We really are at our
witts end with PIP!!
I have previously commented on this forum 2 years ago when
our daughter (who has cerebral Palsy) went through the DLA > PIP process and
was 'downgraded' from 'Indefinite' entitlement to standard personal needs and
zero getting about. We went through the mandatory reconsideration process and
then an appeal. The appeal judge immediately ruled in our favour. In the meantime, we had to give our Motability car back, take out a loan to purchase a another car,
before eventually being allowed to re-join the scheme (all at a significant
cost to us).
We have now been told that the DWP have made an error as the
department which controls payments has her recorded as '10 year reviews' but
the department which controls reviews has her down for '2 year reviews'. So,
although she was still getting paid, her entitlement had technically come to an end. As a
result, they rushed through another assessment and guess what... the result was
even less entitlement than the original assessment! We have received notice
from Motability that we are no longer entitled to be on the scheme and
therefore have to return the car (this came a few days before we got the DWP decision!).
Our daughter struggles with both physical and mental
restrictions. She walks short distances around the home with 2 crutches, and
uses a wheelchair when going anywhere further. The assessor acknowledged her
physical restrictions but this somehow manifested itself into her having the
ability to plan and execute complex journeys unaided! We explained that we no
longer allow her to walk unaided outside the home as she had previously fallen whilst
stepping down a kerb and narrowly missed being hit by a car (the car stopped
and the driver helped her to her feet).
In the assessment, they asked her 3 very simple sums, one of
which was 'how much change would you get from £1 if you spend 93p?’. She wasn't
able to answer this. The only question she answered correctly was ‘how much change
from £1 if you spent 70p?’ After some thought she answered ‘30p’. This has been
interpreted into ‘You are able to make complex budgetary decisions’!!
These are just 2 of many examples of where the facts just don't match with their decision.
Our daughter struggles.
As a 33 year old she has very obvious physical disabilities and has a mental
age of around 10 years. Despite this, if she trusts a person, she can engage
well with them. If she hasn’t been given chance to get to know
someone, or she is faced with strangers, she gets very anxious and will often
start crying for no apparent reason. All her issues were clearly communicated
through her medical reports, in her application, and at the assessment.
How has this process
become so broken? I wish I could afford to tell them where to stick their money
to protect her from going through this messed up process again.
