PIP points

Kirsty2784

Hi I got results back from pip and they gave me no points for daily living as I have too be reminded too take my tablets by my partner and got no points for it at all 

Chloe_Scope

Hi @Kirsty2784 and a warm welcome to the community! I am sorry to hear this. Are you planning on appealing the result?

thespiceman

Hello @Kirsty2784 Pleased to meet you welcome.

Thank you for sharing. Sorry what has happened. May I suggest you need to appeal. That is what you may need to do.  The benefit system is complex and confusing. I understand the situation and the disappointment you must feel.

I would advise contact CAB or welfare rights for further benefit information.    Have a look at our community advice on PIP. Lots of similar stories like yours.

We are a supportive, friendly community who care and share.

Ask the community anything.  Some one will be able to help and assist.

Hope that helps.

Wish you all the best what ever you decide to do. 

Please take care.

@thespiceman

poppy123456

Hi,

You need to take a look at the PIP descriptors to see where you can possibly score those points. There's more to PIP than being reminded to take your medication daily. There's a PIP self test online that you can complete, this will give you some idea what you could possibly score. Getting those points will totally depend on the evidence you have to support your claim. This test is just guide and there's no gurantee you'll score those points.

With your PIP you now have 1 month from the date of the decision to as for a Mandatory reconsideration (MR) you'll need to put your request in writing stating what you disagree with and state where you think you should have scored those points. Most MR decisions remain the same so you may end up taking it to Tribunal.

I'd advise ringing your local CAB or the likes for help with this. Good luck.

mikehughescq

Is medication your only need for personal assistance? That wouldn’t get you DL by itself. 

markyboy

Getting PIP is all about how you answer the questions on the initial or review application form because if you get turned down you cannot start changing your answers further down the process as tribunals will always refer to your application.
People do not study the ins and outs of PIP before they put pen to paper they just list all their medical conditions and medication without looking at how these conditions affect their ability to carry out the descriptors in the PIP criteria and that is why they fail to get an award.

mikehughescq

@markyboy I’m afraid that’s one of the great misconceptions. You can change your claim pack at any point. You can completely revise the contents of your appeal letter at any point too. The issue is to make sure you explain fully why you have done so. As an example, I recently had a case in which, despite help from an alleged professional, a claim pack was so poorly completed that it referred to a very specific visual impairment as “sight”. As part of the written submission I quote literally rewrote the entire claim pack giving the detailed answers the claimsnt ought to have given. 

Did the tribunal issues have issues with that? Yes they did but not only did it result in an award but their issues were so badly expressed that we’ve easily gone off to UT and the judge in question had taken a hammering. 

However, the key point is that you can change what you need to at any point provided it’s accompanied by a sensible explanation.

poppy123456

I disagree with that. I claimed PIP for my daughter last year and had help to fill the forms in by a local disability centre. The person asked some questions about her conditions and filled the form in while being sat next to me. I could see what was being put on the form and the info was very little. I wasn't too worried at the time because i thought i would be given the form to send myself and would be able to add more information. Well that wasn't what happened. I was asked to sign the form (i'm her appointee) I then said don't i have the forms back to send myself? He replied, no we don't do it that way, i take the form back to the office with me, copy it and send it for you. I was extremely worried. Although i did have reports from disability team, College and Consultants which proved the descriptors applied to her by stating exactly how she's affected by her conditions. I gave the evidence to the person to send with the form. It was a first time claim and not a transfer from DLA.

I rang later that day to check what he did was correct because i was so worried. I was told it was correct and they always take the forms to send their self. The form had already been sent. I was very worried that it would affect her claim.

2 weeks later she had her assessment at home, which was agreed without a letter from her GP. almost 6 weeks after that the decision arrived, Enhanced for both parts. The evidence i sent proved her conditions and which descriptors applied to her. So, filling the forms in isn't as important as you think, if the evidence you send states how you're affected.

mikehughescq

@poppy123456 That concerns me greatly from 2 perspectives.

1) As with some other people on here, there is a danger of taking one experience and translating that into everybody’s experience when that is rarely the case. The contents of a claim pack rarely in themselves determine anything but that’s usually because there is other evidence which can be weighed with or against it. However, a poorly completed claim pack will almost always be detrimental no matter what the evidence especially when it is the sole evidence. A well completed one can easily do the job by itself.

I’ve worked with at least 2 colleagues who persist in putting minimal information on claim packs for ESA and and relying on fantastic evidence from mental health specialists or similar and then blame tribunals when awards are not as expected. Er, no.

2) What you describe with regards to the advice service you used sounds like a mix of poor communication and misunderstanding. 

If I completed a claim pack I would always expect to take it back to the office to copy and then send as it would be bad practice to not do so. The only exception to that would be if we were right on top of a deadline. I need a record of my work for reasons of accountability and it’s essential there’s a copy available if the claim pack goes awol. There are a number of people on here who argue in favour of recorded delivery. I’ve yet to read any of them using that to win an argument over a missing claim pack. However, being able to say to DWP that the claim pack was done on date x and submitted on date y and then offering to email the whole thing there and then is a winning argument.

As regards the rest of it , then the advice agency are in theory partly in the wrong. You’re the apppointee and therefore it’s your claim. Sure you take their professional advice on the form filling but they don’t get to dictate terms on how the form is submitted. If you don’t like their process you pick up your form and walk away. 

However, the other side of that is that not would I expect to complete a claim pack in front of someone and then have them say that they had some things to add and wanted to take the form away. That risks my professional name being associated with a claim pack where a claimant has subsequently lied or exaggerated. It’s a non-starter.

The correct thing to do would be to suggest either abandon that claim pack and you do it yourself or book a further appointment at which that additional information could be considered. A claim pack completed as you suggest would ordinarily never be acceptable to most advice services.

poppy123456

Thanks for that. I guess it was just lucky for my daughter that the bad form filling didn't go against her, like i said i was worried. I didn't actually tell the person i was going to add more information, it's what i thought in my head. Usually in the past i've always used CAB for myself, unfortunately this time they were unable to fit an appointment in, in the time frame.

I know for a fact that i won't be using them again anytime soon. Thanks for the advice, appreciated.