PIP Mandatory Reconsideration. Help? :(

Effjays

This is a draft of my mandatory reconsideration letter, I have never done this before can someone look over it and advise on if there's anything I need to add, remove or change please. My husband has written it for me and i just want to know if this is acceptable to send off

I tried calling the Citizens Advice Bureau, was on hold for over an hour before getting cut off.

Multiple Sclerosis is a progressive, unpredictable disease which affects cognition, memory, physicality and there is no treatment available which can cure it. Any treatment which is available is only there to stop it getting worse not to make it better and even then the success rates of these treatments vary by individual.

The PIP payment award states (MY NAME) will get the standard rate of daily living needs and standard rate of mobility needs from 04/08/2021-21/11/2024 however because MS is a progressive disease and there is no cure for it and it is not going to get any better we would like to request the award to be for a longer time.

 

 Moving around

MY NAME was awarded D but believe we should be awarded E (Can stand and then move more than 1 meter no more than 20 meters either aided or unaided)

 

In the “Moving around” section it says, “It is likely that (MY NAME) can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 meters but no more than 50;” This is incorrect as the example we gave was when dropping our daughter off to school in the morning which would take a normal person only 2 minutes as it is down the road takes (MY NAME) 10-15 mins due to constant pain, therefore she doesn't drop off our daughter to school at all anymore. The words “Safely, timely manner, repeatedly and to an accepted standard” were used however this is incorrect as there is a risk of (MY NAME) falling down at any given time as well as maximising fatigue symptoms so she cannot walk as fast as the normal person, there is never a day which she can walk to an acceptable standard.

 Also the usage of the word “Likely” from the assessor suggests this decision was made by giving an opinion of her own rather than following the facts and evidence we provided. This is also further contradicted by the fact in same section a bit lower down the assessor has written “There is evidence of her [MY NAME] MS and how it affects her body parts such as pain in the lower body, pelvis groin and back” This again contradicts the earlier statement where it says “It is likely that (MY NAME can stand and then move using an aid or appliance more than 20 meters but no more than 50;” MY NAME does not take OTC Fibre as is written on the report.

In the report, under the heading Recommendation and evidence used to Support We asked the assessor a couple of times if we could have a small break and (MY NAME) needing to change positions as due to being in the same position for a long time can cause her pain and further exacerbate her fatigue symptoms. But then in the next paragraph it says “There is no fatigue management” the issue is as Fatigue is a major symptom of MS the help MY NAME gets is only accessible from the specialist MS nurse who sees MY NAME once every 3 months, we cannot get fatigue management from the standard doctors or GP’s, However (MY NAME's ) MS nurse has been off sick since October and there is only 1 MS nurse for the whole of (AREA WE LIVE IN) so the next available appointment is scheduled for the end of January. So there is no immediate opportunity for (MY NAME) to access support.

Also on the list of Evidence considered alongside the consultation findings it is mentioned (MY NAME) has vertigo and migraines which causes difficulties walking, however in the “Moving Around” sectioned these are not noted down at all. (MY NAME) has migraines 3-4 times a week and vertigo once a fortnight and when these happen she is unable to walk at all let alone more than 1 meter.

(MY NAME) also gets full body pains 8 days a month where her pelvic pain is so severe she is unable to be mobile at all.

 

 

Dressing and Undressing

(MY NAME) was awarded B for dressing and undressing but we believe it should be E because she gets assistance from me (PARTNER) whenever she needs to get dressed, which means she cannot get dressed herself in a timely manner repeatedly and to an acceptable standard ever. The reason she was awarded B is because she is not getting fatigue management and she is not getting OTC pain medication and there is no evidence for restrictions in hands, but as mentioned earlier (MY NAME's) MS nurse has been off sick since Oct and her next appointment is in Jan where they will discuss Fatigue management, also in terms of restrictions in hands there is no physical way of showing or describing the pain over the phone.  Also she has daily pain medication as again mentioned earlier, Paracetamol, Codeine and Ibuprofen.

poppy123456

You haven't given any real world examples at all here. All i can see are assertions.. you can't do X because of Y and this isn't going to get you anymore points.

Dressing and undressing.. you've said you think E applies but why does it apply? and why do you need assistance to dress/undress the upper body. Just telling them you can't do this regularly to an acceptable standard isn't enough because you haven't given no where near enough of information.

You've also concentrated on what was said in the report or the decision letter, this will not get you anymore points.

Giving information about what MS is, also isn't going to help because everyone is affected differently by these conditions. You need to spell it out to them about how you are affected.

My advice is to put the report away and forget about it. Then use at least 2 real world examples of what happened the last time you attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to you. Adding information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were.

Edit to add, PIP is about how you are at least 50% of the time and you've mentioned vertigo which affects you at least once a fortnight and full body pains where her pelvic pains are affected at least 8 days a month, this isn't at least 50% of the time.

Effjays

poppy123456 said:

You haven't given any real world examples at all here. All i can see are assertions.. you can't do X because of Y and this isn't going to get you anymore points.

Dressing and undressing.. you've said you think E applies but why does it apply? and why do you need assistance to dress/undress the upper body. Just telling them you can't do this regularly to an acceptable standard isn't enough because you haven't given no where near enough of information.

You've also concentrated on what was said in the report or the decision letter, this will not get you anymore points.

Giving information about what MS is, also isn't going to help because everyone is affected differently by these conditions. You need to spell it out to them about how you are affected.

My advice is to put the report away and forget about it. Then use at least 2 real world examples of what happened the last time you attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to you. Adding information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were.

Edit to add, PIP is about how you are at least 50% of the time and you've mentioned vertigo which affects you at least once a fortnight and full body pains where her pelvic pains are affected at least 8 days a month, this isn't at least 50% of the time.

Thank you for this advice. We will make the changes. And hopefully it works in our favour . 

Adrian_Scope

Fingers crossed for your @Effjays. 

To echo @poppy123456, try and give detailed examples and focus less on discrediting the report.
"when dropping our daughter off to school in the morning which would take a normal person only 2 minutes as it is down the road takes (MY NAME) 10-15 mins due to constant pain, therefore she doesn't drop off our daughter to school at all anymore" is a good start but not nearly detailed enough. To bring it from an assertion to an example/evidence you need to go into detail about a time it was attempted.

What happened? Were there any lasting impacts? Who was around to see? Is this a typical example? 

Best of luck and please let us know how you get on.

Wenners

Effjays Ian so sorry u have to fight this whilst ure unwell with MS

Effjays

thank you all for the replies and help, I sent the letter off a while back and just waiting now. 

Effjays

Wenners said:

Effjays Ian so sorry u have to fight this whilst ure unwell with MS

thank you, it is a big burden to be doing all this when you're feeling so demotivated.

Alex_Alumni

Well done @Effjays I hope the wait isn't too long for you!

Keep us updated with how you get on, and don't hesitate to reach out for support if you need to