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We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Hi, my name is kateoxo! I want to talk about PIP

kateoxo

I was registered disabled 12 to 15 yrs ago.
I have arthritis, Osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, high blood pressure, anxiety/panic attacks and depression.
I was given the higher rate mobility and have a mobility car which is my life line. I have frozen meals delivered as I can't prepare food because of the severe pain in my fingers and wrists. I had an MRI scan a couple of years ago on my spine 3rd to 5th vertebrae crumbling due to injury a few years ago. I had a fall in June and started having trouble with my neck shoulders and left leg. My neck was like pins and needles and a scalding sensation across my shoulder which is now spreading to the other shoulder. I have a nerve that keeps trapping down my leg which is possibly due to any neck injury after fall.
I am in my 67th year and in receipt also of pension credits.
I received a PIP claim form last week and was called into a face to face meeting today.
The book says the interviewers are friendly and put you at your ease.
I must say this wasn't the case today. I was seen by a woman maybe late 20s to early 30s and she was devoid of any empathy and literally stripped me of any dignity I had left. I was in tears at one point as I didn't understand the question. She didn't bother to explain it but just bluntly said well answer the question. I was in absolute agony with my neck which she wasn't bothered about and I was asked to perform some exercises which I explained that my doctor told me not to do exercise or physio till she has the results of my MRI, she was quite miffed saying well that's your decision that's the end of the interview.
I am used to the pain in my body now as it's been like this since 2010 I might not look disabled to them but even the lightest housework can put me on my back for days.
I am so worried about loosing my car my life line as I can't walk to shops. How long will it be before I find out my results and will my money be stopped immediately if I'm turned down or does it carry on till appeal.
I am sick with worry can anyone advise me

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Comments

Geoark

Hello @kateoxo and welcome to the community.

I am not 100% sure of the answers you are looking for as this is a transition from DLA to PIP. I do know that if the PIP is turned down then DLA will continue for 4 weeks after the decision and would normally stop.

What I can reassure you is that you will find a lot of support and advice both here on the community and on the help line if you need it when you get your decision.

Unfortunately PIP is very different to DLA and you need to be focussed on the descriptors and how they relate to your personal circumstances. See https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system

These are normally what you will need to concentrate on if you are turned down. Ask to see the report by the assessor, so you know where you disagree with their assessment against these criteria, but also if the assessment was terminated because you refused to do the exercises then this should be brought up as well. You may need to get a letter from your doctor confirming that you were instructed not to do any exercises until the MRI scan.

Cases going to appeal have a high success rate and it was recently revealed that many of the cases going to appeal the DWP do not have a chance because of the poor quality of their evidence.

CockneyRebel

Hi kateoxo and welcome

Normally decisions take 2-4 weks but may be longer at this time of year

You should ring the DWP and ask for a copy of the report as this will give you an indication of your outcome

As this is your change from DLA to PIP and you are past retirement age, be prepared to go to appeal if you do not get enhanced mobility. This assessment will set your mobility award (and car) going forward. Mobility award cannot be increased in the future even though you may still be reassessed

As @Geoark has said take a look at the self test
Please do ask any questions and let us know how things go

CR

Sam_Alumni

Hi @kateoxo
Welcome to the community and thanks for sharing your experiences. We have a benefits advisor here who you can ask specific questions.

wildlife

@kateoxo Please be reassured that the way you were treated is entirely the fault of the assessor and that nothing you said or did caused the attitude she had. She's probably like that with everyone. There is a lot you can do now that awful experience is over, which of course should never have been like that. Prepare yourself for seeing her report. I hope it is in your favour but going by many people's experience it very likely will not be. I would advise you to firstly ring the DWP and ask to be sent a copy of your assessment report. It may be a few days before they got this and a further week/10 days before you receive it. When you do go through it and if your happy that it represents what happened then your award will very likely be what the assessor has recommended. If not then you can make a formal complaint to the assessment company. You can mention your assessor's attitude but focus the complaint on her written report rather than what was said or done during the assessment. I would though mention your refusal to do the exercises and that you gave her a medical explanation of why you couldn't do them and what her reaction was to this. If you can do this in between getting the report and receiving the decision it would help to be one step ahead and ready to do an MR (Mandatory Reconsideration) using the report and the decision letter as your information to get your award changed if you need to. I'll leave it there for now. You will get a lot of support hear from others who have been through this awful process so stay around and let us know how you get on. I too am a lady and in my 67th year with lots of physical and mental health issues..

kateoxo

Hi everyone, Thank You all for your replies. I now have my appointments through for my MRI scan and bone density scan. I phoned the DWP and they haven' had my review yet so they suggested I phone back next Friday. In the meantime I am going to write a statement detailing my day to day problems. I feel physically sick with the anxiety of waiting for the decision. The pain in my neck and spine is off the scale, as I imagine there are many people in the same situation and worse than myself.
I will (If I have to appeal) make reference to the assessor and her attitude especially when she asked me to do some exercises. As I tried to explain my Dr advised no exercise either for assessment or physio she abruptly stood up and said "fine thats up to you if you do them or not" I felt she thought I was just ducking out, but I honestly wasn't, the pain down my spine from my neck was like a red hot knife so I'm not going to take any chances.
Thank you all who have replied. The advice you have given has been a great help.

Rosiesmum

Hi @kateoxo

I have used this in my complaint to ATOS don't know if it's of any help to you

Found in the DWP PIP assessment guidelines I have no clue where I got the link from I'm afraid but I'm sure it would come up on a search.

"1.6.35 States that where there is clear and current evidence of claimants functional examination findings,HP's DO NOT need to conduct exam."

So my question to your assessor when you complain would be, if you had provided evidence that proved what your specialists had said about not doing certain things and up to date evidence as in their own rules why were their own rules regarding this not followed?

Best of luck getting it sorted out

CockneyRebel

Comes from PIP assessment guide part 1

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers

CR

Rosiesmum

@CockneyRebel you are an absolute star many thanks

CockneyRebel

you are very welcome

It is my reading when I can't get to sleep

CR

wildlife

@kateoxo, Just to say that appealing, and if by that you mean the MR and complaining have to be done as separate things because the complaint is to ATOS and the MR is to DWP. Complaining is a good thing to do as early as possible but not before you have the assessor's report so you can use it to see anything that you wish to complain about. If you do need to complain just mention that you have to DWP when you send in your MR if you need to. I'm sorry if this sounds like jumping the gun but knowing what to do when each stage is reached will help any negative feelings you have. You can turn it into positive action instead..

kateoxo

Thank You, I'm awaiting the report which I have requested and will work from how that has been worded.
Thanks to all that have given me some help and answers to my queries