DLA to Pip invite.

[Deleted User]

Just had the dreaded brown letter - so scared. What were other people’s experiences like? 

kimbenson21

Hi @niknoo,

I think most people had the same experience as you, I know I definetly did. I hope all goes well with you.

sue66

Its only natural to feel scared, not knowing how it could all end up as well. Just pray you have a decent honest assessor like hubby did. He came out of it with standard rate mobility and care. True he lost full rate mobility, thank goodness he never had a mobility car a. But he was just thankful to get what he did.. Im dreading getting my brown letter which has got to be any day soon now.  Hope all goes well for you.

debsidoo

Hi @niknoo
My experience was alright the assessor was understanding yet thorough He explained everything and when he asked me to do things if I had difficulty he told me I could stop.I felt his report was fair and accurate.
Remember that most assessments go without a hitch just be yourself and try not to get worked up.I know it is very unsettling but if you are honest and explain in detail giving examples when you can then it should be o.k.
Try to have somebody with you at the assessment you’ll feel more comfortable.
Good luck 
   Debsidoo.x

[Deleted User]

Thank you, I’ve been on high rate DLA both components for 10 years now and this was a indefinite award, so to think I may lose it all scares the life out of me. I’m definitely taking someone with me to the assessment but I’m really hoping I don’t have to have one (but I know with PIP most people do!) however I did get ESA support group with f2f and I don’t know if that will give my Pip application any help? I’ve been so worked up over it, but I guess what will be will be! The man on the phone did say don’t listen to all the horror stories you hear on the news etc so that was reassuring. I’ve also contacted a charity in my area that help with the forms as my mum used to do it but she passed away  
Will keep you all updated xxx 

leannemich

I was awarded enhanced rate mobility in 2014 after a assessment in 2016 got it taken away, my nurse come to see me in December 2017 and didn’t know I’d been taken off it and told me to phone DWP and tell them I’m getting worse.
i had a home assessment and the lady was really nice and understanding BUT I think that’s because I had a representative with me from the charity that helps with my condition, (definitely get somebody to be at your assessment with you).
i got awarded enhanced rate both on 1st of this month and pick my new mobility car up on 31st of this month!
it stresses you out so much waiting around and not knowing what’s going to happen next.
good luck with it all, I hope you get the out one you want  

Tigermoth42

Hi @niknoo, I had my f2f two and a half years ago to change from dla to pip and the lady who came to the house was so lovely. I was awarded enhanced rate of care and mobility (having been on higher rate of dla) for three years. However, I was reassessed in February this year, just over two years later, and had to attend the Atos office. The woman there was quite awful and her report was so full of blatant lies, spelling mistakes and comments that were the exact opposite of what I said, that it might just as well have been written about someone else. As a result of this flawed report, I was awarded standard rate of care only, nothing for mobility. I requested a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) and sent two letters detailing the errors, and included 2 letters from my pain doctor, one from my mental health team, X-ray report on my knees detailing the arthritis and a photo, taken by me, showing how swollen my ankles are (the assessor wrote there was no sign of any swelling - she didn’t ask me to take my ugg boots off to check). The decision came through yesterday, they’ve reinstated the enhanced rate of care but only awarded standard mobility so I lose my motability car. I’m still deciding whether to appeal and risk losing it all. Some assessors are absolutely lovely, sadly some aren’t but try not to worry. What you need to focus on is how your disability affects your day to day activities, PIP is scored differently from dla, the expression used for each activity is ‘reliably, repeatedly, safely and in a timely manner’. Hope this helps, if I can help further please just ask x

[Deleted User]

@Tigermoth42 thank you so much for replying and sharing your story with me. I’m so sorry to hear you’ve lost the mobility element (a lifeline to most of us!) seems to me the assessors use the ability to drive against you, which in turn totally contradicts the motability scheme?
I have so many health issues I don’t know where to start with filling out the form? I have Cystic Fibrosis, Fibromyalgia and just been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the cervical spine with a moderate herniated disc that’s pushing in the centre of my spinal cord. Along side all of that, I suffer with depression and very bad anxiety. I’m constantly in pain and always so fatigued, breathless from my lung problems, worrying about everything and anything! This has made everything 10 times worse, I know we’re all in this together but it’s so horrible for us all. X

Yadnad

Tigermoth42 said:

The decision came through yesterday, they’ve reinstated the enhanced rate of care but only awarded standard mobility so I lose my motability car. 

Whilst you had DLA High Mobility, then given Enhanced Mobility PIP, you how have Standard Mobility.

What must be remembered is that to attain that DLA award the walking distance was no more than 50 metres. To get the equivalent in PIP you have to show that you cannot walk more than 20 metres.

So those in the 21 metres - 50 metre bracket would lose out under PIP.

Having had Enhanced Mobility in the past with PIP do you know why the DWP accepted the PIP limitation and awarded it then but not now? The reason may well help you.

Tigermoth42

Hi @Yadnad, and thank you for taking the time to reply. At my f2f in 2013 for changing over from DLA to PIP, I was assessed as being in the less than 20m bracket, with points also for needing prompting to avoid significant mental distress.

The situation hasn’t changed but, this time around, I was originally assessed to be in the 50 - 200m bracket. On MR I’ve been reassessed into the 20 - 50m bracket. I think this is based on the Atos assessor reporting that I was observed to walk 25m to the assessment room. I refute it was 25m and, additionally, I nearly fell at least four times but she said she didn’t see any unsteadiness. As she was walking in front of me, and unless she had eyes in the back of her head, she wouldn’t have seen it.

It would appear that, solely based on her initial comments, they’ve come to their decision despite my covering letters and letter from my mental health team stating the opposite. I’ve had two nasty falls this last week alone, just because I didn’t fall over during my f2f doesn’t mean I don’t. I can’t fall to order, it just happens, a bit like spontaneous human combustion! 

Tigermoth42

PS @Yadnad just to add, I got nothing this time around under the planning and following a journey unaided whereas I had 4 points in 2013 and again nothing has changed, if anything it’s got worse. 

Yadnad

Assessors as well as the DWP are notorious in their estimation of distance. Given that they are saying that you walked 25 metres into the room, it must have been some huge building, probably on the scale of Buckingham Palace. That distance is the equivalent of 2.5 double decker buses nose to tail!
I remember reading of a PIP case a few years ago where the claimant was a surveyor. He too had this same problem. He managed to obtain a copy of the plans of the assessment centre and proved that the actual distance was something like 8 metres!

Tigermoth42

Hi @Yadnad, now there’s a thought, I’ll see if I can find anything on the assessment centre. It wasn’t very big, the room was hardly any distance from the reception. I couldn’t use the able bodied wc as it was too far to walk, the disabled wc was conveniently out of order! She feigned surprise and was so ‘sorry’ it wasn’t in use, she’d walked past it twice and hadn’t noticed! The sign was big enough! I suspect it was a deliberate ploy to force people to walk to the other one and then say they could walk over 200m.  

Yadnad

Tigermoth42 said:

Hi @Yadnad, now there’s a thought, I’ll see if I can find anything on the assessment centre. It wasn’t very big, the room was hardly any distance from the reception. I couldn’t use the able bodied wc as it was too far to walk, the disabled wc was conveniently out of order! She feigned surprise and was so ‘sorry’ it wasn’t in use, she’d walked past it twice and hadn’t noticed! The sign was big enough! I suspect it was a deliberate ploy to force people to walk to the other one and then say they could walk over 200m.  

You never know what they will get up to next. 

janespeedy

anybody else facing an upcoming pip appeal? I don't agree with their decision to cut me to standard rate mobility. it makes no sense. on their terms, but I am anxious about this appeal i have asked for....

Tigermoth42

Hi @janespeedy, that’s exactly what they’ve done to me. How many points are you off by? Mine is 2 points, they’ve said I can plan and follow a journey when I could no more do that than fly to the moon. I’m still thinking about appealing but don’t want to lose what they have awarded me.