Benefit adviser said I won’t be accepted are they right?

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pleasebekind

Sorry if this doesn’t make sense I keep crying so not talking properly.

I spoke to a benefit adviser and they said I won’t get pip because I have no evidence or help from doctor. Has the law changed? She said there is not point applying because I can’t evidence anything. 

But I was on PIP and DLA before for many years and never gave any information apart from my form.

 I was on PIP for mainly my mental health and it ended last year in February. I didn’t do the forms when they came because my friend used to help me but she passed away in 2019 before Christmas and I still was not thinking right as she was my only friend. 

I been on pip and before that DLA and always on high rate. I am finding it hard because my housing benefit and esa went down because I stopped getting pip so now I am thinking straight I want to try pip again. 

I emailed to a benefit help place but they won’t help me as they said I don’t have a chance to get awarded so would take away help from someone who needs it more. 

Is it right that you can not get awarded any more with out things from your doctor? I don’t think I even have a doctor. 

popsy79

I’m very sorry to hear about your plight and for the loss of your dear friend.

I don’t know if the advisor is right, but she certainly hasn’t helped you with that answer!

The following advice is from my own experience only, not a professional response.

I am not an expert on benefits claims, but a cynical recipient of all the tricks and barriers to receiving the benefits to which, on paper, I am entitled. I have asked for, and received help from many quarters in order to achieve relief for the time being, but these awards always have an end date, unfortunately and I know that I shall continue to need the help of others to receive my entitlements as they expire. I have learned that navigating this system alone leads to failed claims, even when valid.

I would advise you to contact MIND, who may be able to offer you some practical solutions.

Also, if you were on PIP/DLA before now and your “disability” has not improved then you should be entitled to claim, in theory. Are you not in contact with a medical professional for your issues? Even from what the so-called advisor says, one can glean that being in touch with a medical professional who can attest to your mental state would certainly be a step in the right direction. Then, getting them to supply the full information required to the DWP, when the DWP ask for not enough evidence so that they can decline one’s claim and further delay it and demoralise one further so that one gives up prematurely is another story!

Claiming benefits to which one is entitled in theory, when one is disadvantaged enough to need them is fraught with hurdles baked into the system where the Government only wants their cronies rather than the actual disadvantaged among us to extract tax pounds.  (IMHO)

So, even with help from a GP, a psychologist/psychiatrist, MIND, benefits advisors it is still a hard struggle to achieve what should be a dignified existence in these times. But without help, it is almost impossible.

Please see a GP and get referred to whomever you need to in order to establish the credibility of your claim regarding your health. Find a different benefits advisor who will point you towards the next steps along the way to forward your claim; help you to fill out the Byzantine forms, and ask for the supporting medical information to be supplied by whoever you need to do that for you.

Good luck.