Is it worth continuing with an appeal?

donut61 · April 2020

had a home visit for PIP a while ago now didnt get enough points , wrote back saying i wasnt happy with the decision so asked for a mandatory reconsideration got a letter back after a few weeks back saying they wont change decision , have to say i didnt send any more supportive imformation for my claim, is it worth contiuing with a appeal ,

chiarieds · April 2020

Hi @donut61 - Welcome to the community, & thank you for joining. You usually can appeal within one month of receiving the Mandatory Reconsideration decision letter, & from your response I'm unsure when you might have received this. Tribunal appeals, mainly now done by phone, seem to currently have a higher success rate.

That being said, the most important thing is to explain how your disability affects you, giving a couple of examples (as at the time of your assessment) for each 'descriptor' that applies. You need to explain why you have difficulty, does this cause pain, fatigue, nausea, etc. What happens when you attempt the activity; can you repeat it within a reasonable period of time; can you do it safely, etc.

Your saying how your disability impacts on your function is probably more important than your medical history & supportive evidence. A tribunal just needs to know how your daily living, &/or mobility are affected. As people with the same condition can be affected differently, you need to give your own individual response.

If you decide to appeal, & have supportive evidence showing how your function may be affected, then by all means send it with your appeal.

I would suggest looking at the following link about the descriptors mentioned, & the points against them. Try to work out if you should have gained points, sufficient to get an award, & why. Please see: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/Scores-for-PIP-Descriptors-2020.pdf

May I add, that we will all support you with your PIP claim, whatever you decide. Please let us know how you get on, or if you have any other questions.

Ails · April 2020

Hi @donut61 and welcome to the Community. It's nice to meet you. I hope you have found the great information and advice given by @chiarieds to be helpful. May I wish you well with the PIP process and as @chiarieds says, please let us know how you get on. If we can be of any further help/support to you then please just let us know. All the best.

donut61 · April 2020

thanks for replies and advice i think with whats going on in world my problem is very small. but i am only asking for something i might be entitled to

MangyWolf · April 2020

In order to get pip you need to look through the descriptors and look for which ones apply to you. It's not just about telling them what medical problems you have, it's about how you affected on the list of tasks that PIP specifically states.

There is nothing to lose by putting in an appeal, and whether or not you do I would still suggest taking a closer look at the descriptors just to see if you find enough that you are eligible for. You would need to get at least 8 points in either daily living or mobility to get an award of standard rate.

woodbine · April 2020

In answer to your question, yes it is worth it, but they do take time, more so atm with this lockdown.

mikehughescq · April 2020

The first question to ask is not with much “is it worth it” as “does the case have merit/is it winnable”?

In order to answer that you need to be clear on what specific points you were going for and why. You then need to be clear what your anecdotal evidence was i.e. do you have different actual examples of you’re having done each activity you want to claim points for?

Once you’ve an idea what your case is does it add up to at least 8 points for daily living/mobility?

At this limit go get some face to face advice from your local advice agency. Use https://advicelocal.uk/ to find somewhere local to you. They will be able to look at your self-assessment and offer a view as to the accuracy of that and where there are gains in your evidence, In effect they will be able to tell you of its winnable. They can’t tell you if it will win as that’s unpredictable but, if it is winnable, then it’s worth going ahead because you simply have nothing to lose from doing so.

donut61 · April 2020

thanks everyone forgot to say i got 6 points for DAILY LIVING and mobility i got 4

MangyWolf · April 2020

donut61 said:

thanks everyone forgot to say i got 6 points for DAILY LIVING and mobility i got 4

Do you think you would be eligible for at least another 2 in daily living and / or another 4 in mobility?

For example I should get like 20+ in daily living and at least 8 in mobility (maybe 10-14 now with the new descriptors), but last time I got 0 so I definitely appealed, just waiting for the letter now which hopefully should arrive today.

mikehughescq · April 2020

donut61 said:

thanks everyone forgot to say i got 6 points for DAILY LIVING and mobility i got 4

It's not really possible to comment further unless we know which points for what e.g. there are 2 separate ways to score 4 points for mobility. Which one applied to you?

There's a world of difference between

"Needs prompting to be able to undertake any journey to avoid overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant."

and

"Can stand and then move more than 50 metres but no more than 200 metres, either aided or unaided."

Is it worth continuing with an appeal?

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