PIP assessment report completely inaccurate

pinkrosebud

   

river123

@pinkrosebud hi, that is shocking! I kno exactly how u feel right now.. I done a change in circumstances form an I had my assessment last Sunday I have just received my report as requested it the day after my assessment and by looking at the descriptors on what my assessor has scored me on I won’t be getting an award and I will be loosing my original award! I am not happy about this one bit as from what she’s wrote in there just isn’t the case. I have scored 6 on daily living and 4 on mobility.. I was already receiving standard on daily living and my award was currently untill 2028 but looks like I’m going to loose it now from going off the assessors report! I need to wait for the decision to be made and I’ll be going straight in for a MR..

chiarieds

Hi @pinkrosebud - & welcome to the community. Details of where to post your Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) will be towards the end of your decision letter. Unfortunately some of the 'cut & paste' parts in an assessment report can be 'inaccurate' to an individual. However, with a MR please put the assessor's report behind you unless you can show no more than one or 2 irrefutable inaccuracies, as concentrating on an 'inaccurate' report doesn't help with gaining a PIP award. The assessment report is also just a recommendation, so you need to wait for your actual decision letter.

Remember, as far as PIP goes, it's not about any diagnosis, but rather how your disability affects certain activities of daily living &/mobility. Have a look at the activities/descriptors that are looked at with PIP:
https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/personal-independence-payment-descriptors-and-scores-april-2023.pdf  & PIP is about how you are the majority of the time.
Give a couple of recent, detailed examples as to the difficulty you face for each applicable descriptor, i.e. when did it happen, where, what happened, did anyone see this, & were there any consequences to attempting/doing an activity?
Say if you can't do an activity 'reliably,' i.e. safely, to an acceptable standard, repeat as often as one would reasonably expect, or if it takes you much longer than someone without a disability. See this mentioned at the end of the link above.
Do your MR as a letter (don't ring), ensuring you put your name & National Insurance number on each page. Keep a copy, & get a free Certificate of Posting from your Post Office when sending it off.

poppy123456

I agree about the assessment report and putting that to one side because concentrating wholly on this is not going to get you a PIP award. It's fine to mention a couple of obvious errors but that's it.

godsend

PIP and the ‘health element’

One clear issue is that many people who can currently qualify for a LCWRA element of UC cannot get PIP. As the DWP has said often, the WCA and the PIP assessment measure different things. The WCA looks for difficulties that would affect somebody’s ability to participate in the workforce. The PIP assessment looks at the day-to-day tasks they do at home, their mobility and their ability to go out. There is limited overlap.

Alongside the long list of descriptors and activities in the WCA, consider the rules on 'substantial risk'. These can mean that someone has LCWRA status if work and work-related activity pose a substantial risk to their health. Substantial risk has typically been used as a safety valve for people with mental health conditions, including anxiety, and others who cannot show that they fit the main WCA activities and descriptors. These rules don’t have an equivalent in the PIP assessment, which does look at what daily living tasks and mobilising someone can do ‘safely’ but does not look any further into how their condition affects their ability to earn. Someone able to get LCWRA status because of a substantial risk to health might have limited chances of getting PIP.

This gets to me

woodbine

Very often its not that the assessment is wrong more that we disagree with it, a wholly different thing, wait till you get a decision before anything else.

chiarieds

Hi @godsend - 'Substantial risk' is mentioned in the 'Engaging with other people face to face' PIP descriptor under section d ii): https://pipinfo.net/activities/engaging-with-other-people-face-to-face   which says, '' Cannot engage with other people due to such engagement causing the claimant to exhibit behaviour which would result in a substantial risk of harm to the claimant or another person''

However, as you appreciate, PIP isn't about a person's ability work; some claim PIP & work, others don't.

poppy123456

godsend said:

PIP and the ‘health element’

One clear issue is that many people who can currently qualify for a LCWRA element of UC cannot get PIP.

Many people also claim both. Being entitled to one doesn't automatically entitle you to the other. Unless you're a mixed aged couple and the person of state pension age and above receives either Enhanced daily living PIP, high rate care DLA or AA and then you're automatically entitled to LCWRA.

godsend

Thank you all for the comments, i can now see how LCWRA status "substantial risk to health might have limited chances of getting PIP".

poppy123456

godsend said:

Thank you all for the comments, i can now see how LCWRA status "substantial risk to health might have limited chances of getting PIP".

No, not always. As i advised, there's many many people that claim PIP and LCWRA or ESA Support Group.

godsend

Hi poppy,

that's great to hear.

Just found the PIP Summary of Customer Journey map.

Could be in the M R for years / or what is the time scale to get the M R notice ?.

Thanks

poppy123456

godsend said:

Hi poppy,

that's great to hear.

Just found the PIP Summary of Customer Journey map.

Could be in the M R for years / or what is the time scale to get the M R notice ?.

Thanks

MR for years? That's highly unlikely. Timescales are anything up to 12 weeks.

godsend

Hi poppy, i have been in M R since January 6, 2023, 7 months 14 days. 

Over 1 year since the forms went in 2022.

0 points the outcome.

What is my next step to get my M R notice.

32 weeks, 227 days and still counting.

poppy123456

Contact your local MP because 7 months so far for the MR decision is unacceptable. https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/contact-your-mp/

godsend

Sent email to MP, will wait. Could be some record of waiting.

Thanks

godsend

MP sent me email today

The DWP have advised that after checking your  PIP records they can see that a decision was made on your MR on 19 January 2023. This was posted out to your address that day but from your emails to our office it appears this may have gone astray. The DWP have therefore resent a copy of this, attached.

Telephoned DWP to ask about going to Tribunal as this has been 7 months and very late to appeal, DWP have said Royal Mail for some reason are not posting on the DWP mail.

DWP are sending out the form for Tribunal.

My MP have sent me pdf's of the MR notice and an copy of consultation report, as i said "0" points, the report makes me super human.

Can anybody point me in the right direction to have a representative who deals in PIP cases

Thanks

poppy123456

When requesting the Tribunal because it's outside of the 1 month timeframe you will need to give a reason why you're late requesting it. It's highly unlikely they will refuse but you still need to give that reason.

For advice and possible representation then start here. https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits you will need to look for something like Welfare Rights or a Law centre. Citizens Advice no longer represent. However, many many people go through this process without representation. Just make sure you either appear in person, or have a telephone/video hearing because those will give you the best chance of a decision in your favour.

godsend

Thank you

i will try to be represented for my case.

Hannah_Alumni

@godsend Please keep us updated Keeping everything crossed for you!

godsend

Hi,

i have the MR notice sent to me and SSCS1 form.

Possible representation is very poor, can not get anyone.

Question, can i quote on the SSCS1 form or send in to the tribunal "case law where one person met the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010 because of the physical impairment of Trigeminal Neuralgia" as my case is similar.

Thanks

poppy123456

In my opinion you should forget about case law and concentrate on where any why you think you should have scored those points. Use those real world incidents that are very often mentioned on many PIP threads here. PIP isn't about a diagnosis so comparing yourself to someone else, isn't helpful.