Query re:PIP LETTER RECEIVED

Daithi

I got a letter this morning indicating that the independent assessment service was seeking more information from my health professionals, despite me including a lot of supporting evidence within my initial application for PIP, and potentially as a result of the professionals response a decision may be reached without necessary speaking with me, have people experiences of this? 

Daithi

I’m a working psychiatric nurse, I have Bipolar Type 2, diagnosed 2 years ago, having avoided confronting this diagnosis for 10 years +, but have had symptoms for around 15years, I’ve never considered claiming DLA/PIP, I have relapsing remitting depressive episodes and occasionally mania, I have just enough energy to get through a days work but otherwise the illness has devastated my home live, I’ve gone from a outgoing busy person to being quite isolated, unable to motivate myself to mix with others or engaging in activities outside my home, avoiding or doing minimal stuff in terms of my necessary Activities of Daily Living, I get help and support from a good friend when I am particularly unwell who will do shopping or prompt me to wash / dress etc. I see my GP regularly when ill but avoid contact when I am out of relapse, I don’t know if I should claim for PIP, the reason I am hesitant is that I often minimise the impact of symptoms to my GP as I don’t want him to over react to my impaired functioning so i am not sure if I would have sufficient evidence to support a claim for PIP, can anyone advise me.

poppy123456

HI and welcome,

DLA no longer exists and it's PIP you will need to claim. PIP isn't about a diagnosis, it's how those conditions affect your ability to carry out daily activity based on the PIP descriptors, at least 50% of the time over a 12 month period.  People do work and claim PIP but if the work you do contradicts the reasons why you're claiming PIP then it could go against you.

Letters of evidence from a GP aren't the best evidence to send because they rarely know how our conditions affect us against the PIP descriptors. They will only ever know the basics, such as medication, diagnosis and what appointments you may have had in the past.

They very rarely contact anyone for any evidence and the onus is on you to make sure it's sent to support your claim. A face to face assessment is most likely because most people have them.

If you do start a claim then when you receive the forms i'd advise you to fill them out with as much information as possible about how your conditions affect you but keep it relevant, they don't need to know your life story. Then add a couple of real life examples of what happened the last time you attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to you.

A successful claim could take several months maybe longer.

Having some understanding of the PIP descriptors and what they mean will always help. It's very easy to score yourself points when it may not be possible to score as many as you think, the same as it maybe possible to score more than you think. For this reason alone i'd advise you to have a read of this link before deciding to apply.

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

Hope this helps.

Daithi

Thank you, your right about the work issue, it is somewhat contradictory that my job entails helping others with issues that I completely struggle with myself

Alice_Holt

You will also find more about PIP on these sites:
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-self-test

https://www.rethink.org/advice-and-information/rights-restrictions/money-benefits-and-employment/personal-independence-payment-pip/

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/

Although medical evidence is very helpful, a well written PIP form is essential. 
Evidence could come from your friend, who could describe what they do for you.

A couple of important PIP points - 
A)  " ‘Reliably’ - the most important PIP word It’s vital that, before you complete your form, you understand that just because you can carry out an activity, that doesn’t mean you are prevented from scoring points for being unable to do it. Guidance issued by the DWP states that you need to be able to complete an activity ‘reliably’ in order for it to apply. According to the guidance, ‘reliably’ means whether you can do so:
• Safely – in a fashion that is unlikely to cause harm to themselves or to another person.
• To a necessary and acceptable standard – given the nature of the activity.
• Repeatedly – as often as is reasonably required.
• In a reasonable time period no more than twice as long as a person without a physical or mental health condition would take to carry out the activity."
B )  PIP looks at how you are on the majority of days over 12 months. If you can't do an activity reliably at any point in the day as required (unless it is just "momentary"), then the relevant descriptor should apply. 

Chloe_Scope

Hi @Daithi and a warm welcome to the community! Just to let you know, I have merged your posts.

If there is anything else we can do to help then please do let us know!

Chloe_Scope

Daithi said:

I got a letter this morning indicating that the independent assessment service was seeking more information from my health professionals, despite me including a lot of supporting evidence within my initial application for PIP, and potentially as a result of the professionals response a decision may be reached without necessary speaking with me, have people experiences of this? 

Hi @Daithi, I can imagine this could cause worry but it is fairly common and a normal step of the process. I hope you are doing okay.