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PIP Mobility questions

MarkF

Hi, I'm new here and have had a look around at what seems a friendly and very helpful forum.

I applied for PIP in February and have had my award, finally.

My issues are a combination of arthritis, cysts and ligment damage in my knees resulting in hyper-extension, my knee buckling and constant pain. The problem I have is in getting across the inconsistencies in how/when this affects me.

For example, I can walk the dog to the end of the road, along the green a bit and back again (total is less than 200 metres) but that involves a multitude of stops where I can lift my right leg (the worst one) and rest for around a minute or so. I'd say that even from standing up, getting the dog ready and getting out of the door the most I'd do in one 'stint' would be around 10-12 metres. However, the other extreme is that I can stand up, step one pace and my knee hyper extends or buckles. This results in extreme pain and an inability to walk more than a pace and that's only to get to a seat. This will last for a good few minutes before the pain eases enough for me to consider trying again/moving forward.

The award has accepted I need to use assistance with preparing food, bathing, getting dressed and a few other things around the house and I've the standard award for living. However, they've decided that I am able to walk between 50 and 200 metres in one go and are unable to award me mobility.

I really could do with some help in wording my reasons for requesting MR as I just can't seem to get across the impact this has on everyday life. I can do the weekly shop but I really suffer as a consequence and it still involves a lot of stops getting around a moderately large store (worst case was 28 stops and included my knee giving out 6 times). I frequently have issues where getting to the kitchen results in my knee giving out (pretty much daily occurrence) and cooking can be quite a painful experience.

Any suggestions? I feel they just look at the best case and take that to be their decision, ignoring stops and time taken to perform these distances.

Many thanks

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Comments

Tori_Scope

Welcome to the community @markf

Thank you for joining!

I'm sure that other members will be able to offer you some advice and support based on their own experiences. In the meantime, I'd encourage you to read the 'additional information' section at the bottom of this Benefits and Work page to learn more about what they mean by terms like 'safely' and 'reliably'.

Some people find it helpful to keep a diary of what happens when they try each of the relevant activities, which they can then use to demonstrate the challenges they face in line with the descriptors (pipinfo.net).

You could also consider accessing some expert advice. You can find what's available in your area by looking on advicelocal.uk

Cartini

Good luck with your MR.

I requested an MR after being awarded 4 points for mobility; this despite being very precise and detailed in my PIP 2.

My main problem is a spinal issue that leaves me in pain when I stand and / or walk. I also have asthma, which is well controlled .....

My MR didn`t make any difference at all; the Decision Maker put "because his asthma is well controlled, I`ve decided he can walk 200m". Other than for letting DWP know my challenges, asthma was never part of my PIP application.

My immediate thought when I got the results of my MR was "he / she must be a juvenile little snot just out of university who doesn`t understand the world".

Needless to say, I`ve requested a tribunal.

MarkF

I was told by a friend, who is a solicitor and deals with a lot of tribunals, that the percentages for declining are enormous. Almost as if the system was deliberately trying to put people off and save money.

I just need to try to figure out how to say what I need to put forward.

calcotti

MarkF said:

I was told by a friend, who is a solicitor and deals with a lot of tribunals, that the percentages for declining are enormous.

The success rate at tribunal is around 67% (compared with MRs where only about 26% are successful).
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-april-2022/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-to-april-2022#clearance-outcomes--awards

poppy123456

I can’t imagine a solicitor having any knowledge on the benefits system. The majority of people claim PIP successfully first time without any problems at all.

I can’t see how they are trying to put people off to save money. If you have a link to that the please do share it.

When requesting the MR you should include a couple of real world incidents of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each activity that applies to you. Adding detailed information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were.

MarkF

calcotti said:

MarkF said:

I was told by a friend, who is a solicitor and deals with a lot of tribunals, that the percentages for declining are enormous.

The success rate at tribunal is around 70% (compared with MRs where only about 29% are successful).
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-april-2022/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-to-april-2022#clearance-outcomes--awards

So MR failure rate is 71% and tribunal success rate is 70% that means only about 20% of those who request MR and then go to tribunal get denied.

Poppy, thank you for your reply and suggestions. I did try and put some context but it seems not to be helping. I’ll try and word some regular real world examples that’ll put forward the difficulties I face daily.