× Members

PIP Mandatory Reconsideration help please

More
7 years 1 month ago #179805 by Hippyginger
PIP Mandatory Reconsideration help please was created by Hippyginger
Having received my decision letter on Wednesday in just under 2 weeks after my f2f assessment and discovering that I've been awarded the enhanced rate for daily living but only standard rate, (10 points.....2 measly points short!), I think I really need to ask for one of those Mandatory Reconsiderations. We'd requested a copy of the assessment report which arrived yesterday ultra quick in only 3 days!

But while the decision makers reasons for awarding me what he has, had already got me and my husband riled up fit to burst, this report has served to make me really angry too! Soooo many things he's written just are not true and things that did happen during the assessment just aren't mentioned. e.g. the decision maker has written that I 'declined the musculoskeletal examination' when in actual fact, what happened was not a simple declining on my part. Almost at the end of the assessment, the HP, (a physio), said that he'd like to do a small physical examination and would I be ok with that, whereupon both my husband and I, in unison, said that it would depend on what it involved, so the HP proceeded to demonstrate. It was only 2 movements involving me sitting down and 1) raising each leg straight, one at a time which I said that that would cause pain in my knees and more pain in my lower back. The second movement was still sitting down but this time raising each leg one at a time bent at the knee which I said would cause pain in my hip and more pain in my back. So the HP said that he could see I was in some discomfort just sitting there so he wouldn't be asking me to do them and would just put down that I declined because of pain. BUT there is no mention of my reason for declining the examination in the decision makers letter when it's there in black and white on the assessment report!

Mind you, that's only one thing on the report that didn't get put in the decision makers letter while there are so many other things that should've been noted in the HP's report that aren't there!

Anyway, I've downloaded and printed off your guide to the Mandatory Reconsideration business which is very helpful, but because I have trouble understanding things, (even though I've read it 3 times already, which is why I printed it off instead of just reading the download which I find harder to take in), I know that the next step is to either phone the DWP dealing with my claim AND write them a letter asking for the MR, or simply write them a letter before my month and a day from the date of the letter, (took FIVE days to get here mind), but what I can't seem to understand is how to word it. Sorry for appearing dim, but it's this cognitive impairment my combination of Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Sjogren's disease causes. Got it on 3 fronts lol But if you read both the decision letter and the report, I don't have any cognitive impairment AND can plan a route unaided which is just not true!!!!!!!! I can only go to familiar places as both me and my husband told the HP on the day and which is in my application form!

Everything I wrote in my PIP application was a true account and even though my ability to say things from the one day to the next is variable, I have speech and thinking problems most of the time. Just my luck my assessment day was one of my rare 'better days' speech wise eh which I did explain to the HP. My husband went on to say that the chap was lucky because most days I can't string a sentence together.

The physio also told us from the outset that he would be concentrating on the things I had that caused me pain, so no mention of any Mental Health Examination and to my and my husband's knowledge, I didn't have one of those. And to be honest, how qualified is a physio to do a mental health assessment?

I googled how to find a Welfare Rights person in my area so we shall be trying to get an appointment with them for advice just as you suggest in your guide asap as I know the clock is ticking to get the MR request in.

Thanks so much for your wonderful site, it has already proved to be a vital source of information and help when I had to switch from Incapacity Benefit to ESA, for which I was put into the Support Group on both occasions. It was also a huge help filling in my PIP application. Just a shame my decision has come back with only 10 points in the mobility part which means a very sad goodbye to my INDEPENDENCE of having my own car and being able to get myself out when I'm able to. Thought the whole idea of this Personal Independence Payment was exactly for that......independence.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
7 years 1 month ago #179843 by slugsta
Replied by slugsta on topic PIP Mandatory Reconsideration help please
Hi Mary,

Don't fall into the trap of arguing against every word of the report - all you would do by totally discrediting the report would be an appointment for a further assessment!

You need to concentrate your time and energy on explaining how/why you should have scored (more) points where you didn't .

Some descriptors have multiple elements and you should explain how you meet each of these. You should also explain, where relevant, why aids, prompting etc do not help.


May I suggest that you bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future? This will allow you to return with further questions or comments about your PIP without having to start a new topic each time. We ask members to keep everything relating to the same claim in one topic as it helps us enormously - and I hope you will find it useful too :)

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

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
7 years 1 month ago #179853 by Hippyginger
Replied by Hippyginger on topic PIP Mandatory Reconsideration help please
Thank you so much for your excellent advice Mrs. Hurtyback. That's a great help! I shall make sure that I do only concentrate on the bits that I think I should've been awarded more points on, (and there's quite a few lol).

But, being somewhat dim on this, what is it I should say in my letter requesting a MR? Is this when I should put in my bits about what I don't think they've got right, or does that go in a further letter as evidence? Sorry for being so dim, but stress is one of the main things that triggers a Fibro flare up and brain fog is extremely foggy at the moment lol

But this morning, my husband and I have had a good chat about the impact losing my motability car will have on our lives and while it will make a helluva impact being a one car family again, (first time in over 30 years that will be), and changes will have to be made by both of us with things we do independently, it won't mean that the world stops turning and the sun will still rise in the morning, so we'll have to suck it up and adjust. We just have to hope that my husband's car will be able to tow our tourer caravan or that'll also be our holiday out the window and THAT will be more than a little depressing. I'm just relieved that at least my husband's car is an automatic so I'll be able to drive it too albeit the seats are harder to get out of because it's a slightly lower vehicle than my motability car. And the gismo to raise the drivers seat up, isn't just a press a button as mine is, so he'll always have to do the lever on it to raise it before I drive it. Annoying but I don't have the pressure in my hands to do that lever. Bit more INDEPENCE out the window then.

I am still going to try my best to get my decision changed, because the decision I've been given is wrong and unfair! And I know that the guides warn us that we could risk losing what I've already been awarded, but I feel there's a principal at stake here so fully intend to take on the battle, (body and mind willing).

Once again, thank you so much for your help and guidance, but I'd be very grateful if you could just point me in the right direction as to this what goes in the first letter requesting the MR please. Total numpty I know lol My brain's just not allowing me to think straight.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
7 years 1 month ago #179888 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic PIP Mandatory Reconsideration help please
MAry

There are template MR requests in the PIP section.

You need to explain why you disagree with the Decision, primarily by explaining where and why you should have scored points, refer to the PIP claim guide for the criteria and make sure you have made use of "reliably" and "on the majority of days" as applicable.

Gordon

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

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
7 years 1 month ago #179942 by Hippyginger
Replied by Hippyginger on topic PIP Mandatory Reconsideration help please
Bless you for that Gordon. Must've missed those templates during my research on here, but I am easily distracted and it only takes something else interesting to catch my eye and I forget what I was looking for in the first place :unsure:

And thank you so very much for making it clear what I should be putting in my first letter to DWP asking for the Mandatory Reconsideration. Feeling a bit more positive now albeit the chap at D.I.A.L. told my husband that 99% of people who request an MR get knocked back without any change to the decision : :unsure: I'd like to hope that the figures shown in the B&W newsletters are more accurate :blush:

Thank you again.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gordon

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
7 years 1 month ago #180274 by Hippyginger
Replied by Hippyginger on topic PIP Mandatory Reconsideration help please
Just to let you know that I did have another, more focussed, look on the PIP info AND found the appropriate templates for an MR and appeal, (best to be prepared), and downloaded them so that my husband and I can read through them all properly. I need to read things several times to be able to really understand them and this way I can read them easier from a printed page.

I also found the REALLY helpful tips relating to my Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Osteoarthritis and Mobility which are going to be very, very useful too!

I did receive the sad letter from motability this morning telling me that my car has to be handed back on or before 14th March. So sad that there's no way to hang on to the vehicle while you're trying to get the decision changed, but them's the rules so we just have to accept it. Gawd knows how I'm going to manage to raise the driver's seat in my husband's car that we're now going to have to share. The seat adjuster gismo in my car is a push button one, but the one in my husband's car is a lever that has to be pumped up and down........that'll be interesting with my gammy hands that can't even pull the seal off of a bottle of milk :unsure:

Was sad to learn that even if I'm lucky enough to be upgraded to the enhanced mobility rate, I wouldn't be allowed to re-join the motability scheme for 6 months apparently! 2017 definitely not started too great.

But thank you for this wonderfully helpful site once again.
The following user(s) said Thank You: slugsta

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: GordonGaryBISCatherineWendyKellygreekqueenpeterKatherineSuper UserjimmckChris
We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.