Brain injury chronic fatigue PIP appeal got 18 points - now back to 0 again - erh!

leejenson

Hi, I suffer from chronic fatigue from internal head injuries from a car crash. My appeal was successful in 02/2016. I have just been reviewed and got 0 points again, how odd as brain injuries are permanent.

When I met the medical guy sitting next to the appeal judge in the lift he said the decision was based around how many hours I had to sleep. Which is 12 plus 5 during the day to manage the fatigue. If I don't manage it, I cannot rely on any of my cognitive functions, memory and have balance problems. When I do manage it, my bad health is hidden.

My appeal records have been destroyed so I cannot find out what we was referencing. So I wanted to ask this forum, Have you any idea what he was referring to in law or disability presidents historically? This, if I could find it will help with the Reconsideration letter I will be writing to the DWP with help from the CAB.

Many thanks, Lee

BenefitsTrainingCo

leejenson,

There's nothing specific about sleeping in either PIP or ESA legislation or case law (I"m not sure which benefit it is which you've been refused this time).

For PIP, if you have to sleep a lot in order to do things 'reliably' (safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and within a reasonable time period), then I think there are lots of activities where a decision maker should conclude you couldn't do them, or couldn't do them without supervision (because, without the sleep, it wouldn't be safe). If you don't get sufficient sleep on more than 50% of days, then the relevant descriptor would apply, giving you the points if the activity can't be done safely (more points if it can't be done safely even with supervision).

For ESA, I think the most relevant bit of the law would be risk. Both work, and work-related activity, can be a risk to health. If you have to sleep for 12 hours plus 5 in the day in order to function cognitively etc, then almost any job or work-related activity is a risk, because it will prevent you from having enough sleep, and then you are likely to make errors which put you and others at risk.

So yes your need to sleep is relevant, but in an indirect way. If you let us know which benefit you're challenging (ESA or PIP), then we can be more specific about the regulations where these principles are found (for ESA, it would also be relevant to know whether it was 'new style' contributory ESA).

Finally, there are a couple of websites (www.pipinfo.net and www.wcainfo.net), where you can click on cases identified by condition - fatigue is one of these, so you can check if the cases are similar to your situation and might be helpful. 

Will