assessment

Hi all,

I'm so sorry you're having so many problems with this. It happens to a lot of people. I also got 0 points for PIP, and my report was ridiculous. Said I had no specialist input for my mental health or my chronic pain - I'm in a Personality Disorders outpatient program, and have been at the pain clinic for almost 2 years (this is my second time there). I counted and there are 30 serious errors in the report. MR did no good - prepare yourselves for that. The DWP had a target that only 20% of MRs should overturn the original award, so it's fairly unlikely that you'll be one of the lucky ones. 

However, once you get the MR letter you can appeal to HMRC for an independent tribunal. These often take months to arrange, depending on where you live (mine is at least 20 weeks), but they're well worth it! Currently the success rate for PIP is 69%, and for ESA it's similar! The panel is usually a judge, a doctor, and a disability "expert". It's a bit stressful, because they ask you a lot of questions, but they're well aware of the terrible standard of the assessor's reports, and make every effort to understand what your daily life is like. They tend to put much more weight on what you say than the DWP do. You can bring someone for support, although they usually can't answer questions. I've been to Tribunal 5 times for DLA, PIP, and ESA, and won every time. 

You can send in a written submission for the Tribunal laying out your case, but it should be succint. They're not paid for the time they spend reading. 

For filling in forms, the assessment, MR, and Tribunal, remember that, although you do need to tell them your diagnoses, your treatment and meds, etc., what they judge your case on is your functional ability. Also, you have to be incapable of doing the activity at least 50% of the time. In addition, look up the reliability definition. They often ignore this, so it can be very important for you to address it. You have to be able to do things repeatedly, safely, in a reasonable time, and to a reasonable standard.

Example: Preparing and cooking food:
Can you stand long enough to cook? If not, why? Can you do it if you use an aid? Can you do it if someone helps you? Do you need supervision (if you have epilepsy, or are on a lot of meds that make you unsafe) in order to be safe?
Would doing it for one meal mean that you're too exhausted/in pain to cook another meal in the day? 
Do you have mental health problems? Do you have serious problems motivating yourself to cook because of depression? Can you do it if someone prompts you, or assists you? 
Do you lose concentration and forget that you're cooking? Have you booked pans dry, burned your food, caused a fire as a result?

As for GPs letters, again, they need to confirm your diagnosis and meds, but most important is for them to talk about how your conditions affect you. They may not be able to comment on some things, like whether you can cook (they're not there, and if you've never talked to them about it, they just don't know). They might be able to say something about whether you can feed yourself, though. If you show up to see them and are extremely thin whenever you get depressed, they can say that. 

There's a site called benefits and work which is absolutely fantastic. They have amazing guides for everything, and a forum with a very knowledgeable mod. They have a package you can give to a doctor/therapist which explains what the letter should comment on. It costs £20 a year to join, but it's well worth it!

Medical evidence is useful to support your case, but the best evidence tends to be letters/reports which discuss your function. These can be from physios, occupational therapists, etc.

Hope that helps, and good luck!

Oh, and this whole process makes a lot of people ill, particularly if they had pre-existing mental health conditions. People often feel much more anxious, depressed, have more flares, more pain, etc. Have compassion for yourself, and definitely get some help if you're getting really ill. My anxiety and depression have skyrocketed, and I barely leave the house at this point. My pain is worse and I'm having far more frequent muscle spasms. I've started drinking unhealthily to deal with the stress. I've always been an insomniac, but at the moment it's completely insane - I'm on hour 50 of being awake. This kind of thing happens to a lot of people - you're not alone.

Oh, and one more thing! A lot of the words the DWP uses have meanings you wouldn't expect. Example: a "simple meal" is a cooked (on the hob or in a microwave, but they ignore using the oveno one-course meal for one using fresh ingredients. You can find all this info on the web.

Novel finished!

@Tigermoth42 I'm so sorry to hear how much stress you're under, and that your daughter is also ill. I hope things improve soon. 

Glad some of what I wrote is useful. I'm waiting for my 6th Tribunal, and I used to be a scientific researcher, so I researched PIP (obsessively ).

The DWP don't make any of this clear, which puts claimants at a huge disadvantage. It just serves to support my suspicion that they do everything they can to take away benefits from people who are honestly entitled to them. I HATE them. 

There's a huge amount of evidence that the process worsens both mental and physical health, and that some people commit suicide due to the stress, dehumanising treatment, and humiliation of it. If they really wanted us to get back to work, they'd stop making us worse every year or two!

Sorry, ranting. Argh. I've made complaints to ATOS about my assessor, and to the DWP about my CM. I'm considering suing, as well, if I can mentally handle it. A woman sued ATOS last year and won! I think if more people did that, it would serve to draw public attention. Eh.

Yes, sun!! The world is beautiful, even when people and government suck. Hugs to you if you want them. 

@Tigermoth42 Thanks!