Still ? Confused

Les525 · November 2021

Hello again everyone, I am sorry I have been quiet.
So, finally I have my PIP assessment on the 22nd of this month. I am not sure how it will go and what to say. My wife also has long Covid and is struggling with day to day living, she is struggling to get out of bed anytime before 3pm most days; When she does she is walking with crutches. I have back problems that have stopped me from working since the 3rd March this year, this is why I have applied for pip. My work coach at the job centre has informed me I should apply for carers allowance, but I will not get it if I am receiving pip. I have not even considered applying for carers allowance I am just doing my best to care for my wife. I do struggle, but I will not give up on our future. I am just confused at what is more beneficial for us to moving forward. I would welcome any advice. When I sent in my pip application, I had no assistance. I feel that my answers in the assessment will seem worse than my application. Any ideas my friends?
Les

DuffersMum · November 2021

You can claim Carers Allowance if you receive PIP

poppy123456 · November 2021

People do claim Carers Allowance and PIP. Your wife needs to be receiving either PIP daily living or D:A mid/high rate care.

You mention work coach, are you claiming Universal Credit? If you are, you don't need to claim carers allowance to be able to claim the Carers element of UC. If you claim carers allowance it will be deducted in full from any UC entitlement.

Though if you're claiming the LCWRA element yourself, then you won't be able to receive both the Carers element and the LCWRA element together.

You must also make sure that if you work in the future that you don't earn more than the maximum amount, which at the moment is £128 per week.

For your PIP, it would be impossible to predict anything at this stage. Decision can take between 2-12 weeks.

Les525 · November 2021

Thank you, for your reply. My work coach informed me that they are powerless to do anything until pip have given there decision. I applied for pip on the 1st of July, but I am 66 on the 12 of February and assumed that they would reject it if the decision was not made before that date.

poppy123456 · November 2021

Claiming carers allowance has nothing to do with your work coach or your PIP. As advised, you don't need to claim carers allowance to be able to claim Carers element, if you're claiming UC.

You applied for PIP before you reached state pension age so that's all that matters. It makes no difference when the decision's made.

The rules for carers allowance changes when you reach state pension age.

DuffersMum · November 2021

Username_removed said:

Key thing with an assessment Is to absolutely refuse to answer yes or no. You’re being asked if you can perform up to 12 activities reliably. Where applicable the response is “not reliably”.

Absolutely this..in my first assessment the assessor kept trying trying to get me to say yes or no and also she must have tried hundreds of times to ask me how long it takes me to do something...my reply was always “longer than it takes a physically able person to do it” I could see she was getting very frustrated with me, but then that’s probably why she wrote a lot of poppycock

Les525 · November 2021

My assessment is over the phone. So I will not see what is written, however I can ask for a recorded copy. Should I do that?

poppy123456 · November 2021

You don’t usually see what’s written anyway during the assessment. Assessments aren’t automatically recorded.
Once the report is written and returned to DWP you can ring and request a copy.

Les525 · November 2021

Thank you.

chiarieds · November 2021

Hi @Les525 - as far as your PIP phone assessment goes:

- If you have kept a copy of your initial claim form, 'How your disability affects you,' have a read through it. Ideally you should have given 1 or 2 recent, detailed examples of the difficulty you face doing/attempting each applicable activity/descriptor that is looked at with PIP, i.e. when exactly did this occur, where, what exactly happened, why did you have difficulty, did anyone else see this, & were there any consequences to this?

- have a look at the PIP descriptors again in this link, & read the notes at the end. The word 'reliably,' which is so important, isn't mentioned, but it's if you can't do an activity safely, to an acceptable standard, if you can't repeat it as often as would normally be expected, or if it takes you longer than a person without your disability. So, as Mike says, if you can't do an activity 'reliably,' say so, explaining why. Please see: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/Personal-Independence-Payment-Descriptors-and-Scores-April-2021.pdf

- now, look back at the above 2 points, & play 'Devil's advocate' with yourself. Identify those gaps where you didn't give detailed examples as to the difficulty you've faced in relation to the PIP activities/descriptors in your claim form. Your assessment is an opportunity to redress that, if this is the case.

- you may be asked questions which you feel don't directly address the PIP descriptors, yet they will, sometimes looking across the spectrum of a few, e.g. do you drive, do you have a pet, what is your accommodation like?

- it may be helpful to keep a short diary/notes of the problems you face prior to your assessment. Quite often we're all so used to 'pushing through the pain,' doing activities that are 'normal' to us, & it's rather hard to realise literally 'how your disability affects you,' as often we just get on with it regardless, yet the problems you face need identifying (& mentioning!)

- I would agree with what Poppy has previously said to other members, don't read from any notes you've made prior to your assessment, rather concentrate on the questions asked during your assessment. Remember it's how you are the majority of the time.

- if you're unsure of a question, need it repeating, or phrased another way, say so. Take your time in replying. You can put your phone on to speaker phone so your wife can be there to support you.

Hope some of this helps.

Les525 · November 2021

Thank you Chiarieds, this is valuable information. I will start preparing tomorrow.

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