. It is then several hours before he can walk this distance again. As this is not as often as would reasonably be expected, Mr Y cannot be said to complete the activity repeatedly. He can repeatedly manage a few steps using his stick, which is less than 20 but more than 1 metre, therefore descriptor E best describes how he is able to repeatedly move around.
•
In a reasonable time period – Mr Y can walk the first 50 metres in a minute or two. Although slower than normal, this is a reasonable time period for someone to walk this distance and therefore he can complete the activity in a reasonable time period.