Renewal. How much should I write for each descriptor? How can I use real world examples? How long?

Golf82

Looking at completing the form. Things haven’t changed. I’m just looking if my example below is correct?

*Tell us if something has change and approx when.

There has been no change. I still need prompting to take me medication 

*Tell us how you manage this activity now, including any aids that you need.

 There has been no change. I don’t manage this and require prompting 

*Tell us about any changes to the help you need or the help you get from another person.

My mum has to encourage me to take my medication.

Please see the attached letter with additional information 

I plan to write extra info for each descriptor on another piece of paper.

For guidance how much should I be writing in my additional info for each descriptor? 

I’ve heard I should use real world examples?I

Should I just put something like - “ I suffer from xx this prevents me from xx, when I last tried to do xx this happened and I felt xx and had to xx”?

Do reviews happen quicker than new claims?  For mental health is it likely to be a telephone assessment?

Sorry for all the questions. And thanks you x

chiarieds

Hi @Golf82 - & welcome to the community. Most assessments are still by phone whether it's for mental health/physical problems.

You're heading in the right direction with the additional information, & yes, extra pages will be needed to give the detail required. However, the real life examples (a couple for each applicable activity/activity) should be saying, when did it happen, why, what exactly happened, did anyone see it, & if appropriate, how did it leave you feeling afterwards? So, 'when you last tried to do something' is good, but not specific enough; the more detail the better, It's not about your diagnosis, but how this affects you attempting/doing an activity.

You also need to include if you have difficulty doing an activity 'reliably,' e.g. can you do it safely (considering both yourself & other people), can you do it to an appropriate standard, can you repeat it as often as would normally be expected, & does it take you longer than someone who doesn't have your problems? Hope this helps, & do come back with any questions.

poppy123456

Reviews are not really any quicker than new claims. You still have to go through the same process and an assessment will most likely be needed. Most are done by telephone but face to face have started back again for some people.

mikehughescq

You have to treat it as a new claim bd that is the level of detail you will need. This may help. 

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/56365/pip-form-filling#latest

Golf82

Thank you all so much for your quick responses and help. 

I will start writing it with my mum and come back if we get stuck or need so more advice.

thank you x

woodbine

@Golf82 hi and welcome to scope, if you are writing extra pages make sure you put both your full name and national insurance number at the top of every page.
Remember if you can to photo copy everything before you send it, and get proof of postage, if you need more time just phone them and they will give you 2 more weeks.
Good luck

Golf82

Were just looking at my last pip report from 2018 and it says on the front in the evidence bit GP report 14/04/14, which was from the assessment before my last one 2018 ( I can’t remember if 2014 is when I went from DLA to pip)

Will the assessor /dwp contact my Gp to get my latest medication list etc? As I’ve seen my GP loads since 2014 about my mental health. 

I’ve also being seeing someone from the mental health team at my hospital since 2010, and the on the 2018 report it says “therapist letter dated 10/06/13, again a lot has happened with them since 2013.

Do I need to ask my therapist  to write a letter for me?

calcotti

Golf82 said:

Will the assessor /dwp contact my Gp to get my latest medication list etc? As I’ve seen my GP loads since 2014 about my mental health. 

You cannot reply on the DWP contacting any of your medical team. You should supply any evidence you have including your medication list. 

chiarieds

Hi again @Golf82 - it seems fairly rare for the PIP assessors to contact your GP.  If you have a recent prescription list, then no harm in including this. Whilst again there's no harm in asking a mental health specialist to write a letter, they don't see you wash, attempt to make a meal, or literally go to the toilet, none of which may be your issues, but they don't live with you to see how you are. Your own evidence (those detailed real life examples are the most important).

Also, something I forgot to mention is, if you feel your problems aren't going to improve, then say I've had this problem for xx number of years, & there's been no change, so my award should be for 10 years. If this is the case, do please say.

Just to add that this link may help. It's about filling in a PIP form if you have mental health issues, & may identify for example where you need perhaps supervision/prompting, as Mike says you need to fill in your form with as much detail as your initial claim form. 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/

Also please see the beginning of Mike's post here, as he puts it all succinctly:  https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/56365/pip-form-filling

Golf82

chiarieds said:

Hi again @Golf82 - it seems fairly rare for the PIP assessors to contact your GP.  If you have a recent prescription list, then no harm in including this. Whilst again there's no harm in asking a mental health specialist to write a letter, they don't see you wash, attempt to make a meal, or literally go to the toilet, none of which may be your issues, but they don't live with you to see how you are. Your own evidence (those detailed real life examples are the most important).

Also, something I forgot to mention is, if you feel your problems aren't going to improve, then say I've had this problem for xx number of years, & there's been no change, so my award should be for 10 years. If this is the case, do please say.

Thank you. When I had an emdr session last week I was telling my therapist about the pip form and they said they would write a letter for me to confirm my conditions and how long I’ve been under the CMT. But as you’ve said there’s not a lot more they can say apart from that and they need to know how I am everyday.

I’ve had mental health problems since i was 12 but these were never addressed and got worse and worse until I had a breakdown when I was 23 at work and didn’t leave my home for 12 months. I’m 40 now.
So I can say on the form I think the award should be for 10 years?  

chiarieds

Yes @Golf82 -  please do say your award should be for 10 years, otherwise, as often happens, you may get an award of only 2-3 years.

I'm sorry you have had problems for so long, but hope the EMDR is helping; it does seem to be a very helpful therapy.

woodbine

I always include a copy of my repeat prescription with mine.

Golf82

chiarieds said:

Yes @Golf82 -  please do say your award should be for 10 years, otherwise, as often happens, you may get an award of only 2-3 years.

I'm sorry you have had problems for so long, but hope the EMDR is helping; it does seem to be a very helpful therapy.

I want to but I don’t know how to word it. They might think I’m being cheeky and give me 0 points   or think if I’m doing emdr I’ll be better in a few months and  I won’t need it. 
I’ve only had a few sessions so far, I did start it originally in 2019 but it had to be stopped because I was getting to distressed so we starting doing more grounding work.

mikehughescq

You simply explain that your condition is lifelong with no prospect of improvement and a 10 year award would therefore be appropriate. If you don’t ask then you’ll get the shortest award they can get away with. 

chiarieds

You will not loose points by saying you should have a 10 year award; please don't worry about this.