Help related to PIP Assessment In two days

poppy123456

Although you were told they will wait for the letter they do not have to do that. This is also another reason why you advise not to request it over the phone because as soon as you do that the time starts ticking and they can make another decision at anytime. I've seen this happen so many times where they haven't waited and just made another decision. 

JayJayJuliette

oh no this is so much stress for me, I was crying on the phone to the decision maker and now again because of what you say, what am I supposed to do now, I have heart palpertations and am overly stressed right now.
Why would they put me through this and be so cruel, I cant take much more of this.
My conditions and how they make me feel are real, its almost like they think I am not being truthful yet I have given them evidence. I dont have anymore evidence and as I live totally alone and in a very rural area I dont know what to do? I dont see anyone as I am stuck at home and never go out unless its to a medical appointment which my neighbour takes me to, are you saying ive now done the wrong thing again Poppy?

poppy123456

I'm sorry it's causing so much stress, many people feel the same way. No, you haven't done the wrong thing but ideally you should have put the request in writing rather than ring to request it. You can still put it in writing but what I'm saying is they may not wait for that letter. 

JayJayJuliette

Thanks Poppy he did say it would be a while for me to get a decision as they were back logged and they were only now dealing with the beginning of Feb 24 MR'S so I think I need to hold onto that just for positivity reasons and he did say he would make a note of me sending in my objections via the mail. I just hope this wasnt trickery as I cant take much more of that.
I did recieve my backpay the same day as I recieved the HP assessors report and also in a seperate enveope the DM  desision letter. YUP it all came on the very same day, money and the two letters.

I do have a really important question to ask but on my award letter it says you have been paid from the 6th of Feb to the 22nd April and would be put into your account on the 29th April and I would get paid every four weeks on a Tuesday which looks quite normal but this is what I dont understand is why would it also say I can award you £------ from the 6th of Feb to the 17th of April, when I only had my assessment on the 18th of April ? does that look normal? maybe im just too confused with all the trumer this has caused me

luvpink

Each time I have applied for pip I have stated that I cannot walk more than 20 meters without having to stop due to pain, fatigue and breathlessness and my award got reduced from high rate to standard because assessors stated in their opinion I could do it.
Honestly, we are the experts in our own conditions, we know what we can or cannot do and it is degrading that some assessors can get away with such blatant lies.
I have managed to get it overturned on MR but as you say it is so exhausting.

OverlyAnxious

JayJayJuliette said:

I do have a really important question to ask but on my award letter it says you have been paid from the 6th of Feb to the 22nd April and would be put into your account on the 29th April and I would get paid every four weeks on a Tuesday which looks quite normal but this is what I dont understand is why would it also say I can award you £------ from the 6th of Feb to the 17th of April, when I only had my assessment on the 18th of April ? does that look normal? maybe im just too confused with all the trumer this has caused me

Yes, that's normal.  It gets backdated to when you first applied, not when you had the assessment.

JayJayJuliette

Hello Overly Anxious thank you for your response, maybe I wasn't clear in my communication, I am aware when it starts from but I mean why the 17th of April when a decision hasnt been made as I hadnt had the assessment yet  as it was the 18th I had the assessment and the desision maker hadnt recieved the report yet, very confusing and then they paid me to the 22nd. This is what I am trying to understand. Then it says this money we owe you is from the 6th of Feb to the 22nd April. so what I am trying to work out is where did the 17th of April come from when I hadnt even had my assesment yet

JayJayJuliette

luvpink said:

Each time I have applied for pip I have stated that I cannot walk more than 20 meters without having to stop due to pain, fatigue and breathlessness and my award got reduced from high rate to standard because assessors stated in their opinion I could do it.
Honestly, we are the experts in our own conditions, we know what we can or cannot do and it is degrading that some assessors can get away with such blatant lies.
I have managed to get it overturned on MR but as you say it is so exhausting.

Hello luvpink Im sorry you went through what I am going through now, its really awful and makes one feel powerless as if we wernt already feeling that way without being able to walk properly and very far. Im really glad to hear you got it over turned at MR level, can you give any tips as to how you did it to help me please as I am so drained and alone in all of this.
Thank you

poppy123456

JayJayJuliette said:

Thanks Poppy he did say it would be a while for me to get a decision as they were back logged and they were only now dealing with the beginning of Feb 24 MR'S so I think I need to hold onto that just for positivity reasons and he did say he would make a note of me sending in my objections via the mail. I just hope this wasnt trickery as I cant take much more of that.
I did recieve my backpay the same day as I recieved the HP assessors report and also in a seperate enveope the DM  desision letter. YUP it all came on the very same day, money and the two letters.

I do have a really important question to ask but on my award letter it says you have been paid from the 6th of Feb to the 22nd April and would be put into your account on the 29th April and I would get paid every four weeks on a Tuesday which looks quite normal but this is what I dont understand is why would it also say I can award you £------ from the 6th of Feb to the 17th of April, when I only had my assessment on the 18th of April ? does that look normal? maybe im just too confused with all the trumer this has caused me

No idea where the 17th came from as you said yourself they paid you up until 22nd April. Seems like another letter from DWP that makes no sense at all.. -shrugs- the money that was owed will be a mixture of old and new rates too, just incase you didn't realise. Your first 4 weekly payment will be for the new rates. 

Amaya_Ringo

I didn't get to see my assessment report in full until I went to tribunal, when the DWP by law have to release all evidence of the case to me so that both sides are fully informed before meeting with the panel. There were significant discrepancies between my assessment and the report, and also between the report and the first stage decision. It's sad that those discrepancies happen, but they are not uncommon.

I agree that you should write to them about mandatory reconsideration if you feel there are important points left out. But do not hang your hopes entirely on MR. A lot of mandatory reconsiderations seem to support the original decision, because they tend to go to the same health professionals for advice that probably advised the first statement. At least, looking at my own case, that is what happened.

My assessment report is full of "x reports she can't do this, but I think she can" and all of the "no points" boxes are ticked. I had a lot of evidence in my case from advisors, mentors, medical people and two other assessments I'd done in the past, and they all reinforced what I could and couldn't do. So having someone just decide I didn't need xyz without any evidence to back them up was demoralising.

Apparently it's also common for them not to look at your supporting evidence until MR. 

I am glad that you managed at least to get an award, which is a big step in your favour. Because of this, I hope they are able to clarify and amend the issues you have with the decision at MR.

JayJayJuliette

Thanks for that data Poppy, looks like they have messed up on that also as I added up all the days on the new rate and it came to work out what they paid me the new rate, gosh suppose they are going to want that back now, what a mess. I think my biggest concern regarding the 17th is how did he work out im owed from the 6th to the 17th before I had my assessment and he had not even recieved the report yet, Its starting to make me think he had made a decision before I even had my assessment, Oh my the mind boggles 

poppy123456

Amaya_Ringo said:

A lot of mandatory reconsiderations seem to support the original decision, because they tend to go to the same health professionals for advice that probably advised the first statement. 

That's not correct. For the MR process they don't usually contact the assessors again. It's just a different decision maker looking at your claim again. 

JayJayJuliette

OH no, Poppy you have brought my attention to the amounts of money, thank goodness!
 I have now looked at my award letter again and see they are awarding me the Old amounts not the new ones and seems like they have short changed me the new rate, how do I work this one out and now who do I talk to or should I be quite about it for now if the rates changed on the 6th of April they owe me the difference of 3 weeks of the new rate and where does this 17th of April come into place. There is also no mention of the new rates just that hes awarding the old rates. Gosh what a confusion this is all starting to be. gulp!

poppy123456

JayJayJuliette said:

OH no, Poppy you have brought my attention to the amounts of money, thank goodness!
 I have now looked at my award letter again and see they are awarding me the Old amounts not the new ones and seems like they have short changed me the new rate, how do I work this one out and now who do I talk to or should I be quite about it for now if the rates changed on the 6th of April they owe me the difference of 3 weeks of the new rate and where does this 17th of April come into place. There is also no mention of the new rates just that hes awarding the old rates. Gosh what a confusion this is all starting to be. gulp!

It would most definitely be a mixture of old and new rates but in the letter it would just tell you the old rates. It would not tell you what the new rates are.

This happens every year when benefits increase and there's often threads asking the exact same question.

Benefits increased from 8th April not 6th. If you were paid up until 22nd then it would be 14 days of the new rate and the rest of old rate. 

luvpink

JayJayJuliette said:

luvpink said:

Each time I have applied for pip I have stated that I cannot walk more than 20 meters without having to stop due to pain, fatigue and breathlessness and my award got reduced from high rate to standard because assessors stated in their opinion I could do it.
Honestly, we are the experts in our own conditions, we know what we can or cannot do and it is degrading that some assessors can get away with such blatant lies.
I have managed to get it overturned on MR but as you say it is so exhausting.

Hello luvpink Im sorry you went through what I am going through now, its really awful and makes one feel powerless as if we wernt already feeling that way without being able to walk properly and very far. Im really glad to hear you got it over turned at MR level, can you give any tips as to how you did it to help me please as I am so drained and alone in all of this.
Thank you

First time I went for MR I used the benefits&work guidance and citizen advise on how to challenge the decision.
The last assessment I had the dwp awarded me on 'extreme psychological distress 10 points but they still claimed that I could walk more than 20 metres which is absolutely not true but I accepted the award without further disputing it because the granted me high rate mobility.
It is extremely difficult for some of us to get correct awards.
I was given 8 points for mobilising so if they hadn't granted me the 10 points for extreme psychological distress I still would have had my award reduced from high rate.

Amaya_Ringo

Poppy, I didn't mean the original assessor, although my MR person did make reference to my assessment in his judgement. He also stated that their own medical information, plus the assessment, was the best available...so used it to supersede my own submitted evidence. This argument was overturned for me at tribunal, but what I was wanting to get across is that the MR is not an independent or separate appeal overview of the case, but mostly a reconsideration of existing material from existing witnesses, which may or may not take on board the applicant's own evidence.

JayJayJuliette

JayJayJuliette said:

OH no, Poppy you have brought my attention to the amounts of money, thank goodness!
 I have now looked at my award letter again and see they are awarding me the Old amounts not the new ones and seems like they have short changed me the new rate, how do I work this one out and now who do I talk to or should I be quite about it for now if the rates changed on the 6th of April they owe me the difference of 3 weeks of the new rate and where does this 17th of April come into place. There is also no mention of the new rates just that hes awarding the old rates. Gosh what a confusion this is all starting to be. gulp!

It would most definitely be a mixture of old and new rates but in the letter it would just tell you the old rates. It would not tell you what the new rates are.

This happens every year when benefits increase and there's often threads asking the exact same question.

Benefits increased from 8th April not 6th. If you were paid up until 22nd then it would be 14 days of the new rate and the rest of old rate. 

Hi Poppy yes the 8th correct, I do understand. but they have actually paid me from the 6th of Feb to the 22nd April at the old rate, no 14 days of the new rate, ive worked it out several times now and it keeps adding up to the old rate exactly to the penny. It was 76 days in total and I worked it out with the old rate and like I said it was exact to the penny. what do you recommend I do? should I leave it right now because of the MR situation or call tomorrow?

poppy123456

If you think it's wrong then you should ring them. 

poppy123456

There's a PIP calculator here that will help with that calculation. You will need to make sure you put the start date of the award and the date of when the money was paid up until. Also put what award you have and it will tell you exactly how much you should have received. pip-payment-calculator-form

JayJayJuliette

If you think it's wrong then you should ring them. 

Thanks Poppy I will call them after I have sent my MR letter tomorrow.
Warm Regards 
Jay-Jay x