Pip appeal

[cazzyann1]

Hi All i have been on DLA for a while and have to now claim Pip, i have been turned down, i have been type 1 for 35 Years i now have no Hypo Awareness, where i do not know i am hypoing at all and just become unconcious has anyone else had any dealings with PIP not having any Hypo Awareness please

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @cazzyann1, I cannot give you an answer from experience but I would suggest you find out what questions are asked in the assessment. You may already have answered your part but what questions the doctor is asked about you ?
The questionnaires I have seen are from Australia where i live include activities of daily living such as toileting, showering, feeding and mobility etc. These questions are rated by difficulty and frequency as in showering assistance all the time, or is wheelchair bound or not etc.
So if I was applying for disability on the grounds of hypo unawareness I would have difficulty giving sensible and appropriate replies and would see such questions as too selective or inappropriate to my disability.
So I apologise for my round about answer but I do wonder if inappropriate questions and assessment procedures is at the heart of your lack of success. I hope someone replies with a more informed answer.
Best of Wishes and Luck.

 

[Oldvatr]

Hi @cazzyann1, I cannot give you an answer from experience but I would suggest you find out what questions are asked in the assessment. You may already have answered your part but what questions the doctor is asked about you ?
The questionnaires I have seen are from Australia where i live include activities of daily living such as toileting, showering, feeding and mobility etc. These questions are rated by difficulty and frequency as in showering assistance all the time, or is wheelchair bound or not etc.
So if I was applying for disability on the grounds of hypo unawareness I would have difficulty giving sensible and appropriate replies and would see such questions as too selective or inappropriate to my disability.
So I apologise for my round about answer but I do wonder if inappropriate questions and assessment procedures is at the heart of your lack of success. I hope someone replies with a more informed answer.
Best of Wishes and Luck.

Agree. My wife has Parkinsons, Bipolar, and COPD, and she had difficulty getting PIP even though she has an active care package in place. There are many T1D who are able to continue working, so DWP do not accept it as a disability in its own right unless there are additional complications. I am not sure if hypo awarenesss[ lack of ] would be counted as being severe enough to stop someone working if there is supervision available, so DWP would probably insist on a workplace assessment. I am only T2D, but had 2 strokes and a heart attack,, but I am considered fit enough to work so cannot claim PIP. I did however manage to get Carers Allowance instead. I cannot get a Blue Badge since on a good day I can walk the 50 metres with a walking stick. The Social Services offices are up 2 flights of steps in our town, and there is a lift but only for staff and goods. They do not have any ground floor rooms for their assessments, so if you climb the stairs to attend one then you automatically tick their 50 metre box!

Edit Correction: I did not get Carers Allowance since I draw a pension, and that invalidates my claim. I have succeded in getting Attendance Allowance instead based on my own needs, and independant of my wife's condition.

 

[kitedoc]

Agree. My wife has Parkinsons, Bipolar, and COPD, and she had difficulty getting PIP even though she has an active care package in place. There are many T1D who are able to continue working, so DWP do not accept it as a disability in its own right unless there are additional complications. I am not sure if hypo awarenesss[ lack of ] would be counted as being severe enough to stop someone working if there is supervision available, so DWP would probably insist on a workplace assessment. I am only T2D, but had 2 strokes and a heart attack,, but I am considered fit enough to work so cannot claim PIP. I did however manage to get Carers Allowance instead. I cannot get a Blue Badge since on a good day I can walk the 50 metres with a walking stick. The Social Services offices are up 2 flights of steps in our town, and there is a lift but only for staff and goods. They do not have any ground floor rooms for their assessments, so if you climb the stairs to attend one then you automatically tick their 50 metre box!

So if you cannot climb the stairs you call the Fire Department?? Or demand that the second floor staff shift off their posteriors, descend the stairs and carry you up themselves? It would make a good newspaper story and show up the blighters for the scoundrels they are !!

 

[Oldvatr]

So if you cannot climb the stairs you call the Fire Department?? Or demand that the second floor staff shift off their posteriors, descend the stairs and carry you up themselves? It would make a good newspaper story and show up the blighters for the scoundrels they are !!

If you do not attend an assessment at the appointed time or place, you invoke penalty and possible rejection of claim. They did assess my wife at home since she is actually housebound, and this was confirmed by her carers in their report, I did not have carers, so I could not take that route.

 

[rosco 2]

I was under the impression the equality act requires premises to have disability access. Surely the local social services have to provide either suitable access or ground floor rooms to see their users? Check with local law centre.

 

[Guzzler]

PIP has nothing to do do with employment. You can be fully employed and still get PIP because the Personal Independance Payment is there to aid you to live independantly. In the PIP form it clearly states that if access to interview rooms poses a problem of any kind (wrt lifts, stairs, level access) then an alternative venue has to be provided, if not, a home visit can be arranged. This also covers other issues such as mental health etc.

Fitness for work is covered by a different benefit from a different dept. it has a different form with different criteria to fill.

 

[rosco 2]

Yes, I appreciate there is a difference in depts. however the law is the law, access to facilities has to be provided.

 

[Oldvatr]

PIP has nothing to do do with employment. You can be fully employed and still get PIP because the Personal Independance Payment is there to aid you to live independantly. In the PIP form it clearly states that if access to interview rooms poses a problem of any kind (wrt lifts, stairs, level access) then an alternative venue has to be provided, if not, a home visit can be arranged. This also covers other issues such as mental health etc.

Fitness for work is covered by a different benefit from a different dept. it has a different form with different criteria to fill.

Yes that is correct. I was muddling things up from a few years ago after my strokes. I was trying to get early retirement and apply for DLA at the same time, and get a Blue badge. I could not get the blue badge until I got DLA (or PIP) at the enhanced rate, and I could not get retirement since I had some mobility and could carry on working, which I ended up doing and worked past my retirement date as well. At the time I applied for DLA, their offices were indeed on the upper floor, and the pensions DWP were at that time also there. I turned up on my new mobility scooter, and the jobsworth in the peaked cap and epaulettes at reception told me I could not use their lift since it was Staff Only, and that was a strictly adhered to since they were not insured for the general public. I had the same prob with my workplace where a 10 person lift was only insured to carry goods, so I had to climb the stairs until they were forced to get it covered for persons. But PIP is not work related but enhanced PIP does have mobility assessment considerations. I believe our SS office is still in the same building, but they may have taken over the ground floor now (it used to be the Rivers Authority, but I think they moved).

 

[Guzzler]

Yes that is correct. I was muddling things up from a few years ago after my strokes. I was trying to get early retirement and apply for DLA at the same time, and get a Blue badge. I could not get the blue badge until I got DLA (or PIP) at the enhanced rate, and I could not get retirement since I had some mobility and could carry on working, which I ended up doing and worked past my retirement date as well. At the time I applied for DLA, their offices were indeed on the upper floor, and the pensions DWP were at that time also there. I turned up on my new mobility scooter, and the jobsworth in the peaked cap and epaulettes at reception told me I could not use their lift since it was Staff Only, and that was a strictly adhered to since they were not insured for the general public. I had the same prob with my workplace where a 10 person lift was only insured to carry goods, so I had to climb the stairs until they were forced to get it covered for persons. But PIP is not work related but enhanced PIP does have mobility assessment considerations. I believe our SS office is still in the same building, but they may have taken over the ground floor now (it used to be the Rivers Authority, but I think they moved).

They just keep movin' the goal posts.

 

[Guzzler]

Yes, I appreciate there is a difference in depts. however the law is the law, access to facilities has to be provided.

This is why they had to change their own rules, to fit the laws already in place. The law states that all public buildings have to provide adequate access to all groups. People sometimes think this includes shops and businesses but it does not in all cases. Your library, surgery and schools etc have to (and I have experienced first hand that not all schools adhere) but your Tesco, privately owned gym etc does not have to strictly adhere.

 

[rosco 2]

Please don’t get me started on the benefit system and changes. I suppose at lesast we have something in this country that is meant to help those in need but they don’t half make it hard to get your stickies on the dosh. They can be absolute b@stards with not an ounce (gram) of flexibility or intention to be supportive.

 

[Oldvatr]

They just keep movin' the goal posts.

They need to move offices.........goalposts don't pay the bills, or Kates or .......

 

[Pipp]

Anyone being called for a DWP assessment for a health related benefit such as PIP or ESA, has a right to have the assessment in an accessible environment. If , when informed an assessment is due, the claimant makes their access needs known the DWP has a legal requirement to make that correct provision. If necessary, and verified by GP the assessment can take place in tne claimants home.

The following resource may be of use to anyone unsure if they are entitled to a PIP award.
@cazzyann1 section 3 seems to be relevant to your circumstances, but others may also be relevant.

http://www.mybenefitsandwork.co.uk/pip/indexxx.php

The main website of that organisation is also useful when it comes to benefit claims and appeals. www.benefitsandwork.co.uk
As is this one... https://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/money/pip/faqs

If you decide to appeal, remember to act quickly as there is a time limit, it helps if you can have an advocate, so perhaps you could get advice from Citizens Advice Bureau, or Welfare Benefits Agency.

 

[leahkian]

I have recently had my PIP claim checked a year early, they said it was so in a years time it will make things easier. The assessor who came out was very rude, he would ask a question and you would start to reply and he would say i need to know about today not any other time. How are you to explain when he was there at 9 am i asked him if he had read the form i had filled in then yes he had. So i asked him what he new about transplant,mental health, nerve damage, effects of diabetes or medication and pain management, he did not reply so i asked what his job he said movement specialist. He was a physio i got the report which he had done and it said that i did not try hard enough on a hand exercise but i got it, what i have taken from it is you have to tell them about the worst day you have ever had and tell them that. I asked all 6 consultants i see if they had a letter off PIP and none of them had.

I now have just filled in a ESA form in which is the PIP form with the questions in a different order, so i phoned the ESA and said they should contact Pip they said no, i asked could i photo copy the answers off the form, no was their reply. Having asked the difference about the forms I was told that consultants need to be contacted and ESA was GP so i explained that know one has contacted my consultant and also the information off the consultants was not included even though i sent it with the PIP form. So i have sent in the form with 34 sheets of information from everyone i see and also copied the letters and told them that i have done this. The only problem is if they want a face to face meeting it is the same people who do the PIP one and they do not do home visits but i have found out they do.

The Government want you off PIP because for how long you wait to appeal it makes good figures but what they don't tell you is that ATOS who have messed two government contracts but have the medical one under a new name. Nearly 78% win their claims and get the money back dated but ATOS still get their £3000 for saying you don't qualify, the government make a loss on it but if they had their way they will be happy so see us die.

 

[ickihun]

I have recently had my PIP claim checked a year early, they said it was so in a years time it will make things easier. The assessor who came out was very rude, he would ask a question and you would start to reply and he would say i need to know about today not any other time. How are you to explain when he was there at 9 am i asked him if he had read the form i had filled in then yes he had. So i asked him what he new about transplant,mental health, nerve damage, effects of diabetes or medication and pain management, he did not reply so i asked what his job he said movement specialist. He was a physio i got the report which he had done and it said that i did not try hard enough on a hand exercise but i got it, what i have taken from it is you have to tell them about the worst day you have ever had and tell them that. I asked all 6 consultants i see if they had a letter off PIP and none of them had.

I now have just filled in a ESA form in which is the PIP form with the questions in a different order, so i phoned the ESA and said they should contact Pip they said no, i asked could i photo copy the answers off the form, no was their reply. Having asked the difference about the forms I was told that consultants need to be contacted and ESA was GP so i explained that know one has contacted my consultant and also the information off the consultants was not included even though i sent it with the PIP form. So i have sent in the form with 34 sheets of information from everyone i see and also copied the letters and told them that i have done this. The only problem is if they want a face to face meeting it is the same people who do the PIP one and they do not do home visits but i have found out they do.

The Government want you off PIP because for how long you wait to appeal it makes good figures but what they don't tell you is that ATOS who have messed two government contracts but have the medical one under a new name. Nearly 78% win their claims and get the money back dated but ATOS still get their £3000 for saying you don't qualify, the government make a loss on it but if they had their way they will be happy so see us die.

Amber Rudd plans on malgimating PIP and ESA with Universal Credit. So soon no assessor other than a robot and on-line only queries. They want to rid themselves of available staff.