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We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Changing from DLA to PIP

Bevrose

just to encourage anyone going through this, just be brave and go through the paperwork and if you need help contact welfare rights or citizens advice. There is a high chance your claim will be refused but Don’t give up appeal and even take it to tribunal if neccassary I have been through this and won in the end.

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Comments

Antonia_Alumni

Hi @Bevrose

Thank you for your encouraging words.

CockneyRebel

This is not totally true, the majority of claims are succesful first time, we just don't hear about them

Roddy

@Bevrose Great advice... It seems that many of these so-called decision makers, 'hope' that people will just simply give-up with trying to claim for what is rightfully theirs. More people appear to be going through appeals & tribunals as never before, and only through perseverance are the correct decisions being finally made. It's disgraceful. However, people like You and me, are testimony to the fact that others do and will win... eventually, and so never give up no matter what DWP throw back at you.

poppy123456

I disagree, sorry. The majority of claims are not refused first time. Lots of people claim PIP successfully first time without any problems at all. I was one of them and so was my daughter and we didn't previously claim DLA either. My daughter has recently had her first review which was a paper based assessment.

Roddy

@poppy123456 Perhaps some of us on here are just unlucky. I don't know about making a first claim for PIP but both my Son's and my own changeovers from DLA to PIP were a nightmare.

poppy123456

As @CockneyRebel has said, we only ever hear the bad stories. If someone has had a decision they're happy with then we don't hear their story.

Roddy

That's very true. There shouldn't be ANY bad stories though as the decisions made by some of the DWP people have a major detrimental effect on the health & wellbeing of disabled people. Sure, people make mistakes and no system can be 100% but ever since f2f assessments hit the scene thousands of people have been affected. Even more so for ESA/Universal Credit.

One of my arguments is that PIP is not affected by other benefits as such. However, to qualify for PIP you have to be quite ill or disabled, and the process involved is concise. It is only correct therefore that other entitlements should be far less problematic, but PIP is not even taken into account at many of these other assessments. How can one possibly be entitled to PIP and yet stripped of ESA?

poppy123456

ESA and PIP are totally different benefits. People work and claim PIP. ESA is for those with a limited capability for work.

Castleford1

My daughter moved from DLA to PIP last July and came out of it better off. She was on Middle Care and high rate mobility on DLA. Was awarded high rate on both for PIP on paper based assessment so yes there are success stories as well as failures.

5imply_Ted

Roddy said:

That's very true. There shouldn't be ANY bad stories though as the decisions made by some of the DWP people have a major detrimental effect on the health & wellbeing of disabled people. Sure, people make mistakes and no system can be 100% but ever since f2f assessments hit the scene thousands of people have been affected. Even more so for ESA/Universal Credit.

One of my arguments is that PIP is not affected by other benefits as such. However, to qualify for PIP you have to be quite ill or disabled, and the process involved is concise. It is only correct therefore that other entitlements should be far less problematic, but PIP is not even taken into account at many of these other assessments. How can one possibly be entitled to PIP and yet stripped of ESA?

I totally agree. Yes they are different benefits but surely if a person has been acknowledged by the PIP team as having care needs for a disability then they shouldn't have their ESA stripped on the basis that some people who get PIP are able to work. Similarly if assessed by ESA as being unable to work due to a disability then surely it follows that an award of PIP should be automatic on that basis. I heard a whisper this week that DWP are looking at merging the ESA and PIP tests into one. If so it's about time.

Gerald

Bevrose said:

just to encourage anyone going through this, just be brave and go through the paperwork and if you need help contact welfare rights or citizens advice. There is a high chance your claim will be refused but Don’t give up appeal and even take it to tribunal if neccassary I have been through this and won in the end.

Hi Bevrose i am going through this at the moment and still know tribunal date from Feb 2018 and now have to go to a ESA assessment on top of that and with my Depression and Anxiety problems and my Disabilities getting more on top of me like at the start of this week and the people on the community to talk to and all the kind and nice words and just to talk to help me so much and all i can do is say thank you to you all

Roddy

5imply_Ted said:

Roddy said:

That's very true. There shouldn't be ANY bad stories though as the decisions made by some of the DWP people have a major detrimental effect on the health & wellbeing of disabled people. Sure, people make mistakes and no system can be 100% but ever since f2f assessments hit the scene thousands of people have been affected. Even more so for ESA/Universal Credit.

One of my arguments is that PIP is not affected by other benefits as such. However, to qualify for PIP you have to be quite ill or disabled, and the process involved is concise. It is only correct therefore that other entitlements should be far less problematic, but PIP is not even taken into account at many of these other assessments. How can one possibly be entitled to PIP and yet stripped of ESA?

I totally agree. Yes they are different benefits but surely if a person has been acknowledged by the PIP team as having care needs for a disability then they shouldn't have their ESA stripped on the basis that some people who get PIP are able to work. Similarly if assessed by ESA as being unable to work due to a disability then surely it follows that an award of PIP should be automatic on that basis. I heard a whisper this week that DWP are looking at merging the ESA and PIP tests into one. If so it's about time.

@5im@5imply_Ted
My point exactly. It would save everybody (including the DWP) time money and expense if only both departments would liaise with each other. After all, both of them require more or less the same information and if it's OK with one department, then it surely must be the same for the other.

Even our Dr's & Hospital Specialists have better things to do than to keep writing out the same reports time and time again for the DWP, and heaven knows how much money is being wasted on totally unnecessary Assessments. I had THREE in the space of 4 months and all were exactly the same. My illnesses & disabilities have not changed in 4 years let alone 4 months and I'll still be no different in another 4 months or years.

They suggested that we are all assessed and means tested as individuals, but it's clearly not the case. They just look at their 'points system' and that's just about it. They have the answers in front of them, tried and tested by one department, and so another load of jargon & timewasting isn't necessary at all.

It could be worse... The DWP could be running the NHS and then all of us may as well go to The Moon!

Gerald

5imply_Ted said:

Roddy said:

That's very true. There shouldn't be ANY bad stories though as the decisions made by some of the DWP people have a major detrimental effect on the health & wellbeing of disabled people. Sure, people make mistakes and no system can be 100% but ever since f2f assessments hit the scene thousands of people have been affected. Even more so for ESA/Universal Credit.

One of my arguments is that PIP is not affected by other benefits as such. However, to qualify for PIP you have to be quite ill or disabled, and the process involved is concise. It is only correct therefore that other entitlements should be far less problematic, but PIP is not even taken into account at many of these other assessments. How can one possibly be entitled to PIP and yet stripped of ESA?

I totally agree. Yes they are different benefits but surely if a person has been acknowledged by the PIP team as having care needs for a disability then they shouldn't have their ESA stripped on the basis that some people who get PIP are able to work. Similarly if assessed by ESA as being unable to work due to a disability then surely it follows that an award of PIP should be automatic on that basis. I heard a whisper this week that DWP are looking at merging the ESA and PIP tests into one. If so it's about time.

Hi 5imply_Ted God i hope your wrong about the DWP are looking at merging the ESA and PIP tests into one.they have no clue on PIP now ESA can you see them getting that right with there track record is not good look at UC how big a mess that is if they do put PIP and ESA as one assessment we may as well go out side and just shoot are selfs as i do not trust them to run a lucky dip with one ticket in it .

CockneyRebel

Taken from Amber Rudds statement

We will also be transforming the delivery of assessment services. I have established the Health Transformation Programme to undertake the significant task of transitioning the currently separate Work Capability Assessment (WCA) for Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit (UC), and the PIP assessment services into one unified, integrated service from 2021. To support this, we are developing a single digital platform. An integrated approach will allow for a more joined-up claimant experience across these benefits, which takes account of the multiple interactions an individual may have with DWP. We hope that developing our own digital platform will also enable a greater range of assessment providers to compete to help us deliver this important service in the future.

To enable an integrated service, we are extending the contract for the Health and Disability Assessment Service (HDAS), which includes the delivery of the WCA, and aligning it to the duration of the extended PIP contracts. This will allow for a safe and stable service now, and as we transition to the new integrated service.

This strategic transformation will also open up new opportunities to improve our functional assessments in the future. For example, we will test whether it is beneficial to claimants requiring face-to-face assessments to offer a single assessment for UC and PIP to capture all the information required for both claims in one appointment, reducing the need for claimants of both benefits to attend multiple appointments.

Gerald

That's good if you in the assessment providers and as for the developing our own digital platform that's a joke how much as the new digital platform cost and did not work and is now scrap for UC and UC was to be all done and fully rolled out by 2016 and you can see how well that is working out

5imply_Ted

@Gerald Not sure of your logic there sir. It simply means giving the same answers you were before once rather than twice.

The same avenues of appeal will remain for those who dispute the awards.

Roddy

Hi @5imply_Ted

I personally think that the appeal system itself and the decisions being made before those appeals are the cause of this current mess. It is obvious that with many cases of DLA to PIP changeovers, there has not been any changes nor are their likely to be any changes in a persons circumstances, and yet blatantly wrong decisions are being made by those who have no qualified experience in making decisions, otherwise they would not get things so badly wrong for so many people.

The devastating consequences that many are having to endure is inexcusable in my opinion, and all the time that this current system continues to fail, peoples lives are being affected through no fault of their own. This is not just about occasional human error, it has become systematic and institionalised throughout the DWP, for all manner of benefits and our entitlement to them. Many cases of course have no problems at all, but this doesn't excuse the catalogue of errors and misjudgements being continuously made for months on end.

5imply_Ted

Hi @Roddy you're right of course. My point was only that the less that disabled claimants are repetitively assessed for the same condition by different branches of the DWP the better for the health of the claimants and the less wasted resources by the department. Especially when the claimants have long term conditions which remain largely unchanged - something that could easily be established by regular communication with the claimant's health care providers.

wildlife

I'm 68 and moved from DLA to PIP in 2017. Had a dishonest assessor who lied over and over again on my report. I am due for review in 10 months time. If I'd been assessed properly and given a life long time scale a lot of money and damage to my health could have been saved. Multiply that by all the other people treated as I was and the money they're trying to save by denying benefit to genuine claimants could have been saved anyway. Not to mention the cost to the NHS of people being made more ill or disabled by the current system.

Roddy

wildlife said:

I'm 68 and moved from DLA to PIP in 2017. Had a dishonest assessor who lied over and over again on my report. I am due for review in 10 months time. If I'd been assessed properly and given a life long time scale a lot of money and damage to my health could have been saved. Multiply that by all the other people treated as I was and the money they're trying to save by denying benefit to genuine claimants could have been saved anyway. Not to mention the cost to the NHS of people being made more ill or disabled by the current system.

@wildlife

I couldn't agree more. The DWP have not only had a detrimental affect on those that they are meant to serve, they have turned everything into a costly difficulty for themselves in the process. The word "lies" is an understatement when it comes to most of these so-called 'assessors.' They are at the best, incompetent and should never be allowed to make decisions other than changing their careers. Any organization is only as good as it's worse person, and there are many disgraceful people working on behalf of the DWP and their offices.

Even more disturbing and worrying, is that nobody of authority or within our government gives a jack. Many thousands of very sick and/or disabled people cannot all be wrong, and neither can our hospital specialists, consultants and GP's who in some cases have known us for year after year or since birth.

The DWP seem to think that by denying all people will save money, and that only the able will fight for justice, but we are not able, are we. The fight that they've dealt us is almost an endless battle and there are many who simply give up and cannot cope with the stress and the pain of it all, on top of everything else that we have to cope with. It's a total disgrace.

Sure, we only ever hear about the bad cases, but look how many there are! And from this site alone it is more than just obvious there are more bad cases, very bad cases, then right ones.