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Hearing Aid and PIP
AFB
Member Posts: 64 Courageous
Hi I've had applied for pip in sept of last and when I attended the interview and awaited the decision I was awarded 8 points but when I applied to the tribunal the decision maker write in the report that you must be deaf in two ears and have a hearing aid both ears to qualify for communicating aid points but I'm only deaf from the right ear and wear a hearing aid and without the hearing aid I cannot hear properly so is the DWP being discriminating towards my condition.
Replies
CR
For PIP that is how they see it. I went to an assessment a couple of years ago and because I had forgotten to buy some new batteries I only had one hearing aid in place. The assessor wanted to check that I had the two in place as per the evidence that they had been prescribed by the hospital. Because I only had one in she said that the hearing in the other ear was fine and awarded me 0 points for just using one.
Telling the assessor that you drive a Motability car - https://www.motability.co.uk/cars-scooters-and-powerchairs/search/bmw-2-series-218i-sport convertible -715930?
And you only have one hearing aid.
On the other hand there will be some that deny driving telling the assessor that the wife does it all. Not needing any hearing aids, but buy a pair off ebay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-2x-Mini-Digital-Invisible-Hearing-Aids-in-the-Ear-Best-Sound-Voice-Amplifier/223067508157?hash=item33efdc0dbd:g:lBcAAOSw7P5bUGD~:rk:2:pf:0
along with a walking frame to get you into the assessment centre - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Walking-Frame-Zimmer-frame-Mobility-aid/273519002492?hash=item3faf00c37c:g:3R4AAOSwJp1bfBW8:rk:5:pf:0&LH_ItemCondition=3000
All for less that £18!!!
We will never know if this actually happens although because I only had one aid in (battery failed on the other one so took it out) I didn't get any points. If I had a 'spare' off Ebay to put in I would have got the points.
I was just doing a bit of blue sky thinking of the ways that you could easily cheat the system and the assessor in a claim for PIP.
Obviously you would have to have some level of disability for it to work in the main - they were thoughts of how to make things appear different to what they really are.
Never mind let's get back to my 'Home & Gardens'.
But if it is deemed not a need but a choice that you use the aids, then you get no points.
It's like trundling up in a wheel chair to the assessment. The assessor has to decide if you actually need the chair or you are using it as a choice. They generally do this by looking for evidence that the NHS have assessed your needs and have prescribed a chair for you. Otherwise they are cheap as chips on Ebay!
In my case I had evidence of my hearing aids being provided (both ears) by the NHS after they had tested my hearing. unfortunately I turned up at the assessment with only one in - you only get points if you have two in!
A guy I know doesn't get about all that well, but can still walk easily at least a quarter of a mile twice a day with his dog. Yet last year told me that he had bought a chair off Ebay and used it to get from the car to the assessment room and back for his PIP assessment.
He claimed that he couldn't walk 20 metres and the reason for the chair was down to the waiting times to be assessed by the NHS.
The assessor accepted this and awarded him the enhanced rate for mobility. He is now over the moon as he has recently taken possession of a mobility estate car that he uses to go further afield with his dog.
All of those aids aside I was wondering that if you have a full centre of dentures (upper and lower) would they be classed as an aid because without them eating would be impossible.
I have just applied for PIP for my hearing loss and awaiting an assessment. I was made redundant after working for an employer for 11 years. After seeking new employment it made me realise the severity of my hearing loss and it effects me, when you nolonger work with people who support your deafness. I have two phonak hearing aids and use a Rodger Pen system supplied through Access to Work. Am I wasting my time, as I will need to take holiday from work to go the assessment?
I would think that perhaps this is the same for claiming PIP and getting 2 points.
I sent PIP my hearing aid letters from my hospital consultant.
I have severe - profound hearing loss and was awarded PIP but had to go to tribunal to get it.
Assessors and the DWP both seem to think that hearing aids magically restore our level of hearing loss to normal hearing. Fortunately the tribunal understood that it doesn’t work like that.
At the assessment bear in mind that the assessor will know that you can’t hear very well, they may ask if you lipread and they will speak clearly. Also the assessment room will be quiet. If you appear to hear the assessor in this environment they seem to assume you can hear everyone in real life!
We tend to bluff our way through communicating and pretend to understand more than we do but at the assessment you need to be very clear if you can’t understand the assessor – say ‘Can you say that again?’, ‘ What did you say?’ etc as many times as you need to rather than trying to work out what was said. That way it should be obvious that you can’t understand what they are saying.
Do you rely on lipreading when wearing your hearing aids? If you do it is really important to state this as lipreading is not considered a reliable way to understand verbal communication.
Before the assessment think about what happens when people don’t know that you have hearing loss, don’t get your attention before speaking, don’t look at you when speaking, don't speak clearly, speak too fast, there is background noise etc and be prepared to explain these difficulties with some examples.
Think about how far away you can understand people speak from – can you hear someone across a room?
Do you ignore people because you don’t realise they have spoken to you?
Do you have particular difficulty hearing men, women, children, the elderly?
How do you cope when there is background noise such as other people talking, TV, music, road noise etc?
Aside from the obvious problems with understanding verbal communication you could also be awarded points for:
Activity 9 Engaging with other people
How well you can engage with people you don’t know and in small groups? You can’t be awarded points for not being able to hear in social situations but you can be awarded points if you need prompting or social support to in order to behave in a “socially appropriate manner” and to “establish relationships”.
I explained that I appear to ignore people because I don’t realise they are talking to me, I shout at them as I am speaking as loudly as I would need them to speak because of the background noise, I stand too close and seem to be staring at them as I need to lipread, I talk over people as I don’t realise they are speaking, I can’t join in the conversation or I get the wrong end of the stick and say the wrong thing etc none of which are “socially appropriate” and none of which help “establish relationships” so (I think) I look stupid, rude, bored or uninterested. Because of this I am reluctant to try to engage with people I don’t know and so need social support from someone I know to do so.
Activity 4 Washing and bathing
Points can also be awarded for washing and bathing if you would not hear a smoke alarm or someone entering your home because you have taken out your hearing aids to wash / bathe / shower. This was established by a Upper Tribunal decision but my assessor seemed not to know about this decision and wrongly tried to tell me points could only be scored if I had physical problems washing and bathing.
Mobility activity 1
Points can also be awarded for needing someone with you when following a familiar or unfamiliar journey.
Can you hear traffic approaching or do you need to see the vehicles to know they are there?
How do you cope crossing a road when there are obstructions such as parked cars or there is a junction, corner, hill, bend in the road, concealed exit etc?
Do you hear bikes or mobility scooters approaching you from behind on pavements?
Have you had near misses as you have not realised a vehicle is nearby?
If you need to see vehicles you can argue that you can’t do this activity safely without someone else with you.
If you got lost would you be able to ask and understand someone giving you directions?
If the bus / train was diverted, terminated etc would you know what you needed to do to resolve the situation and carry on with your journey?
You mention that you had support at your previous job. Would anyone there be willing to provide a statement saying the difficulties they saw you have and how they supported you? My former boss was happy to do this for me when I explained why I needed it.
I also wrote to my NHS audiology department explaining the problems I have with understanding verbal communication and asking if they would confirm that these difficulties are reasonable with my degree of hearing loss and they sent a letter saying they were.
Good luck.
Having been deaf for a number of years it becomes second nature to finish off something that you have part heard using lip reading.
I never thought of telling the assessor any of that and to be totally frank never thought how those descriptors could be used for being unable to hear.
You have identified everything that a deaf person has problems with even appearing to be ignorant towards people who I dismiss when they are trying to talk to me. Well done it ticks all of the boxes for me.