PIP Assessment Report and Award Discrepancy

jamie12

My mother has had her PIP award declined today due to scoring only 4 points on daily living however after her assessment in December we asked for assessment report which showed a score of 8 on daily living and 4 on mobility.  We had thought based on the assessment report most likely they would award standard rate for daily living but scored half on decision makers award. 

I have read that they do not always follow the assessors report however the decision award letter contains a lot of flaws for example it mentions that they are not on any ptsd/ anti-anxiety medication but we have evidenced in application the current medication list and this was also mentioned in the assessors report.  I am not sure if the decision maker has read the report as there are many other flaws such as not awarding points for using incontinence pads which should be classed as an aid according to caselaw which were scored by assessor but not DM.

Also on top of this my mother received a text from DWP a few days ago saying "We have awarded you PIP.  We have sent you a letter explaining the award.  Please allow 2 weeks to receive this" so we are not sure what to do as there are so many discrepancies.  We will ask for an MR and also a statement of reasons but wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions or had seen something similar?

poppy123456

Your mum will need to ring them on Monday when they open at 9 because there's clearly an error somewhere. It has been known the for decision letters to be incorrect. Either that or the text was sent in error but PIP are the only ones that can tell you what's happened. The decision letter will have their contact number on it.

janer1967

Just to add you can't request a statement of reasons that is part of the tribunal process and produced after a hearing and your mum isn't at that stage yet 

Cher_Alumni

Hello @jamie12 and welcome to our online community, how are you today?

I'm sorry things are so confused with your mum's PIP claim. I'd second calling the PIP helpline to clarify exactly what the situation is, and then you can take it from there with regards whether a mandatory reconsideration may be needed.

The PIP helpline contact details are:

Telephone: 0800 121 4433
Textphone: 0800 121 4493
Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 121 4433
British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Find out about call charges

Please keep us updated with how you get on and we'll support you all we can. Best wishes.

rebel11

Once you've established what's what. If the award has been declined, 'tell them you want a Mandatory Reconsideration, but you will do that in writing'. There's a form you can use for the Mandatory Reconsideration. MR's are time sensitive, but they will accept it if you can give a good reason for the delay.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/appeals/mandatory-reconsideration-pip/