Repercussions of withdrawing my PIP claim after successful appeal

cassiet

I had a telephone review of my PIP claim in April, and their decision was to end my PIP claim after scoring me zero points (my last claim I was awarded 16 points). Unsurprisingly, I took it straight to mandatory reconsideration because their decision was outrageous and the report I received was shoddy to say the least. I'm still waiting for their response. However, I am thinking long and hard about ending my claim once they've come back to me with their decision, regardless of what it is. Without PIP I will just about be able to get by, and though it won't be pleasant, I've been dealing with their demeaning, exhausting, and frankly corrupt system for a decade and I just can't do it anymore. The constant dread and uncertainty is doing more damage than good now and I'd rather be struggling financially and free of them. My main question is this - if they review my mandatory reconsideration and decide to reinstate my award (partially or fully), then they will owe me a lot of backdated payments. If at that point I contact them to say "okay, now I want to end my claim", is there any chance they'll take that as some kind of indicator of fraud and open an investigation into why I "suddenly" decided I didn't need PIP? The DWP have treated me like cr*p for 10 years and I'm damned if I'll withdraw my claim before their decision and let them keep all those backdated payments that I was fully entitled to, but I really just want out after that. I can't take it anymore. Short version: if they reinstate my claim, give me the money they owe me, then I tell them (politely) to take a hike, can they take the money back?

Adrian_Scope

Hi @cassiet. I can only imagine the stress this is causing and I'm really sorry you're in this position. I've had experience of the PIP process can understand the thought process behind wanting to end your claiming rather than having to deal with them anymore.

Nobody can force you to claim anything, so if you want to cancel your claim you can do it. It might be worth until after the appeal decision and then holding on until you're reassessed and then choosing not to be. But of course this is a decision only you can make.

Just to make you aware: the success rate at MR is very low, so don't be surprised it's rejected at this stage. But if you decide to see it through and follow through to a tribunal appeal, the success rates there are much higher.

cassiet

Thanks @Adrian_Scope - I'll have a think about holding off until my next reassessment (if my MR is successful), but honestly I'm so fatigued from dealing with them that I'd rather walk away than spend my time waiting in fear for that next brown envelope. I don't have high hopes for my MR being successful and if that's the case I won't be following it through any further. My last two reassessments resulted in mental health breakdowns, one of which involved having to be admitted as an in-patient for my own safety. Amazing that I got struck down to zero points despite that happening! But nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to their arbitrary decision-making.

janer1967

Hi and welcome as Adrian as advised if you are succesful at MR then why withdraw your claim after you have gone that far.

I understand not going to tribunal been there done that but if they award at MR you may as well take the back pay and the award payments and then don't apply again when up for renewal. It doesn't make sense to let go when you would have won, just my opinion of course 

mikehughescq

I’m afraid the above advice is slightly off kilter and not quite the full picture.

If the MR results in an award and arrears are owed and paid then you legally can’t withdraw the claim. A claim can only be withdrawn legally before a decision has been made on the initial claim. That bird has long flown. There’s one exception to that which is UC but that’s not relevant here. 

Now, loads of people will tell you that you can withdraw a claim but, other than the one specific situation I describe above you cannot. A claim can only legally be ended if it is superseded and for that to happen there have to be grounds for supersession. Wanting to withdraw or end a claim is not grounds for supersession. That requires a change of circumstance. 

It is very unlikely your attempt to end the claim would result in any kind of investigation let alone a fraud one and of course, in practice, they will happily just terminate the claim even though there’s no legal basis for doing so. It doesn’t matter whether you attempt to withdraw before or after an MR decision or before or after arrears are pays. Legally DWP can’t simply end an award cos you want them to do. They’ll do it anyway because it suits them and because of their own ignorance as to what the law says. 

This matters because, if you were to change your mind, it is possible you would be able to do so as legal grounds for terminating could not be shown to exist.

cassiet

@mikehughescq - That's really interesting, thanks! For the sake of discussion, I would assume if I instead reported a change in circumstances which would make me non-eligible, that would be effective? Another route I have been giving thought to is attempting to find That Unicorn Job – one that would fit around my disabilities without crippling me and pay enough to make my life comfortable enough without PIP. Not exactly the best economic climate for such a venture, but I suppose with the huge increase of home-working positions, it might actually be more possible now than before. Which then makes me wonder, should my MR be successful and I get my backlog of payments, and then inform them that I've found such a moon-onna-stick job, could that lead to an investigation/further reversal of their decision?

mikehughescq

Yes, reporting a truthful change of circs which would end entitlement will lead to a supersession and termination. 

cassiet

@mikehughescq - my question now would be, could the DWP try and play silly-b*ggers and turn around and say "hey, you took work which must mean your condition has improved* so we doubt your MR, and you now need to return the back-payments you received"?

*It really hasn't. I've just never been successful at getting suitable work for my disability. Otherwise, I'd be doing that rather than jumping through their flaming hoops!

mikehughescq

Wholly depends on what you write in your MR. The more detail you give the better really although people tend to wrongly withhold information because they don't trust DWP.

cassiet

Oh, I submitted my MR back in May (it was VERY extensive). I was more talking about what would happen if it was successful and then I told them I was going back to suitable work and therefore needed to end my claim.