how do so many get mobility

baller6
baller6 Posts: 29 Connected
in PIP, DLA, ADP & AA

i have my pip forms and dont understand why ive not got mobility before when people who can walk fine get enhanced. how am i meant to fill them in so i get help with mobility is there a magic trick to them?

is mobility not about being mobile?

i think my problem might be i am independant and do thing myself even if they take forever or i dont do them any more because theyre not possible, do people really fill these forms in saying every thing they find hard? am i just too proud? or do some lie and say they dont do them when they do?

Comments

  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 8,211 Scope Online Community Coordinator
    edited April 10

    It's a tough one @baller6 . I can see that it might feel frustrating to see that some people get enhanced mobility when they may look like they can physically walk. But it may be other things that they've scored points on in the assessment, they may have fluctuating conditions, or their disabilities may be less visible from the outside.

    Mobility is about being mobile, but some conditions can affect your mobility in other ways than you might expect. I don't think it's that people are lying or exaggerating their conditions. The majority of people applying for PIP are just like you - people with genuine needs. But what conditions cause those needs will vary massively from person to person. And the results you get from different assessors can often vary a lot too. It's a rough system sometimes and can feel quite unfair at points.

    There are a couple of things that can be helpful to consider when doing your forms. To say you can do an activity from the PIP descriptors, you need to be able to do it reliably, in a timely fashion, repeatedly and safely. This means you can do it in a similar amount of time as someone who hasn't got an impairment, repeatedly (as many times as you need to), and without putting yourself in danger either physically or psychologically.

    If you can't do an activity for over 50% of the time, that would be taken into account too. So some people might have fluctuating conditions that fall under this. There's a bit about that towards the bottom of the page here: https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system

    Lots of people find it helpful to include plenty of real-world examples of things that happen in their day to day lives to help illustrate how their conditions affect their abilities to do the activities. That can help the assessors build a picture of your difficulties day to day.

    Have you ever had any help with your PIP forms? It can be really handy to speak to a welfare adviser to make sure your conditions are being taken into account fully so you're not losing out on help you might be entitled to. Turn2Us have an advice finder if that's helpful to you.

  • worried33
    worried33 Online Community Member Posts: 1,036 Championing

    People wont get away with lying as everyone gets assessed on the original application, and it used to be almost always face to face as well.

    Bear in mind to qualify you dont need to not be able to walk at all, its if you cant consistently do 20m without discomfort more than half of the time, I believe but am not sure it can also be awarded for mental problems that affect mobility as well.

    For what its worth I do think when you are living alone, its harder to prove these things, as all sorts of assumptions might get made.

  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Online Community Member Posts: 5,847 Championing

    There are basically 3 ways to get Enhanced Mobility.

    1: Unable to physically walk more than 20 metres safely, reliably and within a reasonable amount of time.

    2: Unable to travel a familiar journey without another person, guide dog or sat nav/maps. (This includes poor mental health and neurological conditions).

    3: A mixture of the first two. For example, being able to walk up to 200 metres. But not able to follow an unfamiliar journey without the assistance mentioned above.

    There are basically 2 ways to get Standard Mobility.

    1: Unable to walk more than 50 metres.

    2: Unable to travel or follow any journey (for more than 50% of days) due to overwhelming psychological distress.

    From the posts I've read of yours on here, I would have thought you'd qualify for Standard Mobility on walking distance, even if not Enhanced. So it does sound like you may have filled in the forms slightly wrongly, or said you can do more than you actually can, due to pride or not fully understanding the descriptors.

    (As a side note, not all of the assessors understand the Mobility rules. Some people do get more points and a higher rate than they are technically entitled to. That's not their fault. It's a fault of the system and the training. There are also some 'loopholes' that a few people can exploit if they know how. That doesn't sit well with me personally, but it's something we have to accept. Lastly there are some huge gaps in the current points system. With my own conditions I couldn't use public transport, couldn't use taxis, was reliant on my own car, and could only travel very short distances. But that meant I couldn't score any points at all for the Mobility section despite severe restrictions on travelling, much more so than people in wheelchairs or with prosthetic limbs. I would have benefitted so much from a Motability car, or even just the money for running costs on my own private car, but the system isn't set up to recognise people like myself. Ironically, I now get Standard Mobility since losing the ability to drive and becoming effectively housebound.)

  • SoapySoutar
    SoapySoutar Online Community Member Posts: 340 Empowering
    edited April 10
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/145390/how-do-so-many-get-mobility

    I understand your frustration @baller6, i had no luck either when i filled out the form myself. Have you ever contacted your local genetics nurse?

    She wrote to the health company who did my first face to face assessment, and filled in my last paper based one.

    I try not to think about it, as you end up thinking uncharitable thoughts about those who appear to be perfectly healthy. When I used to go out to places, I rarely saw a wheelchair, just 'invisible disabilities'; it's funny they never have anything as visible as we have? Those sort of thoughts!

    Check with the neurology clinic at your hospital, they will know about the genetics nurse. I thought you lads in England had muscle centres? I believe Newcastle Upon Tyne has one. There are none in Scotland.

    PS - I quite rudely demanded to know of then Deputy First Minister, Nicholas Sturgeon, at the Scottish MD Conference in 2010, why Scotland had no muscle centres. Her handler quickly ushered her away! 😁

  • Community_Scope
    Community_Scope Posts: 2,193 Scope Online Community Coordinator

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    Community_Scope Posts: 2,193 Scope Online Community Coordinator

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