PIP Budgeting Question * sensitive *

Cammatia1

Hi

I'm trying again for pip after being rejected before. I'm pretty sure it was because of a lack of evidence and appropriate points so I'm trying to be really specific this time and find evidence any way I can.

I struggle with impulsivity and cannot budget at all. Money is spent facilitating an eating disorder (as well as other things), and I use Klarna to binge as easily and as much as possible. After trying to stop myself by blocking my ability to use klarna, my money was running out so much faster without it so I couldn't binge as much. It’s messed up, but because of the compulsion to eat and impulsivity I struggle with i couldn't cope anymore, and I misled Klarna into giving me the BNPL options back, by lying about why I stopped them and why I want them back, and lying that I was in the appropriate financial position to have them back.

This is all in email. Can I use this as evidence? Can it be used against me in other ways outside of PIP? I want to be transparent but I don't want to dig myself into a legal hole

poppy123456

I note from a previous thread that you took your previous decision to Tribunal and had a paper based hearing. Were you refused? 

Yes, you can send that with your form. No, it won't go against you for anything outside of PIP. You don't need medical evidence for a successful PIP award. It does help to have some understanding of the descriptors and what they mean. This may help with that. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria#daily-living-activities

When filling out the form you should also include a couple of real world examples of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each descriptor that applies to you. Adding detailed information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were. 

If the worst happens this time and you're refused again and it gets to Tribunal stage I'd advise you against requesting the paper based hearings because they have a very low success rate of only about 5-8%. Appearing in person or having a telephone/video hearing gives a much greater success rate of around 68%. 

Biblioklept

I'm not sure if it's the right approach with this question @cammatia1, I get what you're saying with your example and evidence but you're not demonstrating directly how that makes you meet the criteria, at least in my opinion. 

When I do my pip forms I try and think of the reader or assessor as lazy and not very smart. I don’t mean that in a mean way to them, but it helps remind me that they aren’t going to want to work for the answer or to see how the descriptor fits me, so unless I spell it out to them they might make incorrect assumptions..

Like with this, you could take what you’ve written another way; 

“Oh this person has great understanding of money because they understand enough to deceive financial experts, and what the criteria would be. Emailing them shows a level of future planning which goes against what they’ve said about impulsivity” and so on

Your example is good but sometimes less is more.

I’d use the same example but  more of a “I struggle with budgeting and making money decisions and have gotten into debt repeatedly because of it. My impulsive choices mean I spend wrecklessly without thinking about the long term. I can’t help but give into temptation and ..." (why? Is it due to your conditions?) and then like poppy said, write what happens when you've tried.
You could add as examples like the ordering food putting you in debt, for example: I can get so desperate that I’ve lied to companies and credit brokers.  

In an ideal world… (what support would you benefit from? Remember to tie it to the descriptors) 

Do you have any other examples showing you struggle with budgeting? Are you in debt with any priority bills?

I don’t know which points you think you’re going for in this descriptor but keep in mind that:

‘Complex budgeting decisions’ means things like planning household budgets, managing and paying bills and planning future purchases.

‘Simple budgeting decisions’ means understanding or counting how much things cost or working out change etc

hope that helps!!! 

Hannah_Alumni

Hello @Cammatia1

I'm going to pop an email over to you