Exasperated

MarionLpool · January 2020

Hello everyone - thought I would join this community forum - exasperated with PIP claim been refused for my son,

poppy123456 · January 2020

Hi and welcome,

I'm one of the community champions here on scope and i'm here to help and advise others.

May i ask if the PIP claim was a transfer from DLA, a review of an existing claim or a first time claim?

Either way, he now has 1 month from the date of the decision to request the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) You should put this in writing stating where and why you think he should have scored those points. Adding a couple of real life examples of what happened the last time he attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to him.

Send relevant evidence with the letter to support his claim because they rarely contact anyone for this.

Only 15% of MR decisions change so you'll very likely have to take it to Tribunal. Waiting times for hearings are huge in most areas and lots of people are waiting as long as 1 year for a hearing date.

Do be aware that PIP isn't about a diagnosis, it's how those conditions affect your ability to carry out daily activity based on the PIP descriptors.

It really does help to have some understanding of the PIP descriptors and what they mean. It's very easy to score yourself points when it may not be possible to score as much as you think. This link will help with that.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

If you have any further questions please do ask. Hope this helps.

chiarieds · January 2020

Hi @MarionLpool - Welcome to the community. I'm sorry you've had difficulty with your son's PIP claim. My friend Poppy has given great advice & I hope reading the link she's given will also help.

thespiceman · January 2020

Hello @MarionLpool Pleased to meet you.

Thank you for joining and sharing.

I am one of the team of community champions.

Please I hope that my friend @poppy123456 advice and guidance is useful.

I wanted to add if your son has certain health conditions or illness or disability.

Usually an organisation relevant. Many have in house benefit advisors to help with this situation your son is coping with. Additional support.

Please if you wish if you tell me a little more about your son, maybe I can find out for you.

I know with mental health many charities advisors and support.

Floating support being one useful for assistance with anything like this.

Hope that gives you some reassurance.

Please remember you not alone we are a supportive community .

Please take care.

@thespiceman

Chloe_Scope · January 2020

Welcome to the community @MarionLpool, really sorry to hear about the PIP application. If there is anything further we can do to help then please do let us know.

emmarenshaw · January 2020

Welcome to the community @MarionLpool

MarionLpool · January 2020

Thanks for your replies everyone. My son was in receipt of DLA and had to claim PIP. Now he has been awarded nothing. The outcome of the Mandatory reconsideration was also zero.

i am now appealing but finding it very difficult to provide evidence. He is not involved in any outside agencies and not on any medication. He lives with us (he is 34 years old). He had a statement of educational needs as a child and attended special schools and attended college with specialist support - I don’t think any of this has been taken into account.

They don’t seem to agree that he is a vulnerable adult.

Any help would be much appreciated.

poppy123456 · January 2020

That evidence is quite old and most likely not relevant now unless you have more recent evidence to back it up.

Have you written a submission for the Tribunal? If you haven't then you should do this by stating which descriptors you think apply to him and your reasons why. Adding a couple of real life examples of what happened that last time he attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to him.

You could also write a supporting letter yourself, to go with that. Other than that, unless the evidence you have states how his conditions affect him then it won't be relevant, so it's pointless sending it.

Have you had a read of the link i posted above? It's long but it's worth spending time to have a read because there's a lot of information in there and it will give you a better understanding of what it's all about. It's very easy to score yourself points by just looking at the descriptors but it may not be possible to score as many as you think. DLA and PIP are different benefits with different criteria.

Is he appearing in person at the hearing? This will give him the best chance of a decision in his favour.

Exasperated

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