DlA To PIP

Lissy123

hi there, so the dreaded time has come and my partner has been asked to apply for PIP, he suffers with mental health problems Agoraphobia, depression, anxiety, social anxiety and separation anxiety and has done so now for the last 20 years , i am his carer. he currently recieves Highest Care and Lowest Mobility on DLA and is in the ESA Support group.
we have now received the PIP2 form, we had to fill out a paper based PIP1 form, as my partner is unable to use the telephone due to his mental health.
Pip2 form needs to be returned by 26th December.
He has not been out of the house now in approx 2 years, and that last time was to a special care dental unit that deal with people that have mental health at the hospital which is about 10 minutes away by car, and we were out for just under an hour, which was incredibly distressing for him, and before that he had not been out for a year before that.
I have recieved a letter of support from his doctor to send off with the Pip2 form, i spoke with his mental health nurse, who he hasn't seen in a number of years, but she has also written a letter of support, and i have older letters and documents such as care sheets etc to send aswell.
I still have a copy of his old DLA form, which i have been reading through which has helped.

So i don't know if i have a question really, im trying to help him filling out the pip2 form on writing pad firs, it feels so incredibly stressful, so just not trying to pass my stress on to him, as he is stressed out enough about the whole thing.

I was thinking of trying to get an appointment with citizens advice, as i found them very good when as i had to get them to help when he was originally placed into the work group for ESA.
i have been reading their website for help filling in the form, and also the benefits and work group website

Apologies for my ramblings x

poppy123456

Hi,

You need to fill out the form with as much information about how his conditions affect him as possible. Give 2/3 examples of what happened the last time he did that activity. The more information you put the better for him.

PIP isn't about a diagnosis, it's how those conditions affect your ability to carry out daily activities based on the PIP descriptors.

Letters from a GP aren't the best evidence to send because they very rarely state how your conditions affect you. Mostly they can only say about a diagnosis and what medication is taken.

Have you asked for his DLA file to be used as evidence? If not then i'd advice you do this.

Evidence you send should state how his conditions affect him.

You can ring to ask for an extension of 14 days to return the form and they'll happily give you this. I would advise you do this because of the Christmas post and DWP closing days. If that form isn't received by the deadline then his DLA payments will stop. Better to be safe than sorry.

Most people have face to face assessments so expect this. I would request a home visit when filling out the forms. A letter from a GP maybe needed stating the reasons why he can't attend an assessment centre, if the evidence provided isn't enough. Good luck.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/fill-in-form/

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

Pippa_Alumni

Hi @Lissy123, and a warm welcome to the community!

Thanks for sharing this with us. You've had some great advice above from Poppy, and I second the recommendation for Citizens Advice online guidance: it's a great, in-depth resource that many people find helpful. Please do keep us updated with the process and we'll advise where we can, and wishing you and your husband all the best.

wilko

Welcome, do as poppy says don’t focus on the illnesses or disability but how they effect and impact on his daily live in relationship to the PIP descriptors the more information you give the better but be honest as you will have to justify your answers you write in the application form at the F2F acessment if you have one.

Lissy123

Thank you so much for the warm welcome !
It's so lovely to have found a lovely group like this.
Yes on the Pip1 form there was an option asking if i wanted them to use his DLA and ESA evidence, which we ticked yes too.
I had also put in a Right of access request to the DWP to ask for his previous DLA and ESA evidence to be sent to us. but not sure if that will arrive in time, as we only recieved a letter back from them confirming acknowledgement of reciept on the 28th November
However I will definitely phone up and ask for an extension aswell x