Hi, my name is pepperpots! I'm a carer and need help with my PIP MR

pepperpots

Hello. I’m in the long process of applying for pip for myself. AdHD,  Anxiety and Depression although in the reconsideration phase after scoring 0 points. I’m totally overwhelmed trying to explain my conditions and the process is tying me in knots. There were huge inconsistencies/complete misrepresentations/ false facts within the telephone assessment report and I’d really not performed well in it anyway. One argument the assessor commented on several times was that I’m a career for my two adult sons so if I manage that I have no problem. I feel as if I’m jeopardising my caring role even tho this adds to my difficulties, I have no choice regarding providing this care?  Any advice appreciated 

chiarieds

Hi @pepperpots - & welcome to the community. I'm sorry your PIP claim isn't going anything like you hoped. Please put your decision letter behind you as they just cause needless upset looking at the inaccuracies in them. Let's hope we can help you move forward with the Mandatory Reconsideration, where another decision maker will look at everything again.

Please don't worry about caring for your sons, this is just one of those unfortunate comments that are used, & means nothing. Many people are carers, & still get PIP.

Remember PIP is not about any diagnosis, but rather how your health conditions affect your ability to do certain activities of daily living &/mobility the majority of the time. Have a look here first, which will give you some idea how to explain: https://www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/welfare-benefits/pip-mental-health-guide/help-with-your-pip-claim/how-to-fill-in-the-pip-form/      altho it's about filling in a claim form, it's still really relevant with your MR.
With your MR you should write where you think you should have got points, & why giving 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.
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.
Please do come back with any questions.

pepperpots

Thank you so much. Very helpful. Unfortunately I’ve been struggling to complete any paperwork for so long and as my anxiety is getting worse I only have until the 1st October. I just called pip and was told I’d have to send recorded delivery as I can’t have an extension again. My partner is severely dyslexic too so finding it hard to help me to organise myself with the paperwork and he has had a deteriorating chronic condition this month too.  I was told if I have new evidence I could submit after this date. I have new anxiety meds, a referral to talking therapies/counselling/ CBT and a referral for asc assessment last month   Would this be classed as new evidence if I include emails etc (I did just mention this verbally to pip) and if so could I also include all my other disagreements to this M R ?  Many thanks xx 

poppy123456

This one reason why you shouldn’t ring PIP for any advice. You actually have 13 months to request the MR. If you’re outside the 1 month timeframe then you will need to tell them why you didn’t request it within the first month. If they refuse you just proceed to Tribunal.

Its never worth while to send anything to DWP by next day delivery because it still has to go through the same Mail sorting process as any other mail going to DWP. All you need to proof of posting which is free from any post office. 

You need to put the assessment report and decision letter behind you because concentrating wholly on these will not get you a PIP award. 

Albus_Scope

Hiya @pepperpots and firstly welcome to the lovely community! 

I'm so sorry to hear you're having a rough time with PIP, it can seem like an endless trail of paperwork. 
With regard to new evidence, they will need everything in writing, as this will help the MR or tribunal get a sense of your day to day struggles. But include your disagreements of your previous assessment with this information and as said, make sure you number the pages and add your National insurance number to each page too.
  Do you have someone who would be able to help you with all of the paperwork?  

poppy123456

Albus_Scope said:

But include your disagreements of your previous assessment with this information 

Sorry but I disagree with that. Concentrating wholly on the assessment report isn’t going to get a PIP award. It’s fine to mention a couple of obvious errors or contradictions but then move on. 

pepperpots

Thanks all. I’m new to all this so I apologise if I’m not replying to you individually etc… although I suppose you wouldn’t know if I weren’t?! 😊 very grateful for your advice 

chiarieds

I also completely agree with poppy @Albus_Scope - unless there are one or 2 irrefutable errors, then both the assessment & decision letter should be put behind a claimant, as I'd already said. The way forward is writing where you should have got points, & why. Kindly read what has been said in a thread first.

Albus_Scope

poppy123456 said:

Sorry but I disagree with that. Concentrating wholly on the assessment report isn’t going to get a PIP award. It’s fine to mention a couple of obvious errors or contradictions but then move on. 

Yup, I totally agree with this.  Adding the errors in is just covering ones back, but it's not the main focus of the assessment at all.