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Applying for PiP again, what's your thoughts?

Hi All,
I was born with a right hand only, the fingers of the left are not formed at all. I received DLA until March 2017 (lowest rate) when I had the F2F interview at my home. The decision was... 2 points. Yep, 2 POINTS!! I lost DLA and of course wasn't awarded PiP. Various things have happened in the past 2 years; I now cannot peel veggies, and placing/removing pans from over is a bit dangerous. I have Osteoporosis which is giving me more lower back pain. I've recently been issued 2 hearing aids (moderate hearing loss). I am Hypothyroid. I need help washing and cannot wash/dry my hair without looking like a birds nest... I have applied again for PiP and am awaiting the tome - sorry I meant form, to complete and return. Is there any real point in me putting myself through this again? It so upset me when it was removed back in 2017 I don't want to go through that stress again. What's your thoughts please?
I was born with a right hand only, the fingers of the left are not formed at all. I received DLA until March 2017 (lowest rate) when I had the F2F interview at my home. The decision was... 2 points. Yep, 2 POINTS!! I lost DLA and of course wasn't awarded PiP. Various things have happened in the past 2 years; I now cannot peel veggies, and placing/removing pans from over is a bit dangerous. I have Osteoporosis which is giving me more lower back pain. I've recently been issued 2 hearing aids (moderate hearing loss). I am Hypothyroid. I need help washing and cannot wash/dry my hair without looking like a birds nest... I have applied again for PiP and am awaiting the tome - sorry I meant form, to complete and return. Is there any real point in me putting myself through this again? It so upset me when it was removed back in 2017 I don't want to go through that stress again. What's your thoughts please?
Replies
You can run through and see what you think, and should you score yourself higher, try the CAB or look for an advisor to help with filling, A lot will depend on the day and how the assessor finds you, it shouldn't be like that but sadly it is, for every success they are plenty who fail and come and give their details of what went wrong.
Nothing stopping from trying "if" you feel up to it and feel you do need some help, its down to you to explain what problems you have and how you cope and then what extra help you need,
You can also get support from any professionals or organisations doing advocacy. Look online for your local advocacy agency, look on your council website or contact any national support groups related to your condition(s) as they can always advise better what to put on forms and they may also help with attending meetings to support you. Advocates fight your corner on all sorts of issues so can be a great help for you at any time.
And always keep a copy of the forms you fill in. I print mine off a page at a time if doing them online just in case I find at the end that I can’t print it all off or if something goes wrong and I have to start again, I have the information already to start again!
So always ask for help. Good luck.🙂
Systems are pretty much stretched to breaking point, in my area anyhow.
Please note that whilst this is for PIP form filling only, the gist of most of these 8 points apply equally to DLA and AA form filling even though those are not based on points scoring. So, on point 1 and some others you can substitute the word “activities” or “activity” with the phrase “bodily functions... but not always.
1 - Identify those activities you have any kind of issue with.
2 - Identify whether the issue is that you can’t do the activity at all; can’t do it reliably, can’t do it repeatedly; can’t do it safely or in a reasonable time. If any one of these apply to an activity then you can’t do it at all and it’s okay to say so. However, as well as ticking the box saying you either can’t do it all need help or aids, remember to say which one(s) of the above apply.
3 - Have a copy of the PIP points scoring system in front of you. The questions in the form don’t match the points scoring so it’s as well to be aware of this.
4 - For every activity you think you score points you need to think of 2 or 3 recent examples of incidents when you tried to do that activity. Describe in detail the what, when, where, who witnessed, what happened next etc. Don’t skimp on detail. It’s often better to type it up in Word first rather than write in the form. If it won’t fit then add extra sheets, remembering to put your name, NINO and the question to which the answer relates on each sheet. Alternatively, reduce the font and cut and paste the Word answer into the form. Note that doing point 4 correctly is far more important than supporting medical evidence in most cases.
5 - Use the extra information section to describe your conditions in detail; the specifics of the symptoms and especially how they interact.
Also, if applicable, use it to spell out that you want an ongoing award and explain why e.g. your condition is degenerative, you’ve done all the adapting you’re going to do etc. If you don’t specifically ask for an ongoing award you will almost always get a short one.
6 - Assuming your diagnoses are not in question and ditto the prognosis then ask yourself what gap in your evidence does medical evidence fill in terms of points scoring? If you can’t answer that then consider not sending it in. 10 reports all saying the same thing are no better than 1. Volume of evidence, especially medical evidence, doesn’t win you PIP and medical evidence is also not as helpful as your own anecdotes unless you are someone who lacks insight into their own condition e.g. someone with a learning disability or certain mental health conditions. Clarity and focus of evidence wins you PIP.
7 - Whilst PIP ask for the form back in 4 weeks they will grant a 2 week extension without question if you ask. However, there is no actual deadline for returning the form in the legislation so that deadline can be extended if reasonable. What could be more reasonable than having a medical condition which slows you down? Ask for an extension as a reasonable adjustment under EA 10 if applicable.
8 - By all means get an advice service to do this but if they don’t do most of the above then you’re better off doing it yourself. Welfare rights advisers do not have some magic form of words they use and their knowledge of the law, guidance or case law only occasionally comes into play at the firm filling stage. No-one especially likes form filling but unless your impairment creates specific difficulties with form filling there’s no reason you can’t do it yourself. It’s all about the anecdotal evidence.
As other have said the PIP system is there to assess how you manage your daily activities from a set of descriptors. It is not about any sort of medical condition you have. The age of the person assessing you should not be a consideration, my doctor is younger than me but I am sure she knows a lot more about medicine that I do. She was likely asking you questions around Osteoporosis and or back pain as these can also limit your movement and make life harder for you. Your hand deformity is a visual thing and I am sure she would have some understanding of the limitations you would have around that. I hope things do go well for you cause I do understand it must be hard.
Best wishes.
Drew
Returned from a few days away yesterday to be welcomed by the DWP decision letter.
Much to my utter amazement, I've been awarded lower daily living allowance. However, I just scraped through with 11 points and nothing for Mobility. Reading the Report however, I'm a little confused - her statement in the report was:
'Mixing with other people' (scored out of 8) : 0 ' You can engage with other people unaided'. YET, in the My Decision section, it states 'You said you have difficulties communicating verbally and engaging with other people face to face' - this smacks at *you said* is treated as 'you said but we think you're lying'!!
The report: 'You said you have difficulties planning and following journeys'. No I didn't!
This has been awarded for a set time, in this case 10 years.
Question. I've had a job working from home for 3.4 years. It's sitting at a desk using the phone and laptop with tight time constraints This has become increasingly more painful this summer and therefore I have had to give up this job. Should I contact DWP and advise them of this? My partner seems to think if I ask for a re-consideration of the decision that I could lose out completely. Does that happen?
Thanks for reading,
Ange