PIP came back: ZERO points... your advice please
So my PIP came back on Friday, and I'm mildly annoyed. A friend of mine, who in volunteering for CAB, has written over 50 successful PIPS for people, says that this is a fairly generic 'yeah we didn't really think before writing you off' sort of response.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
I will post their reply at the bottom of this.
Important note, my friend listened in on my chat with the consultant and he says I blew it because I demonstrated that I catch the train a few times a week, and some people trust me to sweep up on a building site 3 days a week as a job.
now, I made what I thought was a pretty good case on paper. 2,280 carefully honed words to be specific.
But, condensed thanks to ChatGTP, I basically stated:
- Bruxism: Constant biting, jaw tension, painful ulcers, sleep disturbance, costly dental issues.
- Appetite suppressant: ADHD affects planning, impulsivity; forget meals, significant weight loss.
- ADHD affects working memory, causes distractions, requires meal preparation support.
- Housemates simplify recipes, act as "body double," impacting their time.
- ADHD affects self-awareness, focus, spatial awareness; increases kitchen accidents.
- Lack external support, forget to eat, ADHD symptoms worsen.
- Alone: set alarms, clash sleeping/eating patterns, rely on shakes.
- ADHD hinders cognitive skills, require one-to-one supervision for meal prep.
- Treatment: Two morning pills for ADHD management.
- ADHD makes morning medication routine challenging, affects cognitive functions.
- Dependence on housemates for reminders, disruptions without medication, financial constraints for therapy.
- Low self-worth, ADHD-related routine challenges create negative loop.
- Struggle with personal hygiene, dental care, incurring significant expenses.
- ADHD hinders morning routines, housemate reminders disrupt, affect social plans.
- Auditory Processing Disorder (APD): Difficulty processing verbal communication, background noise priority.
- ADHD compounds communication challenges, poor working memory, distractibility, and anxiety.
- Struggles in job interviews, perceived as uninterested or incapable; seeking Access to Work grant for therapeutic device.
- ADHD impairs working memory, challenges following written instructions effectively.
- Difficulty processing instructions, short attention span, impulsivity hinder skill acquisition.
- Struggle with lengthy texts, need to double or triple check important information.
- PIP assessment difficulties, multiple attempts, extensions due to comprehension challenges.
- ADHD hinders sentence structure, impulsivity, poor working memory affect coherence.
- Social skills impacted by ADHD and APD, difficulty verbalizing, picking up cues.
- Persistent social anxiety, mental exhaustion, limited social connections, hindered relationships and job opportunities.
- Need for auditory device and ADHD therapist, financial constraints.
- ADHD impairs social awareness, working memory, requiring constant support in public situations.
- Difficulty interpreting tone, vocabulary, body language; perceived as strange, rude, impatient.
- ADHD impairs focus, concentration, problem-solving, time management, affecting financial skills.
- Struggle to maintain savings, rely on friends and relatives for bailouts.
- Poor financial management, inability to budget, calculate expenses, handle sole trader responsibilities.
- Accumulated debt with payday loan companies, submitted Debt Relief Order in his student years.
My decision
I made my decision using information about your health condition or disability including details of any treatment, medication, test results and symptoms. This information is the best available and enough to decide how much help you need. You said you can manage your toilet needs or incontinence and reading and understanding signs, symbols and words. I agree you can manage these activities. You said you have difficulties preparing food, taking nutrition, managing therapy or monitoring a health condition, washing and bathing, dressing and undressing, communicating verbally, engaging with other people face to face and making budgeting decisions. There is no specialist input for last 3 years and evidence suggests stable mental health. You work as a labourer with no adaptations and play badminton once a week, suggesting moderate physical abilities. Medications are effective with no recent changes also. There is lack of any physical or cognitive restrictions in evidence meaning you could stand and prepare meals. You can use standard cutlery, you eat daily and there is no dietician input. You manage medications and there are no motivational or memory restrictions in evidence.
You would be able to fully access a bath and then wash or dress yourself after. Again, there would be no physical issues washing or dressing and you complete both activities daily, dressing appropriately for work also. There are no speech or hearing impairments and you work as a labourer without adaptations or aids to communicate. There is lack of anxiety or mental health conditions in evidence affecting engaging. There is no specialist…
input or significant medications for mental health and there are no other cognitive or sensory restrictions engaging. There are no intellectual impairments budgeting in evidence, there is lack of any conditions to support restrictions across these activities. I decided you can manage these activities unaided.
You said you can manage moving around. I agree you can manage this activity. You said you have difficulty planning and following journeys. There is no specialist input for mental health or ADHD. You are able to take public transport independently and there are no symptoms of overwhelming psychological distress reported. There are no recent changes to mental health medications, and you leave home unaided most days. There are no other cognitive or sensory restrictions supported in evidence either. I decided you can plan and follow the route of a journey unaided. This is consistent with your medical history and the available evidence.I have considered what your needs are on the majority of days.I cannot consider awarding you PIP for any help you need for anything not covered by the daily living or mobility activities.
....
Comments
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Where to begin.... if your friend who has volunteered with Citizens Advice thinks that your decision was a fairly generic '''we didn't really think before writing you off' sort of response,''' then this shows some lack of understanding of the PIP process on their part. Assessors do have to justify their responses, which, in the lack of detail perhaps in your claim form, etc., the DWP decision maker then relies upon.Difficult to know what you actually put in your claim form, or what was said at your assessment. If your condensed comments are anything to go by, it looks like you've given generic responses as to what someone with your diagnoses 'might' have, rather than an individual response as to the difficulties you actually do face.There also seems to be a contradiction in saying that you are employed, yet are also a sole trader, so self-employed. You can of course be both, but unless you've explained this, altho PIP isn't about working, this may also have added to the confusion.You do need to keep any responses relevant to the PIP descriptors/activities, & I'd suggest for instance that bruxism isn't relevant here, nor struggles with job interviews nor financial restraints in needing therapy.Why, if you have ADP, do you need an auditory device, as with ADP hearing is normal?You are alone, yet dependent on housemates; it's all a bit of a muddle.0
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The ADP requires low-gain speech-focused aids rather than ones for general or specific hearing loss.
as I mentioned, it was like 2,280 words.
there was plenty of emphasis on scenario by scenario descriptions of how it effects me. The bulletpoints were purely for the sake of pointing out how many different things I highlighted.
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Have you had an update?
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This thread is 13 months old. There's a recent update from the member here, who won their Tribunal.
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