PIP financial independence v mental stress

LittleBearCoastal

PIP provides financial independence and therefore a vital life line for many people.  Are there any other reasons for pursuing PIP? 

My 16 year old has a face to face assessment tomorrow.  She has ASD/GAD and selective mutism in stressful situations.  I am not her appointee (CAMHS said they would complete her application although long term sickness prevented this & I did it).
She refuses to go tomorrow as I will not be able to speak for her and she cannot speak in social situations.  Her mental health has to be my priority and I will probably withdraw.

I would really appreciate any comments particularly regarding any other reasons for pursuing PIP.  Thank you.

poppy123456

If awarded PIP it can open up other things for your daughter such as free carer access to many attractions, as well as access to the motability scheme if she's awarded Enhanced mobility. If awarded daily living part depending on your circumstances you could claim carers allowance for looking after her.

The extra money is also a big help and will allow your daughter to do the things she may not be able to afford. (though i'm not saying you can't afford those extra things)

Was there any reason why you didn't become her appointee when you claimed PIP at the start? If she's mentally incapable of managing her own claim then you should consider this. You will then be responsible for reporting all changes, filling out forms and answering questions during any assessment. Though for face to face assessments she would be expected to attend.

You could cancel the assessment tomorrow and then ring PIP to ask to become her appointee but it may take a few weeks at least for this to be put in place. https://www.gov.uk/become-appointee-for-someone-claiming-benefits

You can also ring the health assessment providers and change the appointment to a telephone assessment and then explain your daughters health condition and ask if you can answer the questions on her behalf. If you apply to become her appointee before doing this then you should also mention this to them.

nasturtium

Hello Littlebear

In my opinion what you need to do today is to telephone the assesment providers and to tell them your daughter has a Face to Face assessment and it is causing her overwhelming phsycological distress and she will not be able or capable of attending the assessment. Explain to them her problems and request them to make adjustments. You can request they do a paper based assessment. I covered this in a reply a gave in another forum post a few months ago. The information might be of help to you. https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/581814/#Comment_581814

Do not let them force you into having a face to face assessment and do not take no as there final answer. It is your right to look after the welfare of your daughter.

Hope that helps and good luck.

Nasturtium

Edit: Poppy has also provided some good advice. She posted before I clicked submit so did not see the post.

L_Volunteer

I would just like to add a warm welcome @LittleBearCoastal. It is great to see you have joined us.

Would you feel comfortable sharing a little about how the assessment has gone with us and how your daughter is doing?

We are here for you and listening to you if you would like to share more with us. Completely hear you with your daughter's mental health needing to be your priority 

LittleBearCoastal

Dear Poppy, Nasturtium & L_Volunteer

I cannot thank you enough for your support as I felt so alone with this.  (I am sorry for not responding earlier as had a crisis with my elderly mum).

I rang the Customer Service Centre (ISA) to make sure that 'reasonable adjustments' would be in place for my daughters face-to-face appointment & that I could help with her answers.  This was a definite no as I wasn't her appointee and I wouldn't be allowed to speak.  I queried how the appointment was supposed to work as I had clearly documented on the form that she was a 16 year old with ASC/GAD/social communication difficulties/MUTISM in stressful situations.  I asked why she didn't have an 'Additional Support' marker on her case 1.12.4 and be offered a more appropriate paper based review.  They didn't like this at all and referred me back to DWP.

DWP said I should be her appointee and my daughter agreed over the phone, her file would be carried across to me.  Appointee appointment on 14 Feb.  I cancelled face-to-face for 1st Feb with PIP but they booked another for 22 Feb.  (PIP didn't let the assessor know about the cancelled appointment.  She range the house rather annoyed, demanding to speak to my daughter).

I feel its all been a bit of a mess but I was assured it would be a straightforward claim by CAMHS & they would fill in the paperwork.  

Will my daughter need to be present for the appointee interview as she has already agreed over the phone?  It would have to be with noise cancelling headphone, a white board & a lot of crocheting!  

 I am very grateful to you. 

poppy123456

Is the appointment for the appointee at home? If so then yes they will want to briefly see your daughter but everything else can be through yourself.

LittleBearCoastal

Yes the appointee appointment is at home.  I've printed out a copy of the BF56  and got everything ready so it should go as smoothly as possible.  I am feeling a little more in control now!

If I am made an appointee, I will then try and negotiate the method of the PIP interview.

poppy123456

I claimed PIP for my daughter in 2017. When i started the claim on her behalf (she can't use phones) i asked to become her appointee. They sent a DWP representative to our house to start that process. I waited a couple of weeks for that.

During the visit the woman did ask to see my daughter just so she was aware she was there. She didn't ask her any questions at all. She then told my daughter that she didn't need to be in the room with us so she went back into her room. My daughter isn't great with social situations and will mostly just sit there doing nothing, unless you interact with her and then she will answer you.

The appointment lasted about 30 minutes. I did have to sign some paper work. The rep then returned to DWP to continue the paper work and then set up the appointee. A couple of weeks later i received a letter in the post confirming i'm her appointee. Very simple and straight forward process.

2oldcodgers

I have recently heard about this appointee business and it would have been a lifeline for me when I started claiming DLA and Ind. Inj. Ben. years ago.

I'm ex services and suffer from PTSD as well as an acquired brain injury

I struggled to get the above benefits over 25 years ago but since then because I was under section for quite a while and then recovering at home I was not in the frame of mind to complete the renewal forms. It took me another seven years to make a reclaim thus losing the seven years of benefits.

Thank you for putting the 'appointee' option out in the open for those like me who knew nothing about it.

anisty

I also found the process of becoming an appointee very straightforward and, in my case, i was trying to get the appointee status removed!!!


What had happened is that i was my son's appointee for dla (he'd been on dla from age 3 and i can't remember an interview to be his appointee when he turned 16. I think i just applied and it was granted)


All was well until his support worker took him to the job centre in his early 20s to apply for UC. They could not proceed as it flagged up on their systems that he had an appointee in place for pip.

So the support worker suggested i get that removed and then she could support him through his UC claim.


Someone from the job centre came to the house, took one look at my son (he called early morning when my son was not in the mood to engage and just stared at the wall) and immediately went through all the disadvantages of dropping the appointee status!!


So appointee status continued. Definitely makes the process of dealing with DWP much easier.

LittleBearCoastal

I do appreciate all the advice and posts.  I will keep posting updates here & also provide support to my local ASD group of my PIP journey:

End of January - I cancelled the inappropriate face-to-face assessment on 1st Feb.  The latest they could reschedule was 22nd Feb.

14th Feb - DWP appointee interview at home (it only took 30mins).  Very straightforward he only asked for the information set out on the appointee letter.  He asked my daughter her name & what she was doing at college.  She kept her noise cancelling headphones on & concentrated on her crocheting but she did shake throughout.  The appointee letter had already been prepared & I was immediately appointed.  

17th Feb - Told PIP I was appointee & that a face-to-face was completely unexceptable.  They didn't argue & said that the rescheduled meeting could be by phone.  My concern is that in the last few weeks my daughter's mental health has deteriorated quite significantly & I've got new evidence from a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, referral again by GP to CAMHS for immediate anxiety meds review.  Therefore, I asked for an extension to make sure that all the new evidence is scanned onto the system before the interview.  PIP said no as they had only a certain time to review the case.

I will ring DWP on Monday for a time extension as clearly the first face-to-face assessment shouldn't have been sent to an Autistic 16 year old with GAD & social communication difficulties ... it is like they haven't read any of her file!

I would appreciate any further advice.

, 

L_Volunteer

Thank you for sharing your appreciation with us @LittleBearCoastal. You are doing really well to keep us in the loop, especially during such a difficult time for you.

I can really hear your concerns and frustration. Not least with your daughter’s mental health deteriorating quite significantly recently.

How are you and your daughter coping and feeling about being referred again by your GP to CAMHS for an immediate anxiety meds review? 

Hopefully, this will help to make your daughter’s anxiety more manageable. Is there any other support in place at the moment for your daughter's anxiety?

I am wishing you the best of luck with ringing the DWP tomorrow. Please do feel free to let us know how this goes and if you need any further support with it in the meantime.

You have mentioned appreciating any further advice, is there any particular advice you are looking for at the moment? I just want to ensure we hear you as clearly as we can 

poppy123456

Have you already sent some supporting evidence, including your own real world examples?  Multiple reports all saying the same thing isn't helpful. Less is often more. It could be many weeks before you receive an appointment for your daughter and then quite a few weeks after that before you receive the letter from the appointment with all the extra information.

If you've already cancelled one appointment they may not cancel another because usually you're only allowed to cancel it once.

For the assessment then you'll need to ring the health assessment providers and not DWP because the assessments have nothing to do with them.

If it was me then i'd rather get the assessment over and done with sooner rather than later and yes i've done multiple assessments as my daughters appointee and many for my own claim.

LittleBearCoastal

Poppy - thank you again!  Yes I sent supporting evidence with the initial form.  I now have more relevant reports eg for Consultant Clinical Psychologist that my daughters anxiety effects "every aspect of her daily life" etc.  If I go ahead with the telephone assessment on 22nd will they still consider these additional letters/reports as evidence?  Many thanks.

poppy123456

Yes they will still accept them. The health assessment providers have an email address that you could send them to. I’d advise you to ring them tomorrow morning to ask. Make sure you include her name and NI number on everything you send. 

LittleBearCoastal

Hi Poppy
My local PIP office was happy for me to bring in additional evidence for the HP.  I had the phone call yesterday, 1hr 33 mins!  She was professional but very pleasant.  I felt I had a good rapport with her and that she took the time to get a full picture the application.  My daughter said very little but she was asked a few of the same questions as me, thankfully we concurred! 

I will post when we get a decision.  Thank you again - you make a difference! x
 

anisty

That's all sounding very positive @LittleBearCoastal. Fingers crossed it will be a good outcome 🤞


Keep us posted🙂