PIP not awarded and next step

Comicmadtitan

Hello all, so i've been a long time lurker whilst i've been waiting for my pip assessment. I applied in Feb and because of COVID I finally had my phone assessment last week. I thought it went okay despite my mental health being an incredible hinderance. I requested my report and received it the next and I scored 6 on daily living and 0 on motability. To say I am incredibly disheartened is an understatement. I called DWP to see if I could supply more evidence and contest the majority of the points as my assessor seemed to get the completely wrong idea about my conditions. I was informed a decision had been made and that I hadn't received it, fortunately the person I was speaking to was incredibly helpful and told me that the most important stage of my PIP application now is the MR. 

So I am currently in the process of gathering more evidence with my mam and awaiting my offical award report. I was just looking for positive stories from all those who had to do a MR and also for tips and help that they used in their own MR? Also i've seen many reference a guide that is £20 (I was wondering if someone could direct me and give me some information on this?). Thank you all! 

janer1967

Hi @Comicmadtitan Welcome to the community, there are lots of examples on here of people that have been successful at MR, the success rate has risen a lot recently

You should put the MR in writing and look at the descriptors you think you should have scored more points, give real examples of what happens when you try and do the task, how can you do it, if you cant why not, do you need help or use of aids, can you do it safely and repeatedly

Sending in more evidence can help but is it relevant evidence maybe a letter from your mum about how you are on a daily basis, or maybe a diary of daily activities.

Medical evidence is only good if it explains how your condition affects you as it isnt about diagnosis

Have a look around the PIP section for other posts and good luck with the MR and keep us updated

Cher_Alumni

Hi @Comicmadtitan

Welcome to the forum! It's always nice to have a lurker emerge  I hope to see more of you around the board.

We have had lots of positive stories in the last few days of people going through MR and getting a positive result.  This is an example where @Debbie1234 talks about her success.

I would avoid paying money for a reference guide.  Our members really do give lots of helpful advice and we will support you all we can.

Comicmadtitan

@janer1967 Thank you, I hadn't considered a letter from my mam as well, she's a mental health professional herself but her perspective on my day to day would be really valuable. I'll have a look around the forums, thanks again! 

@Cher_Scope Haha thanks Cher! I'll have a read of her story now and i'll have a look at other posts. At the moment i'm feeling pretty hurt so I really need to have some hope haha.

Debbie1234

Hi and welcome ?
sorry to hear that you haven't been successful at this stage with your claim. But please don't panic, shake the dust off your feet as they say and go on to the next stage your MR. Up until last week I was in a low mood and downhearted too, but after reading the positive stories I began to feel optimistic. I would never had normally done an MR but after doing some research I did ?
I put the atrocious report (full of lies) and the DM comments to the back of my mind and thought right!!! How am I going to put across "how my illness affects my daily life?"
I broke it down and started writing a detailed diary on every point aspect of the form: washing, cooking, mingling with others, medication..... etc.... So what I have got from reading this wonderful site and my research is it is not about so much evidence, but very personal experiences on how, why, what happened, how it made you feel afterwards, could you complete the task etc.... each time you try and do something regarding the points, if this makes sense. My diary was only for a week, but very detailed.....
Sorry for rabbiting on. You have nothing to lose at this stage ?

I went from 2 points daily living and 0 mobility.... put in for MR and 8 weeks later I got awarded 11 points daily and 4 points mobility ?
today I had £477.60 in my bank back pay and I get my monthly pip again on 23rd of August.
I hope this boosts your confidence a little. 

Even better I received some wonderful advice today from here that I never knew before  is that my husband can receive carers allowance for me. I had been on daily living standard from February 2018 and never claimed it before ? thanks to Poppy and co now I have

Debbie1234

Try not to be Derogatory or negative about the DM or report etc.... 
concentrate on how you can move forward and help them to understand you and how your illness affects you on a daily basic. I don't know if you have already, but what helped me most I think were letters from my daughter and sister stating what they witness and how they have helped me in the past and continue to help me ?
please keep us updated 

Seanchai

hi comicmadtitan.....I was on DLA for 12 years , I joined a forum called " works and pensions" ( it cost around £15- £20 for a years membership) ....although  I must add , at the time it was a place to turn to for advice and assistance  when the DWP told me that my DLA was stopping and they " invited me to apply for PIP if I wanted to.. I must say that I found Scope by accident one day and Scope got me through the dark days of worry and anxiety and depression awaiting my assesment ( last year I was 'awarded ' PIP ) ...
At that time of needing help and advice Scope experts and members helped me immensley and i thanked them so much for being there and giving me very accurate advice . I also got helped on Scope by a lovely lady called Poppy123456. I have not been on scope lately and i don,t know if its the same people today as it was a year ago ... Thankfully i did not need to go through that part . I had a house assessment and the lady who assessed me was very nice ...but very professional . My wife and i agreed at that time that irrespective of the outcome the assessor was nothing like the horror stories i had read previously .
Good luck with your MR . ??

cupcake88

Hiya there I’m some one who has mental illnesses and I had to call up to get my outcome I was awarded pip with out having to do the mr so I can’t comment on that but I can tell you what information I put on my form what edvidence I sent off I mean , so I sent loads of care plans a assessment from crisis team , my mental health nurse wrote how my condition affects me , a meds list and my partner wrote a statement on how my life is affected . I really hope you get pip . 

Comicmadtitan

@Debbie1234 Congrats Debbie! Wonderful news! Also thank you for replying, that is incredibly hopeful news and adds that extra spring in my step. Initially I wanted to call out the DM but I thought whats the point and you're right, it's not gonna help my case. I think i'll do that and I also get letters from my mam and brother. That is all brilliant advice, thank you so much! and again, congrats! 

@Seanchai Thank you! And congrats on your own successes, from everyones advice so far and what i've been reading, I totally agree with you that the advice is amazing! 

@cupcake88 Ooh thanks for that cupcake, some of those apply to me and I hadn't considered, I will do that! Also whilst I was lurking, yours is a story I was following and I personally want to say, congrats! 

chiarieds

Hi @Comicmadtitan - & welcome to the community. As well as the great advice you've received above, if you have problems with your mental health, may I suggest you & your Mum have a look through the PIP descriptors in the following link. Altho this is about filling in a PIP claim form, this may still be relevant, & help with giving a couple of detailed examples of the problems you have, for any descriptor that applies, in your MR. Please see: https://www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/welfare-benefits/pip-mental-health-guide/help-with-your-pip-claim/how-to-fill-in-the-pip-form/

Comicmadtitan

Hi @chiarieds ! Thank you for that link, it's incredible and thats just from a glance. I'm going to have a thorough read now with my mum. This is brilliant, thank you!

cupcake88

I’m glad I rang to ask other wise i prob wouldn’t be checking my bank account I’ll check it tomorrow . Thank you so much. I’m going to get a nice big cross stitch when I get paid . Best of luck to you we are all here to support you 

chiarieds

You're very welcome @Comicmadtitan - I hoped it may help.

Comicmadtitan

Definitely treat yourself @cupcake88 it's deserved and thank you! 

@chiarieds It definitely has helped!