Pip and driving

madee93

Ive herd alot of peoples claims being wrongly assessed due to the fact they can drive...i recently had my assessment and told them i can drive but literally only for 5 mins before my foot cramps and starts hurting due to nerve damage from cauda equina syndrome. Im very anxious now and feel i have messed up my claim by being honest! Can anyone give any advice on this or their experience as a driver applying for pip thanks xx 

poppy123456

I’ve claimed PIP for 10 years almost and driving has never gone against me. Yes, sometimes driving can be a reason for not awarding points in some descriptors and is often a copy and paste reason. 

All you can do now is wait for the decision because at the moment you can’t speculate anything. Once the report is returned to DWP a decision can take up to 12 weeks.

WelshBlue

I've got Enhanced Daily Care and standard mobility .  Not once has the fact I can drive gone against me.
This is from the initial claim and 2 reviews

I've only been asked once about my driving and that was the Decision Maker on my last review, who asked if I drive a manual or automatic (manual), and increased my Daily Living from Standard to Enhanced because of worsening condition  

Good luck

2oldcodgers

WelshBlue said:

I've got Enhanced Daily Care and standard mobility .  Not once has the fact I can drive gone against me.
This is from the initial claim and 2 reviews

I've only been asked once about my driving and that was the Decision Maker on my last review, who asked if I drive a manual or automatic (manual), and increased my Daily Living from Standard to Enhanced because of worsening condition  

Good luck

I was also asked if I drove by the assessor. I told her that I did on and off because of my mental health issues. Then she asked me that if I had driven a distance from home on my own and then felt unable to carry on what I would do. I told her that my wife would drive instead.
I knew what she was getting at was that if my mental health was so severe how could I possible drive thereby trying to undermine what I had said on the claim form.

StillIRise

madee93 said:

Ive herd alot of peoples claims being wrongly assessed due to the fact they can drive...i recently had my assessment and told them i can drive but literally only for 5 mins before my foot cramps and starts hurting due to nerve damage from cauda equina syndrome. Im very anxious now and feel i have messed up my claim by being honest! Can anyone give any advice on this or their experience as a driver applying for pip thanks xx 

I think it would depend on each person's specific case.  I have severe dissociative symptoms, meaning that I have no awareness of hazard and suddenly have no idea where I am or what I'm doing.  So I've been told b my psychiatrist I must never drive.  So it would seem very odd to someone assessing my PIP claim if I was able to drive.  It wouldn't make sense given my symptoms.  But for somebody with different symptoms and different limitations there's no reason they shouldn't drive.  Why would they even have the Motability scheme if they were going to penalise claimants of PIP for being able to drive?

Please don't worry.  I hope everything goes smoothly for you and no reason to assume it won't. 

JB2023

I said the same thing in my assessment, but I requested the report before my decision (still pending) to see what has been put down. It didn't go against me, but I've seen a lot of people on here say it has had some effect. Maybe request the assessment then you can see what's been added.

All the best, good luck

WelshBlue

2oldcodgers said:

I was also asked if I drove by the assessor. I told her that I did on and off because of my mental health issues. Then she asked me that if I had driven a distance from home on my own and then felt unable to carry on what I would do. I told her that my wife would drive instead.
I knew what she was getting at was that if my mental health was so severe how could I possible drive thereby trying to undermine what I had said on the claim form.

I had to have a look at my award letter, realising I hadn't really read it ... driving only went against me  because of the multitasking/cognitive etc involved, and couldn't be awarded points for planning and following a journey ... which is fair enough

The Daily Living wasn't affected because driving didn't contradict the descriptors and 12 points awarded

Really is a minefield and somewhat of a lottery as to who you speak to ?

I'm glad you kept your thoughts and answers 'inline' with their reasoning 

66Mustang

Might be no help to you as my issues are mental and not physical but just sharing my experience as I get PIP and drive.

I get enhanced Mobility PIP and I drive. In fact I drive a Motability car paid for by my PIP.

I get the PIP because I can only drive my car any distance (i.e. any further than the car park) if I have someone in the car with me. Being physically able to drive doesn't change the fact that mentally I need someone with me for support.

Edit to add: I explicitly said I drive in the PIP forms but went on to explain that I can't do so alone.

OverlyAnxious

Back in 2019 one of the refusal lines in the letter after my awful face to face assessment was regarding driving.  Although as Poppy said earlier in this thread, it seemed to be a fairly standard cut & paste line back then.  I haven't heard of it being used so much recently.

MadMilan2019

Here's some hard information:

You can always Google any Q you have, and disability.

does claiming pip disqualify you from driving a train?

Claiming PIP does not automatically disqualify you from driving a train. The decision to grant PIP is based on various factors, including the individual's medical condition, mobility issues, and the impact on daily life and mobility. While driving can be a reason for not awarding points in some descriptors, it is not a definitive reason for disqualification. The DWP may argue that driving demonstrates good cognitive ability, navigation skills, and an ability to plan a route, but this argument is not always accepted. It is essential to provide clear and accurate information in the PIP form and to challenge any decisions that seem unfair. 

Benefits and Work+4

Please click the link above

Rosie_Scope

This discussion is from 2023 @MadMilan2019, so I think these members may have moved on from discussing this, but thank you for sharing this information.

Just as a note, AI can be a bit dodgy for benefits information, so if you're Googling and using their AI, be sure to check the sources carefully.

This one looks like it's come from Benefits and Work which is a genuine site so that's all good. But while the question asked is about trains, the information from the Benefits and Work site is about driving cars. AI will sometimes fill in the gaps if it doesn't find anything suitable which can be a bit misleading!

I'm sure some people may still find that useful to read about ☺️

Hope you're doing well.

Lookingforanswers123

hey @66Mustang i am in this boat mine is mental health related I have had a motability car for 6 years but my dad taught me to drive this year and didn’t realise I had to report this as a change because I still never leave the house alone. I have heard such horror stories and now am terribly worried that doing this means I’ll lose my mobility and possibly my daily I don’t know if you have any advice and also sorry for the @I know it’s rude as we have never spoke

thank you

SheffieldMan1976

It'll be 23 years in July since I was turned down for a Provisional license by the DVLA, PIP wasn't even a thing then, but they said due to my disabilities I'd struggle to control a vehicle, and with my tendancy to get wound up easily I'd be a candidate for "Road Rage" (Eh?!)

Rachel_Scope

Morning @Lookingforanswers123 and welcome to the community. That's great that you've learned to drive! How are you finding it?

There is typically only an 'issue' if the change of circumstances goes against what you've told them you're able to do. If yours is based on not being able to go out alone then driving shouldn't make a difference. Try not to read too many stories. It's mostly negative stories that get published online.