My question is what is the procedure for PIP? — Scope | Disability forum
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My question is what is the procedure for PIP?

marrium
marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
edited August 2016 in PIP, DLA, and AA
This discussion was created from comments split from: Hi, my name is Pammie!.
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Comments

  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Hi my marrium I just joined the community for the 1st time so hello to everyone on my behalf  :)I have recently been facing  to many health problems I have had my lower back problems for the last 22 years and swear depression from the last 14 years. I'm a house wife i have 3 young children and at the moment I'm bed bound. My question is what is the procedure for PIP? Because I am completely new. My doctor gave me a SSP but the are refusing to pay. Please let me know any information that you have about SSP. Many thanks .
  • Debbie_Alumni
    Debbie_Alumni Community member Posts: 932 Pioneering
    Hi Marrium,

    Welcome to the community! :)

    The area of welfare benefits can be a bit complex to navigate through.
    We have information on our website about PIP and hopefully this will explain the benefit and help you to work out whether you should be putting a claim in. http://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/money/pip

    If you're not currently working and haven't qualified for SSP then you may instead qualify for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Income Support. This does depend on your household and whether you have a partner living with you and their earnings. There's lots of things to explore and in the first instance it might be worth running the benefits calculator on our website to see if there's anything you might be missing out on. http://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/check-benefits

    If you run into difficulties or none of it makes sense, do get in touch and I'll try and talk you through it all.

    Best wishes
    Debbie
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Thank you so much Debbie for advice x
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Hi Debbie, thanks for the advice. I live with my partner and 3 young children. I am 36 years old. My husband was a full time worker but due to my illness he has been part time for the last 3 months and still is. He gets the minimum wage and he works only for 20 hours. From last month i am completely bed bound I cannot even move. My husband has been off from work since the last 3 weeks, now we are facing a lot of financial difficulties. My social worker visited today and he said that the council is no longer providing carers, he also said that he will refer me to other agencies. The CICT came on the home visit due to OT, from now on they will come on home visits 3 times a week. If you have any information about my situation please share it. Many thanks!
  • Pammie
    Pammie Community member Posts: 18 Courageous
    Hi Marrium.  If you have not worked for some time you are unlikely to have enough contributions for sickness benefits, which is why the DWP have refused your claim. Ask them about income based employment and support allowance, as if your household Income falls below a certain level, you would be entitled to claim.  If you are claiming PIP as a new claimant you need to contact the DWP benefit line to start a claim.  If you are claiming disability living allowance at the moment, you don't need to do anything as the DWP will write to you when you are changed onto the new benefit.  
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Hi what is disability living allowance?
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Thank you so much pammie for the advice x
  • Pammie
    Pammie Community member Posts: 18 Courageous
    Hi Marrium. Disability living allowance has now been discontinued for people over the age of 16 and has been replaced by Personal Independence Payment.  This is what you should make a claim for now. You need to contact the DWP to make a new claim, which is usually done over the phone and then they will send you some forms to fill in.  When you receive the forms, you should get some help from a benefits adviser to fill them in, as your level of  benefit depends partly on what you say in the forms.  Please do not attempt to complete them until you have had proper advice, and if you can't find an agency to help you, contact me again on here and I'll help you as much as I can.
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Hi I have recived the form and I talked to the benifits people they said that they would help me fill in the form but after they gave me a phone call and said that they are not going to come. I am bed bound so I cannot go any where. I am completely help less. This form is quite hard but I have my 13 year old son who is helping me but I don't think that he can help me that much because he is still a child. So if you can help me, it would be very kind of you. Thanks 
  • Pammie
    Pammie Community member Posts: 18 Courageous
    You only have 28 days in which to return the form, so the best thing to do, would be to contact your social worker urgently to help you fill in the form or help you find a benefit adviser willing to come out to your home to help you.  If the social worker is not willing to complete the form for you and cannot find a home visit from someone who can, then is it possible for your husband to make an appointment to see a benefit adviser at their place of work ?  If he knows your condition well, then he could fill out most of the form with their help and fill in any gaps in his knowledge with you before you send off the form.  In certain circumstances your GP can refer you to a advocacy agency in your area, so it would be worth talking to your GP to see if this is possible, but you need to stress that you have a time limit.  There is an organisation called DIAL and they have benefit advisers who can help.  A number for your local DIAL should be in the yellow pages or phone book, but if you have any difficulty finding one, let me know the area in which you live and I will try to find the nearest one for you.  

    If you have to complete the form yourself it is vital to remember that you give as much information about your diagnosis as you can, list any medication and the dose, and send any medical evidence you have, such as doctors letters, etc with the completed form.  Also list contact details for any health professionals you are involved with. It's very important to read and understand what you are being asked for each question as it Is not your disability that will score points, but how it affects you in relation to the things they are assessing you for.  For each question they will ask how you cope with a different activity, such as washing and dressing, cooking a meal, and so on.  For each one, think about your disability and how it affects you when doing that activity and try to be clear about how you are affected.  Also be specific about hints like how much pain you are in, any breathlessness or other symptoms and also how you are affected after doing that activity.  For example, if you were to walk 20 metres could you do it without pain, without stopping and in a safe manner. Could you do it in less than twice the time it would take someone without a disability ?  Could you also do it repeatedly within a reasonable time or would you be so wiped out from doing it once, that you would be unable to do it again for hours, or would it affect your ability to do anything else such as cook a meal afterwards ?  Could you do it unaided or do you need aids or help from someone else to do it ?  If there are any aids you would not be able to use, or if you use an aid but would still need help from someone else, explain why. You are aiming to paint a clear picture of how your disability limits you in each of the activities they are asking about.  If you have a social worker, ask if they will provide a written report for you to send as evidence with your forms.  This would be helpful, especially if they know you well and can provide supporting evidence as to your disability effects.

    If you decide to complete the form yourself and you are unsure of anything please don't hesitate to contact me, and I'll be glad to help if I can.
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    I have phoned many agencies and departments for help but they keep putting it onto the next agency/department. So I have decided to personally fill in the form because they need to receive the form by the 18th of June even though I got the form yesterday. So I barely have any time and no one is helping. The questions in the form are completely different to my situation, they ask about activities, tiredness, how much you can and cannot do. They are giving very tricky questions. My situation is about me being bed bound and my husband helping me even to get to the commode even though the commode is right next to my electric bed. My chair is at the foot of my electric bed so I also require assistance for that because my pain level is too high. I take morphine tablets in the morning and night and I take morphine syrup every 4 hours between the tablets but after that the pain is still very high so the tablets and the syrup is not effecting the pain. So if you could help me on the fact that the form is the complete opposite of me then it would be very nice of you. Many thanks.
  • Pammie
    Pammie Community member Posts: 18 Courageous
    I'm really sorry, but the only way to apply for an award of PIP is to complete the whole form, otherwise the DWP will not consider it.  As mentioned above, you need to complete all questions in as much detail as possible - it sounds as though you may qualify for an award of both the daily living and mobility components, which, if awarded, could potentially give your finances a  boost, but the only way to qualify is to complete the form and then See whether the DWP require a face to face assessment  to make the award. If they do, the fact that you are bed bound may mean they do a home visit.  There are no trick questions on the form, but you do need to give clear answers.  I would certainly contact your social worker before attempting to complete the form, and it may be worth contacting the DWP to explain your situation, the fact that you only received the form yesterday and ask them for an extension of the time limit on returning the form.
  • Debbie_Alumni
    Debbie_Alumni Community member Posts: 932 Pioneering
    Hi Marrium,

    Pammie has given some really good advice about this but if you're still having difficulties with that form you need to contact the PIP helpline 0345 8503322. You can either request an extension to allow you more time to complete the form or get some help with the form. According to the PIP Handbook. The DWP telephony agent will be able to assist with basic enquiries and will also find out what level of support you need to complete the form. Depending on the level of support you need they could arrange a call back to support you in completing the form. In the most vulnerable cases they can arrange for a DWP visiting officer to come to your home to help with the form. Claimants who are in vulnerable situations and are unable to return their form can be referred by the DWP directly to the assessment provider.

    The PIP Handbook can be found at 
    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519119/personal-independence-payment-handbook.pdf 

    With regards to finding your nearest DIAL, check out our Services Directory on the website http://www.scope.org.uk/Support/services-directory this will help you to find local support. You can also get help from local advice agencies such as Citizens Advice Bureau. Some local councils and housing associations have welfare rights teams who can assist with form-filling. It's also worth checking with some of the other charities such as MIND (mental health) and Age UK (older people) to see if they can offer assistance. It has become a lot harder to get help with form-filling so it might take a bit of searching to find help. 

    Thanks for your input Pammie, you're such an asset to the community :)
    Has your DLA to PIP journey completed yet?

    Keep us posted on progress and best wishes

    Debbie
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Hey pammie, thank you so much for your advice. I have spoken to my social worker and he said that they will help me fill in the form. My son filled in a few pages so I spoke to the DWP and they are sending me a new form.
    i would like to ask a question, my social worker is sorting out a carer for me and he is asking me if I want a carer from the council or direct he says that they don't have a difference. I don't know I will get pip at the end of the day so I don't want to be in debt. So if you know anything then please let me know. Many thanks.
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Also thank you Debbie, you also gave excellent information. Hopefully everything will be sorted but thanks for the information.
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Hi, my social worker has applied PIP for me. Do any of you know how long it will take for me to get a face to face meeting. Can I be awarded PIP without a face to face meeting? Many thanks 
  • Pammie
    Pammie Community member Posts: 18 Courageous
    Hi Marrium.  Whether you can get PiP without a face to face assessment depends on whether the DWP can get a clear idea of how your disability affects you, from the application form and from any supporting evidence you send.  The more detailed information you can give, the better. If you are housebound tell the DWP this on the application form, and request a home visit in the event that they need to see you.  It takes a few weeks from when you send the application form, to when you get either a decision, or an invitation to face to face assessment.  It's Important to send off the completed form as soon as you can, and within 28 days of the date on the form.  Post it by recorded service so you can make sure they receive it. As far as the carer is concerned, you need to have a chat to your social worker to clarify the situation.  If you are awarded PIP you will probably be expected to make a contribution towards care, but you really need to ask for information as to how the care is funded. I was under the impression that direct care is funded on a personal budget, but again, I'm not sure how this works.
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    My social worker had done everything considering the carer, thanks for your advice. Last week the DWP messaged me saying that they have recived my form. My doctor has made everything clear in a letter especially that I am house bound and that I am on a high dose of morphine. My social worker has also attached a report they have also made it clear that I am house bound I that I am on two different types of morphine and also on a high dose. The social services have given me a carer for 16 hours (7 days) a week. Many thanks.
  • Debbie_Alumni
    Debbie_Alumni Community member Posts: 932 Pioneering
    Hi Marrium,

    I'm glad you've finished your form and have sent it off. Thanks again Pammie for your incredible input. :)

    If you run into any difficulties, get in touch.

    Keep us posted and let us know how things progress.

    Best wishes
    Debbie
  • marrium
    marrium Community member Posts: 30 Listener
    Hi everyone. They recived the pip form 2 weeks ago. Does anyone know how long the procedure is for PIP. Many thanks, Marrium 

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