pip award

alibongo51

hi all
well i had my assessment on wednesday the 9th august over the phone,then received a change of circumstances from the council stating pip award etc (i did ask on here if it could have been sorted out so quick) after being stressed as it was the weekend n nothing i could do till today,i phoned the council and its correct!😳 wow, i cant believe how fast it took..ive been awarded the same (enhanced care,low mobility,) only for a year this time but this will give me time to give further evidence as i didnt have nothing for my assessment (only hospital apts but still waiting)
anyway i feel like i can breathe a little again for a while longer.also i have read lots of horror stories about capita n i was dreading the phonecall especially as im hard of hearing n it wasnt recorded(although i had requested it a week prior) but the guy was very nice n patient with me
i just wanted to share my news.now im going to ask for a copy of the assessment

alibongo51

thank you yeh thats true.i need to stop reading them i think.have a lovely day ☺️

Hannah_Alumni

I'm so glad for you @alibongo51 I bet it is such a relief!  

alibongo51

thank you im still amazed how fast it it was done.wouod have been good to hear before the council though lol,but il just have to wait for my letter now

poppy123456

They do sometimes make a decision very quickly. It happened to me during my review back in 2016. 

I don't know if you're aware that you can challenge the decision based on the length of the award only. If you do this you need to make sure you tell them that you're happy with the award itself but think you should have been awarded for a longer period of time. You will need to tell them why you think you should have received a longer award as well.

It's perfectly normal for your LA to know the decision before you.

alibongo51

oh wow ty.should i wait till i receive copy of assessment first? i kind of understand it as i have no proof of whats going on as im still waiting to be seen? 
will it mean going through it all again? 

poppy123456

You would need to request the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) for this. You should put this in writing stating your reasons why you think your award should be for a longer length of time. The most likely outcome will be the decision doesn't change, if this happens you can proceed to Tribunal.

You don't need medical evidence for this. You already have an award, which you're happy with, it's just the length is rather short as it's just 1 year before you have to go through a review all over again.

alibongo51

thanks poppy,i will look into it

alibongo51

hi all well the housing benefit got it wrong(i was told i had only been awarded for another year.) i had a dwp phone the other day call to tell me i have been given  the enhanced elements for both! 😳 n not only that,its being backdated to when i claimed(a whole year) also as its ongoing i have it for ten years! i wont lie,i cried when i put the phone down.where the housing got her info from i really dont know..im just glad i dont need to worry for a good while now..wanted to share my good news

Leigh14

That’s great news @alibongo51. 

Is the ten year review because your disability is ongoing? I’m hoping for the same with mine.

alibongo51

thank you im assuming so,just waiting for the official letter now.good luck for yours 🤞 you get good news too

chiarieds

Hi @Leigh14 - you can get an award for an 'ongoing period' which has no end date for an ongoing disability that isn't going to change (& some will get this also due to their state pension age). My letter says that ''We will review how much help you need 10 years after your PIP was last awarded.'' In effect the change to my PIP award is therefore only for 6 years. I haven't seen anyone mentioning whether something similar has occurred to themselves.

alibongo51

hi chiareds.what do you mean by 6 years?have you had the award for 4 years n have 6 left? or does the ten years not mean ten years?

Leigh14

@chiarieds
could you advise me on this please, posted this morning.

Hi. Received text yesterday to say the forms for review are being sent out. When I first applied for PIP, I went on to the MR stage, as I was given low scores, which didn’t qualify for anything.

I was wondering if I could simply write on renewal forms what I had written for the MR stage. Would this be acceptable? Also, if I don’t get the points again, do I then go on to another MR stage, and could I ask how they could say I don’t qualify as my condition will never get better, it will only get worse. 

I know I’m jumping ahead of myself at the moment (given I haven’t even received forms yet) but I want to be prepared.

My pip end date is May 2024, so does this mean I have to wait that long for decision on review form? Hoping with enough written information I’ll get lucky and it will be a paper based assessment, as I’ve read on here, that can happen.

Thankyou.

Sorry, forgot to ask something else. On initial pip form, I got low points for daily living, but at MR stage, I believe I got 6 points, with 12 points for mobility. I didn’t pursue the daily living one, for fear of losing the mobility (hope this makes sense)
On the review form, can I go for daily living again, or would I need a separate form?

Thankyou

alibongo51

hi @Leigh14 can you use a seaparate thread hun for your own questions please,it gets confusing otherwise (*not having a go) xx

bg844

@Leigh14 A review form looks at your ability to complete tasks in line with both the Daily Living & Mobility descriptors, you don't need a new form and all relevant questions will be asked on the one form you get.

Leigh14

alibongo51 said:

hi @Leigh14 can you use a seaparate thread hun for your own questions please,it gets confusing otherwise (*not having a go) xx

Sorry, of course. x

alibongo51

ah no need to apologise,ive done it myself i think lol.it just makes it easier for everyone thats all xx

chiarieds

Hi @alibongo51 - my 10 years was only 6! I received a letter last year (2022) saying my award was for an 'ongoing period' but calculated 10 years from my first & only PIP claim. I was initially awarded in 2018, so it's until 2028; just 6 years. I haven't as yet heard another member have something similar. As it seems you've just had a review, then that won't happen to you.

Hi again @leigh14 - with a MR they look at your whole claim again, even if you ask for just one of the components to be looked at. It's also rare for the award you currently have to be decreased, altho many fear this, which is a shame. Even if you'd appealed to a Tribunal, they warn you on the day if they feel they would give you a lower award; then you just don't proceed!

With a review, you are really starting again, which is why you should treat it as if it was your first claim where you hopefully gave detailed replies. So, 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 any applicable 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. This for both components.

Don't just put 'no change' without detailing as above what hasn't changed & what it's still like for you doing/attempting a descriptor that applies. There's not much space on the review form so add extra pages at the end saying from which question it's a continuation. Put your name & National Insurance number on each of these pages. 

This is a really good link as it's a guide for the assessors. 'Reliability' is a very important concept which you'll see here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

Don't forget to say if you feel you should have a longer award. Medical evidence does likely help here too as well as your own.