PIP assessor lied about my diagnosis

Rebair

I had my PIP assessment a couple months ago, and scored zero points on everything despite having ASD, depression, anxiety and social anxiety. I provided evidence of all of these diagnosis’s, yet my decision says ‘Has no diagnosis’ of any of the above. I put in for a MR, made a copy of the decision and highlighted all things i disagreed with, explained why, and reattached all my diagnosis letters, once again, they were blatantly ignored and i scored zero points. Is there any point going for the appeal at tribunal? If they’re just not going to keep lying about me

Pippa_Alumni

Hi @Rebair, and welcome!

So sorry to hear about your experiences, it must have been really frustrating for you to have been through the process and have that be the outcome. Hopefully some of our members will be able to offer their thoughts, but if you do decide to appeal, this guidance on DWP tribunals may be helpful.

susan48

@Rebair
I too have depression, anxiety and social anxiety to name a few. I went to tribunal and won but it took so much out of me mental and physically. It’s still taking its toll now, my tribunal was heard in February this year. 
I know it’s very difficult but if you feel you have the strength then you’v got nothing to lose as you got zero points anyway.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do 

Rebair

@susan48
I have heard that appeals have a higher success rate, I just wasn’t sure if it was worth the stress if i scored so low in the first place, will probably try and see what i can do, thanks for your answer

susan48

@Rebair, yes compared to the MR. As I said you scored zero so you’v nothing to lose financially but it really depends how much you think you can cope with. I went from standard daily after f2f to enhanced daily and standard mobility after appeal. 

I found it so overwhelming but try and get some f2f advice from CAB or somewhere to talk about your options.

Rebair

@susan48
at the moment my anger at my diagnosis being ignored is overriding the stress of putting myself through it, from what i’ve heard there’s a long wait anyway so with a lot of time to prepare it seems worth it, thanks again 

Matilda

Only 20% of MRs win whereas 71 % of appeals do.  People have gone from 0 points to enhanced at appeal.

Try to get f2f advice from CAB or similar. or local authority welfare rights.

Point are awarded for how your conditions affect your daily living and mobility not for the conditions themselves.

Disability Rights site has a good guide to appeals.  Look at the list of descriptors and decide which ones your disabilities fit.

mikehughescq

Does the decision actually use those words or is that your interpretation of zero points? The lack of a diagnosis is irrelevant to PIP provided the symptoms are accepted as real so it’s more likely to have been a passing observation (wrong or right) and the real reason will be they don’t accept your conditions have sufficient consequences.

Rebair

the decision says ‘She has no diagnosed cognitive or intellectual impairments’ 

debbiedo49

Prepare yourself to go all the way to tribunal and know that you may find that the best place to win because they are an independent panel.  It’s good you have your medical evidence but pip is based on how your conditions affect you most of the time in day to day life and you have to be clear about this. There are sites that can help you with this mentioned on scope. You are best to seek f2f advice from cab or welfare rights where possible as they can guide you through the process and they should know the best way forward. I got lots of advice here and I got help from Wro and another organisation and I won at tribunal from zero points to standard points. I would suggest you start by looking into the descriptors that apply to you, writing down real life examples of how they affect you most of the time in your day to day life and perhaps record this in a diary as evidence. Do you have other people involved in your life that would be willing to write you supporting statements about how your conditions affect you in day to day life? This could be from a family member, a health professional, or someone else. As long as it describes the above points. Also I would advise you to take someone with you to your tribunal or other f2f meetings. Good luck. 

mikehughescq

Rebair said:

the decision says ‘She has no diagnosed cognitive or intellectual impairments’ 

Okay. I’ll accept what you’re saying is correct and that the HCP was hopefully wrong. However, the HCP did not make the decision and, as I’ve already said, no diagnosis is needed for disability benefits so a DWP DM will need to have looked at the evidence and also dismissed what you said in your claim pack. Proving you have a health issue isn’t really going to be the issue at appeal provided you’ve solid evidence on that front. The tribunal will focus on whether your symptoms impact your functional ability.

Rebair

i understand the decision isn’t based on diagnosis, it’s the fact i was visibly struggling during the f2f, my dad explained how things in my life have to be adjusted to suit my needs (as i was unable to speak for myself due to my conditions). I even had a statement from my manager explaining the adjustments needed at work, it just makes me very angry and upset when the assessor wrote ‘No signs of anxiety, perfect eye contact, spoke clearly, was chatty, didn’t need prompting to speak’ when none of that is true and we discussed my diagnosis of Aspergers in the f2f, it makes me feel like a fraud. I will note from now things i feel will be useful in the appeal, thank you all for your comments 

mikehughescq

A decision maker should not accept anything from a HCP which looks like a snapshot so the fact you were struggling on the day is arguably neither here nor there. You have plenty to argue on but you need to identify which points, why etc. rather than focus exclusively on the HCP report being wrong.

Yadnad

mikehughescq said:

A decision maker should not accept anything from a HCP which looks like a snapshot 

Hi, I do like the 'should not' phrase.
I agree but to be honest what I can say about my three assessments - all of them were clearly describing how I was at the time with no justification as to whether I was like that all of the time, most of the time or even some of the time.
Like other claimants I was well dosed up on Morphine intentionally - I actually took an additional 50mg before I left home over and above my normal dosage to get me through the assessment which I told the assessor about.

Yet she described that I did not appear to be in pain and was smiling and relaxed. Of course I was - I was on another planet. 

Rebair

mikehughescq said:

A decision maker should not accept anything from a HCP which looks like a snapshot so the fact you were struggling on the day is arguably neither here nor there. You have plenty to argue on but you need to identify which points, why etc. rather than focus exclusively on the HCP report being wrong.

Sorry but I don’t understand what you’re saying, I need things ‘dumbed down’ for me to understand 

mikehughescq

The HCP report is one part of the evidence. You need to forget how bad they’d report is and concentrate on your own evidence. You also need to understand your own case. What do you score and why. What’s your evidence? Worry about that more than the HCP.

Rebair

okay, thank you

Tarbatness

@Rebair
Hi, Although you may feel demoralised by the outcome, this is what the DWP wants, if you don`t challenge the decision the Government (DWP) saves the money it should be paying you ! To get a mandatory reconsideration, you must contact the DWP within a month from the date on your letter. Get some help - Citizens Advice or Disability Charities. Details of how to go about things are to be found on www.disabilityrightsuk.org      Whatever you decide to do, keep copies of everything !

mikehughescq

You really should need any help to do an MR. Here’s the form.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683380/if-you-disagree-with-a-decision-made-by-dwp.PDF

Rebair

i’ve done the MR, had the same outcome

mikehughescq

Then repeat your MR in the SSCS1; ensure you ask for an oral hearing and do not consent to less than 15 days notice. 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/727265/sscs1-eng.pdf