Pip mandatory reconsideration

jolene1972

Good morning
I applied for pip and received 7 points on daily living, 0 points on mobility. 
I explained on my form and to the assessor that I needed help to prepare and cook food as due to severe OA in my hands I cannot peel or chop food safely. In the first part of her report she wrote that I needed help but in the points descriptor she marked it as needing an aid or appliance, which only scored 2 rather than the 4 for needing help or assistance.
This also happened for the dressing and undressing activity, I explained my daughter helps with my socks and zips, buttons etc but was scored as needing an aid.
When I write the letter out for this do I just explain this again, I did give the assessor an example of why I struggle with preparing food.
Hope I have explained myself correctly and if anyone could offer some advice it would be very much appreciated, thanks 

jolene1972

Hello everyone, I am new here and just wondered if I could get some advice please. I am 51 and have osteoarthritis in my hands, neck, spine, knees and feet. Over the last 12 months it has got considerably worse and I have had to reduce my working hours due to struggling day to day. I applied for PIP at the end of November and wondered if it is a long process for the application. 

poppy123456

It could be up to 6 months from applying to having a decision, sometimes longer.

Albus_Scope

Hey there @jolene1972 and welcome to the community!  I'm glad to see Poppy has already jumped in to help, but I just wanted to say hello and see how you were doing today?

jolene1972

Thank you for replying poppy123456, I didn't realise it could take that long.
Albus_scope thank you for the welcome, today is not a very good day, I have been and had a steroid injection in my left knee but am struggling with pain in all the other joints. After being signed off for 2 weeks I am going back to work tomorrow, hoping it goes ok. Fingers crossed I will be better being back with my workmates 😊

Jimm_Alumni

When you say you applied end of November @jolene1972 was that returning the form or asking for the form? 

Just checking, it took 2 months from submitting my form to getting an assessment. I applied in August and was assessed in October. Just to give you an idea of how long that part of the process can take. It can vary though.

jolene1972

Thanks @Jimm_Scope, I submitted the on 22 November, I got a text on 24 November from Independent Assessment Sevices to say they were managing my assessment. Looks like Iv got a while longer to wait. 

Albus_Scope

Sorry to hear about the pain @jolene1972 I've had a couple of those steroid injections, they're certainly not fun.  I hope they work for you and you get some relief and help you get back with your work buddies soon.

jolene1972

Thanks @Albus_Scope, you're right they are certainly not fun. Not sure if this one will work, the ones in my fingers didn't at all and the one in my other knee lasted 6 weeks so we will see how it goes. It just gets so frustrating not being able to do things I used to do easily, abd then it's a worry as to how long I can carry on working. 

Albus_Scope

I can totally empathise there, it's so annoying not being able to do things you used to take for granted.  I've had a few of the ultrasound injections deep in my ankles and feet, they're game changers for a while, but going back for more is never my idea of a good time.   
   Just remember you can speak to your boss about reasonable adjustments in the workplace.  Hopefully you can find something that works for both of you.

jolene1972

Not had them in my feet yet, hopefully won't have to.
Yes I have reduced my hours at work, I work in retail and have done for 30 years but  I do a mix of admin and shopfloor so can sit down at times 😊 

jolene1972

I have seen on my medical records that on the 19th December my doctors received a pip req form. Would this be as more evidence is required to support my claim. Grateful for any advice, thanks 

poppy123456

Yes, they are asking your GP for more evidence, rare for them to do this but it does happen. The form is just a simple tick box form.

jolene1972

Ok thank you poppy 

jolene1972

I wondered if I could get some more advice please if possible. I have received the assessors report for my pip claim and on the preparing food section I explained how my daughter does a lot of the cooking now due to me not being able to grip fully because of the arthritis in my fingers. The assessor ticked B- needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to either prepare or cook a simple meal.
She wrote...Whilst prompting has been considered, this has been ruled out given the evidence from the FH showing that if did not have physical restrictions, would feel motivated to cook/prepare meals on a daily basis despite MH. 
Am I right to query this as with the physical restrictions I am not able to cook/prepare simple meals now
Hope someone can help 😊

poppy123456

Using an aid activity 1b is 2 points. Needing prompting 1D is also 2 points. For this reason it will not affect your overall potential points, regardless of which one you score points for because it will still be 2 points. You can't score more than once for each activity either. You can see the descriptors here.https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

How many points are recommended for daily living and mobility? 

jolene1972

Thank you for your advice Poppy, the recommended points are 7 for daily living, 0 for mobility. 
I stated that I am unable to peel or chop foods now due to not having the grip in my hands so I thought it would have been classed as
e. Needs supervision or assistance to either prepare or cook a simple meal 

jolene1972

I am going to put in the form for Mandatory Reconsideration and would like some advice if possible please. 
I explained in my application and to the assessor that I needed assistance when preparing food as I am unable to peel or chop vegetables due to the arthritis in my hands. The assessor has wrote this in their report but on the activity descriptor they have put needs to use an aid or appliance rather than needs supervision or assistance. Am I able to challenge this and ask them to look at it again?
Hopefully someone can advise me, thank you