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Any point asking for MR for Pip Mobility - anxiety

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7 years 2 months ago #179036 by AllyBee
Hi, I've just been awarded Enhanced Rate for Daily Living (DLA to PIP) - with no medical assessment - thank you so much for your invaluable guides! But I only got 4 points for Mobility, which means no Mobility award at all, even though I explained fully that I could not undertake an unfamiliar journey unaided due to overwhelming anxiety. My question is, is it worth asking for a Mandatory Reconsideration for this, or is it a definite no no for mental health, and only applies to cognitive/sensory impairment, even though this is clearly unfair! I have phoned and asked for a copy of my Atos report which has not come yet. Thank you in advance for your help!

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7 years 2 months ago #179051 by Gordon

joxmutz wrote: Hi, I've just been awarded Enhanced Rate for Daily Living (DLA to PIP) - with no medical assessment - thank you so much for your invaluable guides! But I only got 4 points for Mobility, which means no Mobility award at all, even though I explained fully that I could not undertake an unfamiliar journey unaided due to overwhelming anxiety. My question is, is it worth asking for a Mandatory Reconsideration for this, or is it a definite no no for mental health, and only applies to cognitive/sensory impairment, even though this is clearly unfair! I have phoned and asked for a copy of my Atos report which has not come yet. Thank you in advance for your help!


A Standard Mobility award is certainly possible due to mental Health issues, an Enhanced award is not impossible but would be very difficult.

You would need to meet

e. Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant. 10 points.

or

f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. 12 points.

For the latter you would need to argue that your anxiety has a significant impact on your cognitive ability, also, if you are found to meet (e) then they won't consider (f).

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the PIP area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip

You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report if you have not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.

Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;

"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"

than their opinions

"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.

When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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7 years 2 months ago #179054 by AllyBee
Thank you Gordon for your reply.
I was only awarded 4 points for prompting to go on a journey, but I feel that I should have been awarded Standard Mobility as question 1.d totally applies to me:
d. Cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, assistance dog or
orientation aid. 10 points.
I cannot do this without another person. However, it seems that the DWP only include cognitive or sensory impairment for this, and not mental health disorders. Is this right?
If this is the case, I am reluctant to consider MR just in case they take away my Enhanced Daily Living award!
Is it worth the risk do you think? Or should I just accept their decision?
Thank you

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7 years 2 months ago #179056 by Gordon
joxmutz

The argument is similar to (f), the DWP see this as a navigation task and therefore that it is primarily issues of cognitive or sensory ability that will limit the claimants ability to complete it. As above, you can argue that your cognitive ability is affected by your anxiety but I think you will need medical evidence to support this.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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