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PIP appeal advice

cdt8100

Good morning

First time posting here, just hoping for some advice and guidance on the ongoing saga we seem to be having in trying to claim PIP.

My partner made a claim for PIP in September 2024. We looked online at the questions and how many points you score and from that we believe she should receive the higher rate of daily living and for mobility.

DWP disagreed and said she wasn't entitled to anything. That decision was in January 2025.

We asked for a reconsideration and wrote them a letter to explain why we didn't agree with their decision. Around this time, my partner was also diagnosed with an additional condition and since that her health has deteriorated further and she needs more help.

DWP said no to the reconsideration.

We then lodged an appeal and have now received a bundle of documents from DWP including a copy of the original claim form and why they believe my partner isn't entitled to anything.

The tribunal service wrote to us saying an appeal could take months to even be booked in.

It's all very deflating and we just don't know what to do. Neither of us have experience of applying for benefits and admittedly, knowing what we've now learnt, we should have given better and more detailed descriptions on the original application of what help my partner needs. We focused too much on how her conditions make her feel.

My partner cannot work as much as she did previously and it may come to the stage where she cannot work at all, so financially, we could really do with her PIP claim being successful and soon.

Do we just wait for the appeal or is there any benefit in making a new claim?

Sorry, this post ended up being longer than I planned. Thank you.

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Comments

OverlyAnxious

Hi,

PIP isn't designed to support people out of work or on reduced earnings. That's covered by Universal Credit and/or New Style ESA, depending on exact circumstances.

In this case, if you feel you could provide more evidence to meet the PIP descriptors, and if there has also been a further decline in ability since the original decision, then I would say it is worth putting in a new claim rather than waiting for the appeal.

If the new claim is successful, you can then choose to either cancel the appeal, or continue it in the hope of getting some back payment.

cdt8100

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1042544#Comment_1042544

Thank you for your advice.

Yes I know it isn't meant to help with financial issues, but having disabilities and medical conditions takes it toll financially when it means people are unable to work, or not work as much.

But we do genuinely believe that even before the initial decision was made and before my partner's condition worsened, that she was entitled to pip.

I also believe a new claim might be the best way to go but obviously my partner doesn't want to go through the stress of doing that again.

I read on another topic on here that someone was denied pip but then reapplied with the same conditions but just re worded their form and they got pip. It seems ridiculous but then dwp do seem to be a shambles.

If my partner did put in a new claim and was awarded pip, but still went ahead with the appeal but lost, which decision would stand? The appeal and she would get nothing?

Thank you.

Trevor_PIP

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/136072/pip-appeal-advice

Mandatory Reconsiderations rarely change the original decision. You could wait up to a year or more for your tribunal. You can put in a new claim or a Change of Circumstances while you await a tribunal. Both are new claims. A new claim would supersede any decision from your original tribunal as the tribunal is for your original claim only.

I filled out my own PIP forms with no help or advice and in hindsight I may have done things different, you did your best. You can put forward more detail and evidence for the tribunal.

I can't advise you what to do, that is down to you and your partner.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1042599#Comment_1042599

If she was awarded PIP from a new claim, then the tribunal should only cover the time between the initial claim starting and the new claim starting. The tribunal award should not over-ride the new award.

Unfortunately PIP assessors are human and therefore not all equal. Many don't fully understand the descriptors, some over-score, some under-score. Same as a car MOT, you can fail an MOT and get loads of advisories at one place, then take it to another tester and get a completely different set of results.

cdt8100

I feel that they have underscored significantly in this case.

For example, the dressing and undressing section. DWP gave 2 points for this but we argued that she should get 4 points as she needs help to put clothes on her upper body as well as her lower body.

It's like they're saying she's lying without actually saying that. I don't why they wouldn't give her the 4 points.

How do we challenge that?

We pointed out specifically where we disagreed with their point scoring when writing the mandatory reconsideration request but they've just ignored this without explanation.

They strike me as an absolute shambles who do whatever they feel like without working to any specific system or set of guidelines.

My partner has requested another form to make a new claim. Let's hope we get lucky next time and whoever asseses the form actually reads it and awards the correct points.

Trevor_PIP

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1044576#Comment_1044576

This happens regularly, it is nothing personal. You can appeal or as you are doing start a new claim. Fill the new form out as you wish you had done originally. Detail how your partner struggles with her disabilities per descriptor. Detail actual examples on what happened the last time she tried to dress and the help she needed. Best of luck this time!

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1044576#Comment_1044576

Mandatory Reconsiderations rarely change the outcome. Honestly, I'm not even sure they read them half the time, the MR refusal letters often seem to be pretty much identical to the initial refusal. We do have to go through that step in order to go to tribunal though, so it's more of a tickbox exercise.

With regards to dressing, you need to explain why she needs help with upper body dressing, adding a real world example. Such as - last time she attempted upper body dressing, she could not sufficiently lift her arm high enough, or perhaps suffered from considerable shoulder pain for many hours afterwards.

They don't care about low levels of pain or a bit of anxiety. It's the functional ability that they're looking for. Real world scenarios really help to give them some perspective on that. If you did already do that, then I'm afraid you just had a poor assessor, and would hopefully get a better one with a new claim. The tribunal is independent and they generally have a better understanding of the PIP guidelines, but not always.