My daughters dla been stopped

Bubbles74

Hi my 23 year old daughter was awarded dla and high rate Mobilty for life.untill recencenly she had a pip assessment and they have stopped all her dla and mobility . When the assessr came out she dint seem very intersted any way she asked if my daughter had knees well what kind of question is that . My daughter thought her dla might go down but not stop altogether as any one who knows or sees my daughter clearly knows she needs help and she is disabled . She as achondroplasia drawfisum I just wanted some help as to what to do or some help thankyou 

wilko

@Bubbles74,hello and welcome, we the scope cummunity are all sorry that your daughter has lost her PIP benefit since being transferred from DLA. When your daughter was awarded DLA she was awarded it on her disability but to be awarded PIP the criteria is different and is awarded on your abilities to cope manage your daily life abilities in relation to the PIP descriptors. Have you requested a copy of your assessment report? You have month to request an MR and subbitt evidence and reasons why your daughter should be awarded PIP giving real.eamples of what happened or happens each time your daughter trys or attempt to do each of the descriptors to which you are appealing and writing about  in a safe, repeatable and timely manner avoid any misreporting by the HP as the DWP will not be intrested in any of the missed reported information. Stay focused on the PIP descriptors that have an impact on your daughter's daily living and mobility issues. 

poppy123456

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear this. As wilko has advised, you have 1 month to request the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) which should be put in writing stating where she thinks she should have scored those points and her reasons why.

For example, one of the activities is dressing and undressing, is she able to do this herself? If she can't why can't she do this? does she need to use an aid, or does someone need to assist or prompt her? If so why does she need this and is it her lower or upper body she needs assistance with? Explain with as much detail as possible why she's unable to do this and what happened the last time she did this or attempted to dress herself. Do the same thing for all the other 9 daily living activities and the same again for the mobility ones.

PIP and DLA are different benefits with different criteria and having some understanding of the PIP descriptors and what they mean always helps. This link may help with that https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

Do be aware that most MR decisions remain the same so she'll very likely have to take it to Tribunal. Appearing in person will give her the best chance of a decision in her favour. The only downside to this is that waiting times are huge in most areas and a lot of people are waiting a year for a hearing date.

May i ask if evidence was sent to support her claim? They very rarely contact anyone for this. The onus is on you to make sure it's sent.

Do be aware that her DLA ending could affect any other benefits she's claiming. If anyone's claiming carers allowance for looking after her, this will also end.

For help and support with the MR/Tribunal speak to an advice agency near you. This link will help with that. https://advicelocal.uk/

worried33

Hi bubbles you need to look at the descriptors and see which apply to her, once you have an understanding of this you can prepare your MR request properly and only focus on evidence relevant to those descriptors.  

Information on them here.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria#daily-living-activities

Its important to note its not or at least shouldnt be awarded based on diagnosis but on the functional restrictions.

April2018mom

Hello @Bubbles74

Have you requested a copy of your report? You need to do this soon as they only usually allow you a month to get a mandatory reconsideration appeal submitted. Describe how many things are affected by her impairment. Refer to the activity descriptors that are most relevant in terms of her disability. This link has more information. The criteria is different. 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Copy%20of%20UPDATED%20-%20PIP%20descriptors.pdf

DLA is based on disability whilst PIP is about what you can and cannot do safely or independently due to your condition etc. Give extra evidence but make sure it is not the original copy and always send via secure recorded delivery. Avoid irrelevant information as they will not care about that or even attempt to read it. Provide real examples of what happens when she tries to do something alone. Stay focused solely on the descriptors. 

Make a list of reasons why too. 

And welcome to the forums @Bubbles74. Sorry to read that. What rates did you claim before on her behalf? 

Chloe_Scope

Hi @Bubbles74 and a warm welcome to the community! I hope the advice from other members has been beneficial. Is there anything else we can do?

Bonniemum

Hi bubbles I have a bit of experience on this condition. For achondroplasia you need to emphasise the common related conditions if you daughter has these. Achondroplasia is poorly understood and many people don’t understand the impact this condition has. If your daughter has been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, kyphosis or breathing issues I would ensure these are listed separately and don’t assume these are accounted for under the achondroplasia diagnosis. For the daily living aspect it should be emphasised that whilst she can use stools etc in her day to day living this isn’t always safe particularly where cooking is concerned and therefore she may require assistance in many aspects of her daily life. Personal care is also something that should be raised and the aids in which she may require. I would also emphasise that whilst aids are available they still may not allow for personal care to an acceptable standard. Your daughter has only ever lived in this body therefore her difficulties are not going to be immediately obvious to her as she has never known any different. Maybe Having a friend shadow her for a day will help her list these difficulties. For example whilst she can use a stool to reach benches etc her arm length is still restricted and therefore she still may have to physically bend over a cooker to reach a switch which is dangerous. The mobility part is difficult and I’m afraid it’s very hard to get, the main things I would emphasise is the speed and gait in which your daughter walks and the fact that whilst she may be able to walk a certain distance she may not be able to repeat it due to pain etc. All in all there is still an ignorance to the condition and the serious complications related to it.