Pip review

sarah50

@Yanad I tend to agree with you, the idea that a letter from my husband should carry more weight than an unbiased professional is astounding even though he does know more about my daily circumstances. Mind you the assessment done by a nurse with no experience of my condition has also carried more weight than anything my doctor said, I agree that the doctor wasn't very specific with the answers on the form but why did they pay £40.20p for it if the decision maker wasn't going to use it as evidence in the decision.

poppy123456

debbiedo49 said:

poppy123456 said:

sarah50 said:

@JO2097 Fibromyalgia is classed as a chronic pain condition for pip,

PIP isn't awarded based on a diagnosis, it totally depends how those conditions affect you daily. Everyone is different and you can't compare 2 people.

I think what they mean is fibromyalgia comes under the umbrella of chronic pain for th purposes of pip. Some health professionals say chronic pain rather than fibromyalgia as there is lack of knowledge for fibromyalgia or they see it as a symptom not a condition. It's six of one and half a dozen of the other. There are specific symptoms of fibromyalgia that can be common in some sufferers, that's why it's called fibromyalgia and I think that's where you can compare two people. Where it may be different is how it affects one person to another most of the time. 

Having suffered with fibromyalgia myself for over 7 years i know exactly what it is. I also know enough to state that even with fibro. you'll never get 2 people the same.

susankay

12 weeks since DWP received my Ar1 still no f2f apointment. I know I’m still getting my pip award but the wait is terrible just want assessment out of the way

topshoes

Hi @susankay yes it is not nice waiting for things like this to be done and over with  , try not to worry 

Tardis

Have you tried phoning the assessment company for your area (Capita or IAS)?  They might be able to tell you why it is taking so long for them to do an assessment.

sarah50

@susankay I agree the wait is horrible, like waiting for the axe to fall, however if you are still receiving your pip at the moment don't worry about how long it's taking. From my experience if the decision is wrong you will be looking at a very long fight with no money. If you are able try to put some aside between now and the eventual decision just in case.

Tardis

I realise I didn't read your OP correctly.  The DWP said the form was with the decision maker several weeks ago, and you haven't had a face to face assessment.  So it looks like they might have done a paper based assessment and you are caught up in the general backlog with decision making.  You could try calling the DWP again to see whether anything has changed.  If they have done a paper based assessment there should be a report from that and you can ask for a copy.

Heidi415

Hi @susankay It was you I was hoping to contact. There was a difference of only 5 days between the DWP receiving our AR1 forms so I have been following this thread waiting for an update from you to give me a rough idea of the timescales. I am unsure of your location but I am in the Midlands and it is Capita doing the assessments.

 I hope you receive an award or an assessment date very soon. The not knowing what is happening with your claim is agonising. You feel like life is on hold and you cannot plan for the future. I completely understand your distress at not receiving any update. If I can help in anyway, please let me know, and please keep me updated via this post. I think it will genuinely help people searching for help with their renewal. Good luck

Heidi415

Sorry I forgot to mention @sarah50's idea is excellent if you are able to. I was unable to save anything but I did cut back on everything and paid off as much of my debts as I could.

debbiedo49

poppy123456 said:

debbiedo49 said:

poppy123456 said:

sarah50 said:

@JO2097 Fibromyalgia is classed as a chronic pain condition for pip,

PIP isn't awarded based on a diagnosis, it totally depends how those conditions affect you daily. Everyone is different and you can't compare 2 people.

I think what they mean is fibromyalgia comes under the umbrella of chronic pain for th purposes of pip. Some health professionals say chronic pain rather than fibromyalgia as there is lack of knowledge for fibromyalgia or they see it as a symptom not a condition. It's six of one and half a dozen of the other. There are specific symptoms of fibromyalgia that can be common in some sufferers, that's why it's called fibromyalgia and I think that's where you can compare two people. Where it may be different is how it affects one person to another most of the time. 

Having suffered with fibromyalgia myself for over 7 years i know exactly what it is. I also know enough to state that even with fibro. you'll never get 2 people the same.

You must be right then

susankay

Hi @Heidi415 I am in Essex which is Atos area. I was told the last time I rang DWP that I could wait up to 18 weeks to hear anything. My claim is a simple one I only get the mobility aspect of pip. 

Yadnad

debbiedo49 said:

 :

@Yadnad I hope you know it's unhelpful of you to suggest you or anyone else should be or is committing fraud and I think you are being extremely unhelpful on a forum that's trying to help people. What help do you require? 

I have never suggested to anyone that they should carry out benefit fraud.
 If you re-read my post a little more carefully you will see that I was identifying an area that could be used fraudulently. Much better to point this out than to ignore it. In fact I hope that someone tells the DWP of this possibility.

To suggest that a 'letter' written by the claimant but purporting to come from someone else (husband/wife etc) would be treated with more weight than a report from a GP/OT etc. is plainly wrong.
 
Help for me? Well as I have said before if someone wants to take on my PIP claim and deal with the appeal then they have my blessing, or maybe fill out a claim form for Attendance Allowance which seems a doubtful exercise and deal with submission of it.

Tardis

I thought you had already tried to claim AA and been turned down?  And surely you are out of time with your PIP appeal?  I expect the DWP are well aware of how fraudulent evidence could be manufactured.  And if you go down that route, I hope they throw the book at you.

debbiedo49

Yadnad said:

debbiedo49 said:

 :

@Yadnad I hope you know it's unhelpful of you to suggest you or anyone else should be or is committing fraud and I think you are being extremely unhelpful on a forum that's trying to help people. What help do you require? 

I have never suggested to anyone that they should carry out benefit fraud.
 If you re-read my post a little more carefully you will see that I was identifying an area that could be used fraudulently. Much better to point this out than to ignore it. In fact I hope that someone tells the DWP of this possibility.

To suggest that a 'letter' written by the claimant but purporting to come from someone else (husband/wife etc) would be treated with more weight than a report from a GP/OT etc. is plainly wrong.
 
Help for me? Well as I have said before if someone wants to take on my PIP claim and deal with the appeal then they have my blessing, or maybe fill out a claim form for Attendance Allowance which seems a doubtful exercise and deal with submission of it.

Sounds like a plan

poppy123456

Yadnad said:

debbiedo49 said:

 :

To suggest that a 'letter' written by the claimant but purporting to come from someone else (husband/wife etc) would be treated with more weight than a report from a GP/OT etc. is plainly wrong.
 

Who suggested that? What i said was that a letter from a partner stating how your conditions affect you against the PIP descriptors will carry more weight than a letter from a GP that knows absolutely nothing about how your conditions affect you.

In fact a letter from your GP is one of the things on the list that they don't want to see. Including future appointment letters and information from the internet that explains a condition.

Yadnad

Tardis said:

I thought you had already tried to claim AA and been turned down?  And surely you are out of time with your PIP appeal?  I expect the DWP are well aware of how fraudulent evidence could be manufactured.  And if you go down that route, I hope they throw the book at you.

No, I have never claimed AA simply because based on the criteria I will not fit it.
Yes I am still in time - it's less than 13 months since the date of the MR decision.
No, I would never suggest or carry out any fraudulent act to gain a benefit payment. In fact I am the other way inclined that if I don't think I am entitled I won't make a claim unlike some that put in claims even without assessing their own entitlement first - claim they say, they can only say no.

Tardis

Well, how about appealing that PIP claim?  There is a CAB in Canterbury, have you spoken to them?

Yadnad

poppy123456 said:

Yadnad said:

debbiedo49 said:

 :

Who suggested that? What i said was that a letter from a partner stating how your conditions affect you against the PIP descriptors will carry more weight than a letter from a GP that knows absolutely nothing about how your conditions affect you.

In fact a letter from your GP is one of the things on the list that they don't want to see. Including future appointment letters and information from the internet that explains a condition.

Exactly and you seem to be missing the point. You are assuming that every claimant is as honest as you and I are.

For a start a partner is/could be biased and if there is an inkling that if he/she wrote a letter that would carry more weight than a medical report then the chances are that they will do so. The problem that the case manager must have is to judge how much truth is there in that impact statement?
Is it possible that it is a fabrication? possibly. Are there elements of exaggeration involved? Maybe.
Should the case manager just accept it at face value? I would hope not, I certainly wouldn't.
There are some that will do what they have to do to gain any advantage.

To openly suggest that such a letter is to be treated as good evidence is open to those that would want to use that system for other means.

Tardis

@yadnad; Surely the point (which you seem to be missing) is that this is a support forum.  It doesn't come across as remotely supportive when you keep implying that all successful claimants are fraudulent.

Yadnad

Tardis said:

@yadnad; Surely the point (which you seem to be missing) is that this is a support forum.  It doesn't come across as remotely supportive when you keep implying that all successful claimants are fraudulent.

I'm not suggesting that they are ALL fraudulent. I have not said so.
But given what has been said about the value placed on a letter from a partner surely there is scope for it to be abused by some?
If I was so inclined and knew the value of a letter such as that, would I consider asking my wife to draft such a letter in such a way that it described the impact and addressed the correct descriptors in the hope that I might get a good PIP award even thought that half the contents were a complete exaggeration?

Surely and getting away from this 'dubious' evidence should more not be made of evidence from say an OT or physiotherapist? At least it will be independent and unlikely to be biased.

In fact the Department of Transport banned the use of GP letters of support to be used as prime evidence in applications for a Blue Badge for the same reason as they were deemed likely to be biased in favour of the applicant.
Much more effort has now been placed on independent reports assessing the impact directly. Should not the DWP be following that same route in asking the claimant to supply this type of evidence?