PIP, Working and Mental Health

AnOnyxBear

Bit of background, I had a pretty serious motorcycle accident on 9th March 2022, hospitalised for just under a week after having my left knee rebuilt, numerous stitches in my leg and head along with a pretty bad concussion and muscular damage in my right leg. I was off my feet, not walking, for 3 months and slowly started walking again after that with next to no input from the physio team (i was signed off physio and the fracture clinic before i was even back on my feet).

Since the accident my mental health issues have increased tenfold, before the accident I had pretty bad depression (sucidide atrempt in May 2021) and social anxiety, unless it was work I wouldn't leave the house without my partner or mother with me. Now I have a breakdown each morning to force myself out the door to even go to work, the only reason i manage to fight through is the thought of losing my home and my dogs. I fear that I'm going to have an accident again, this time in my car and that I won't survive this time. I don't even attempt to leave the house for anything other than work due to this, being stuck in the house constantly feeds the depression and makes the social anxiety worse.

I applied for PIP in the middle of March 2022, only providing details for my physical issues, not my mental health ones as I didn't feel they were applicable and were considerable less of an issue than what they are now. I had no support from my employer at the time (only SSP) and I still had all my bills and mortgage etc to be paid and I was looking for help everywhere (I did not know at the time that they ignore the 1st 3 months of your condition).

I still have a bad limp and cannot walk more than a few meters without having to stop and take weight off my leg in order to carry on. My joint movement is stiff and quite limited, I can just about drive a manual car but it's incredibly painful and probably not that safe as i cant quickly get my left leg in position to change gear, I stop at the side of the road often to try and take some pressure off the knee. I cannot afford to get an automatic car.l or I'd have done this immediately. The only reason I still drive is because the implications of losing my income outweighs the pain of driving. I have no one that can take me to work.

I had my telephone assessment on 25th November. And I called to get a copy of my report once I received the text to tell me they'd had my report. On reading it yesterday the assessor has glossed over the majority of my issues. Ommited numerous details and has said that I'm fully capable of walking upstairs (my partner currently carries me upstairs but there's no mention of this) and that I can walk more than 200m unaided which is absolutely incorrect. I have no falls reported on my assessment yet i told her that i regularly hit the deck in the morning due to weakness of my knee and need my partner to help me back up. It says that my pain relief is effective which i told her the main meds im given DO NOT work 90% of the time and i cant take stronger or i wont be able to drive to work due to the side effects. I also have not had a reliable history of anti depression medication due to side effects and not having the motivation to chase the drs, though I have recently had a new prescription given.

Going by her report I will be awarded nothing and my mental health conditions have not been noted down, it says that I have no mental health issues. That due to being able to attend work (office/computer based engineering) and college and that i was able to speak to her on the ohone fine, then I'm able to socialise and engage with others no problem, this isnt the case, i keep to myself and i only engage when im being spoken to in person. Im fine on the phone as theres no face-to-faceinteraction. I'm shocked as she was lovely to speak to on the phone, I feel this is unfair and I'm sure the decision letter when it arrives will be nothing awarded.

It's also noted that due to me getting to work and college I am likely able to do every task without assistance which is not true! My main issues are my mental health as I'm hoping at some point now im finally getting referred back to physio that my mobility issues wont be as bad, though it is still a massive impact on my daily life.

I really don't know what to do! Do others who work because they HAVE to get thier claim thrown out? Or that thier mental health gets totally disregarded? Any advice or help much appreciated. And sorry for the long post!!

alexthefrog

Hi @AnOnyxBear, I'm so sorry for the struggles you've had the past few years, and this treatment from DWP won't help.

I'm in a similar ongoing situation, so I can't tell you how it ends, but I understand your frustration and the way you've been treated. Throughout my assessment the DWP have focused on the fact that I work and have to drive to work, disregarding the fact that I don't have a choice. I live alone, I support my mum & younger sisters financially, I have two cats with health conditions who need specialist treatment, what choice do I have other than to work? What choice do you have?
People say that working should have no impact on the decision to grant you PIP, but it absolutely does unfortunately. All I can suggest is that you appeal the decision. Get the mandatory reconsideration (which will likely change nothing), and go for the appeal tribunal. I've had my tribunal, but not the decision yet. I know it's very daunting and such an exhausting and dehumanising process, but do try to push through.

Something I try to bear in mind is my dad's situation. Now, this man had a degenerative genetic condition. He was in a wheelchair and needed two carers to come in Monday-Friday (9:30am-4pm) to get him out of bed, washed, dressed, fed, give him his 10-20 pills per day, help him to the toilet and try to keep him engaged (daytime sleepiness is a known symptom of his condition, he would sleep all day if no-one intervened). In the evenings and on weekends, I did the same thing. He was completely reliant on us, and absolutely could not work. The DWP did not award him PIP on his first assessment, or after the MR, and he also had to take them to the tribunal. It's standard practice for them to deny PIP to people who need it until a judge tells them otherwise, so don't be too disheartened.

Thorsfriend

I know you are coming from I believe that I have been refused because I work and drive. It shouldn't be a factor but it definitely is. Tribunal tomorrow where hopefully I get treated fairly