FAO Gordon

Wendy

Although rebutting the assessment report is important doing so cannot in itself result in an award, your primary goal is to show that your father meets the criteria and you can then you those statements to show that the report is wrong so I would go through the PIP2, the assessment report and the PIP Claim guide to make sure that this is the case and where there are omissions, for example the days a week that he is affected, explain why he cannot reliably, on the majority of days, complete the activities and why this is the case.

Treat the PIP Descriptors as they are written, trying to second guess the intent usually results in claimants losing points.

The Going Out Mobility activity is split into three


Planning a route - this is primarily a cognitive or sensory (e.g. blindness) activity.

Undertaking a Journey - this is do with mental health issues such as agoraphobia and social anxiety and is concerned with his leaving the house to go somewhere, they will be interested in the things that stop you doing this. If he can leave the house but risks not getting to his destination then you will be asked about this. You need to show that he would suffer "overwhelming psychological distress" to meet the criteria.

Following a route - the DWP regard this as a cognitive or sensory activity to do with navigating the route, to score for mental health issues you will need to show that his anxiety is so extreme that it would prevent you from actually navigating the route.

References to Public Transport are misleading, although the DWP guidance refers to it, the Descriptors do not and we regularly see the DWP ignoring issues in this area.

Three stage commands are exactly that; 1.See the piece of paper on the floor, pick it up, now fold it in half.

This and the other tests are indicators of cognitive issues, the DWP read more into them than they deserve.

Gordon

Wendy

All that you can do mitigate the risk of your father losing points is to make sure that you have explained his limitations in detail.

I'm not saying don't deal with the comments in the assessment report, you may still need to make reference to it; for example the fact that he did not make the call to arrange his assessment, but if you go back to basics and explain his limitations it should be possible to show that the opinions in the assessment report are incorrect.

Follow the formula in the guide.

1. What is the health condition and what are the symptoms that cause problems with completing an activity
2. Describe the problems he has, giving details and examples if you can.
3. If he uses any aids or appliances, list them and explain why he uses them.
4. If he needs physical help, supervision or prompting, whether he actually get it or not, explain what he needs and why he needs it, including if he needs help when using aids or appliances. If he can’t manage even with help from another person and have to have everything done for him, say so.
5. Say when during the day or night he has problems. For example, is it all the time, mostly in the morning or just in the evening?
6. If his condition varies, from day to day or week to week, try to explain how much it varies and what problems he has when he is at his best, worst and average.

Gordon

Wendy

All that you can do mitigate the risk of your father losing points is to make sure that you have explained his limitations in detail.

I'm not saying don't deal with the comments in the assessment report, you may still need to make reference to it; for example the fact that he did not make the call to arrange his assessment, but if you go back to basics and explain his limitations it should be possible to show that the opinions in the assessment report are incorrect.

Follow the formula in the guide.

1. What is the health condition and what are the symptoms that cause problems with completing an activity
2. Describe the problems he has, giving details and examples if you can.
3. If he uses any aids or appliances, list them and explain why he uses them.
4. If he needs physical help, supervision or prompting, whether he actually get it or not, explain what he needs and why he needs it, including if he needs help when using aids or appliances. If he can’t manage even with help from another person and have to have everything done for him, say so.
5. Say when during the day or night he has problems. For example, is it all the time, mostly in the morning or just in the evening?
6. If his condition varies, from day to day or week to week, try to explain how much it varies and what problems he has when he is at his best, worst and average.

Gordon