Mandatory reconsideration PIP question

ishrose

Hi I have a 23 year old son who has Autism and Ulcerative Colitis. He is high functioning but needs a lot of support. He has had DLA for 14 years at higher rate mobility and medium rate care but has now been completely refused PIP and gained 0 points. I know I have to go for mandatory reconsideration, but do I apply for this before I gather the extra evidence or gather it first then apply? I did a lot of research and put together a huge amount of information. We also had a F2F and went over a lot of difficult situations - all ignored. Thankyou for helping as it makes such a difference knowing other people understand.

ishrose

Can I also ask if I can access the detailed report from the F2F meeting? Thanks

poppy123456

Hi,

You only have 1 month from the date of the decision to request the MR. Ideally you should send evidence with the letter of request but if time doesn't allow this then just go ahead and send the letter.

When writing the letter you should state where you think he should have scored those points and your reasons why. Adding a couple of real life examples of what happened the last time he attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to him.

Do be aware that most MR decisions remain the same so you'll very likely have to take it to Tribunal. Appearing in person will give him the best chance of a decision in his favour. Only 18% of MR decisions change. 74% of those that appear at their Tribunal hearing succeed.

DWP and the Tribunal won't be interested in any lies or contradictions that may have been told in the report. Any complaints regarding the report should be sent to the health assessment providers.

Good luck.

ishrose

Can I ask for access to what she wrote?

buzzer

ishrose said:

Can I also ask if I can access the detailed report from the F2F meeting? Thanks

Yes call and ask DWP for a copy of the report, it comes fairly quickly

poppy123456

You can request a copy of the assessment report by ringing DWP.

April2018mom

You can call DWP to get a copy of the report. Circle inaccurate facts with a red pen. Do you have a social worker or not? 

ishrose

No we don't - they are very scarce up here. I live in the North of Scotland

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @ishrose, I'm sorry your son didn't score any points. 

Here is some information about the Mandatory Reconsideration which you may find helpful. If there is anything else we can do to help then please do let us know  

April

ishrose said:

Hi I have a 23 year old son who has Autism and Ulcerative Colitis. He is high functioning but needs a lot of support. He has had DLA for 14 years at higher rate mobility and medium rate care but has now been completely refused PIP and gained 0 points. I know I have to go for mandatory reconsideration, but do I apply for this before I gather the extra evidence or gather it first then apply? I did a lot of research and put together a huge amount of information. We also had a F2F and went over a lot of difficult situations - all ignored. Thankyou for helping as it makes such a difference knowing other people understand.

Hi, In my experience, Autism isn't understood by those who do the Assessments, nor by the Decision Makers. I assumed that they would have knowledge of the condition, so I kept my answers short on the original forms and at the F2F we didn't worry too much about giving detailed answers. Big mistake. And by the time I had rectified this at the MR stage, all my evidence was ignored. So don't expect the  MR to overturn the decision. Your best chance will be at the Tribunal. I was able to explain my daughter's difficulties in great detail at the Tribunal. Things like anxiety in crowded places, needing to have someone with her when she travels, her inability to budget due to lack of organisational skills...all of these things were understood by the Doctor and the Disability specialist on the Tribunal panel. Good luck. 

ishrose

Hi April. thanks for your reply. I did a lot of research and put a lot of detail in the application and explained in detail at the interview, to no avail. I am now going to gather evidence for the MR too. What extra evidence did you provide at MR stage? I am not optimistic about the MR stage but want to do my best. Thanks

poppy123456

It will depend what you sent to start with. One of my daughters conditions is ASD and i sent the ASD report, various other assessment reports, a care plan because she has support weekly from a PA. They also contacted her Consultant from the learning disabilities team, which is rare for them to do this.

I also asked her support worker to write a letter of support detailing everything she helps her with against the PIP descriptors and why she needs the help she receives.

You say you put a lot of detail into the form, did you put real life examples of what happened the last time he attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to him?

For example, dressing and undressing. Does he need assistance or prompting to be able to do this? Maybe he needs assistance to help know what type of clothes to wear depending on what the weather is? If so then what would happen if he chose his own clothes? Or maybe he needs prompting to know when to change his clothes. People with ASD tend to like to wear the same clothes day in day out, because they don't like change. If you didn't prompt him, what would happen?

ishrose

Hi @poppy123456 As he has a different GP now to our family GP, I was told they did not have a copy of that so I need to try to source it. I did put every day examples in for every area and all the detail you mentioned. I am going to try to get more reports and letters from different people to back it up. thankyou so much.

poppy123456

All his medical records will always transfer from one GP to another. You or he can request to view is medical records from his GP. It's free to receive digital copies of these but any paper copies will most likely be charged for. To request these speak to the receptionist as his GP surgery.

ishrose

Thankyou @poppy123456 - I am making progress now. they had not sent me any paper records so am requesting them now.

ishrose

I now have the full report and at first glance there are several things that have been ignored. At the start of the meeting I asked if I was allowed to speak and was told yes if my son was happy. After he spoke each time I gave more detail of the complications he faced, but apparently I tried to dominate the meeting! I am very cross indeed. 
I will go through it with a fine tooth comb and fight back.

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @ishrose, I'm sorry they have said this! I imagine that is very frustrating!

I hope it is a positive outcome, even if certain aspects aren't true.