PIP only scored 2 points

Shepard123

Refused pip only scored 2 points for meeting people. mandatory reconsideration came back same score no contact has been made from anyone dealing with reconsideration to obtain additional detail or ask how my mental health affects my daily life. Have asked for tribunal giving even more detail on how my disability affects me and why / which descriptive I believe relates to me. Pip desperately needs an overhaul the questions / descriptors are easily understandable for someone with a physical disability for instance someone missing a limb but the difficulty is answering the same question with a mental health illness. Lack of knowledge on particular disabilities seems to be the main problem my initial assessment was done by assessor & her supervisor the questions are vague and don’t really give these people doing the most important job of any pip claim a good idea of how each activity effects a individual. Sadly the assessor is the first port of call get this wrong or they miss understand what you’re telling them or even assume they understand your condition from a short phone call is the biggest problem of the whole pip process. 

poppy123456

It's not their responsibility to prove you qualify, it's yours. They very rarely contact anyone for any evidence, this is soley on you. They do not need knowledge on any particular health condition because it's not awarded based on that or any diagnosis.

There's at least several descriptors that can apply to someone with mental health. I find it easier to fill the form in for my daughter who claims PIP without any physical conditions than i do for myself and my whole claim is based on physical conditions.

You are correct that the biggest problem is the claimant not understanding the descriptors and what they mean. The next biggest problem is claim forms being poorly completed and lack of information. This then makes their job even harder and being left open to all sorts of opinions.

There's lots of information available online to try to understand the descriptors and what they mean. You can start here. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

Shepard123

It’s easy to understand the process of a pip claim if you have already done it or as in your case have a vast amount of information, knowledge and experience on how the system actually works unfortunately for the average Joe Public it’s the first time claiming not many would understand the complexity of the assessment or what it entailed. It’s fine saying you can obtain information online to understand the descriptors sometimes that’s not available depending on the individual it’s not uncommon for a individual with mental health needs to be unable to process written information, an individual may have complex needs unable to seek advice and believe it’s a relatively simply form to obtain additional financial support. 

chiarieds

Hi @Shepard123 - & welcome to the community. You can't expect Health Care Professionals to understand all conditions/disabilities, indeed you'd be hard pressed to find a Dr/consultant that does!

I suffer from physical problems, but didn't even name the one that causes me the most bother as most consultants I'd previously met didn't either understand or know about it. This leads to the comments often correctly expressed on this forum that PIP isn't about any diagnoses, rather how these may impact on a person's functional ability to reliably do any of the applicable activities/descriptors that are looked at with PIP.

I agree that some with mental health problems may struggle (as also do some with physical problems) to understand exactly what is needed when claiming PIP. We have to go with what it is, & members give their time here tirelessly trying to help in that regard giving info & links where possible.

Shepard123

I totally agree what has been said I’ve followed the group for over 6 months and well aware poppy123456 is very good at giving the relevant information to people not understanding the pip system and the help the forum provides