PIP and Bipolar Affective Disorder - Success story

daihardtoo

My partner has Bipolar Affective Disorder and has struggled in getting reasonable amounts of PIP awarded.
In 2018 she applied and was initially awarded 0 for Daily Living and 0 for Mobility.

At Tribunal this was changed to 8 for daily living and 10 for mobility, which resulted in payment of just the standard rate of mobility.

The major stumbling block seemed to be that during the different phases of her illness she was impacted differently, and there was no descriptor that applied for "the majority of the time".

The 2018 award came to an end in December 2020 and she was required to reapply for PIP - a process that she finds extremely stressful. So in the middle of the Covid lockdown she had to undergo a Health Assessment by telephone.
I recorded the whole assessment on my phone & then transcribed it - an arduous process, but very helpful through the appeal process.

The assessment felt very fair and the interviewer (a nurse) seemed very empathetic. We understood that we had to describe how my partner's condition affected her ability to undertake the various tasks and provided plenty of examples. However, when the PIP decision letter arrived it had awarded just 2 points for daily living and 0 for mobility - which was traumatic for my partner.

The Mandatory Reconsideration  was a waste of time, with the words "not for the majority of the time" appearing again and again.

I then prepared the appeal to the Tribunal. In doing this I read the actual legislation - The Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013. I then discovered that section 7 actually prescribes how to address a variable condition such as that suffered by my partner. 
In summary, if no descriptor is satisfied for the majority of the time, but two or more are satisfied for a periods which when added together are more than 50% of the time, then the descriptor that is satisfied for the longer/longest period is the one that applies.

The Health Assessment had accurately recorded that she suffers 2 or more 'highs' per year lasting 2-3 months a time (ie. average of 5 ore more months per year), each high is followed by a deep depression of about 1 month per time  (ie. 2 or more months per year) with the remaining 5 or less months being a euthymic state.

I then identified the descriptors that applied in each phase and applied section 7 of the legislation to derive the points that should be awarded. My calculation was 35 points for daily living activities and 10 points for mobility.

On Tuesday I received a telephone call from a lady at the DWP saying that she had reviewed the case and would increase the points awarded to 13 for daily living and 10 for mobility. This means that she will receive enhanced daily living and standard mobility PIP.

Hopefully this will be of help to others who face the hurdle that the impacts of their conditions do not affect them for "the majority of the time".

chiarieds

Hello @daihardtoo - & welcome to the community. Thank you for joining & sharing your partners story, & how you helped her with her PIP claim. I'm pleased it had a good outcome; hopefully now you can both relax.

Willow74

Hello @daihardtoo This post has really given me hope. Just had my PIP renewal refused - 0 points for everything - after a phone assessment with an apparently empathetic assessor. Waiting for a reply to my mandatory reconsideration letter but not hopeful. Using the Social Security Act for variable conditions is a great idea which I might need to use myself. And it's nice to hear a success story for once!