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HELP! LOST MOBILITY ON CHANGE TO PIP FROM DLA

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7 years 2 months ago #180554 by mum0f6
Hi urgent advice needed. After receiving HRM & LRC ON DLA since 2003 my husband has just lost his mobility element on transfer to PIP and gone from LRC to standard element on daily living which is fine. He had spinal surgery back in 2003 for a shattered disc that had basically gone through spinal column leaving permanent nerve damage to unknown areas. Nothing was done to the gap where the disc had gone it was just left. By the time they operated the chalky substance/contents of shattered disc had already done its damage to the nerves. It's unknown exactly what areas have been damaged but definitely bladder (incontinence). He's in permanent pain and his mobility dla was awarded on the basis of being in constant pain not a distance he could cover in meters. he now has a disc gone in his neck and the prognosis is not good. Pain relief treatment is being offered with significant warning from the consultant about possible complications but our GP is saying not to have this treatment as it comes with high risks for little positive outcome. Surgical options could leave him paralysed or at minimum learning to walk again. He also has another couple other discs which are pro lapsed. He has had a second opinion from Spinal Unit at Oswestry who basically said no further treatment could be offered and he would continue to get worse. He's described as having an Antalgic Gait. He walks like a man in his 70/80's not a man aged 44. He became very old before his time. Unfortunately I too am disabled and I have a wheelchair accessible vehicle through DLA (thank god I transferred the Motability to my name from his and we aren't in danger of losing the car YET!!!!!). So that is frowned upon because he can drive that because I can't. We have 6 children aged between 8 and 21. 4 of whom have their own health issues (with 2 on DLA and one on PIP), so our house is fun to say the least. I know the process for Reconsideration as I have just been unsuccessful in an attempt to get a positive Mandatory reconsideration for my son on his ESA. I need to know who to ask for help, would getting a supporting report from our GP be of benefit to submit with the MR letter. She is very supportive. He's developed late onset asthma which is I would describe as moderate, at least. He's had to take steroids etc and is under regular review with her for this. He has a missing gene in his blood which leaves him more susceptible to blood clots and was admitted to hospital 18 months ago and treated for ? heart attack and then angina and then treated for blood clots. He's being checked for calcium problems and obviously was diagnosed at 32 (2003) as having arthritis in his lower back (the area of the original slipped disc). He obviously has depression on top of all this and has serious panic attacks whenever he has medical assessments and appointments of this nature. Any advice anyone can offer at this stage would be gratefully received. I can't afford the £136 4 weekly) loss but if I too lose my Motability when I have my change over from DLA to PIP, I would lose my car. We were followed and recorded back in 2006/07 and he went through the whole accusation of benefit fraud and as soon as everything got to the DLA decision maker it was thrown straight out again. This was due to the fact that the claim was based on him being in constant pain at all times and when in pain rather than saying he could only walk ?50meters? or whatever. As such since 2007 we have serious paranoia about being watched/followed. I mean I have all shopping delivered, we never go out socially and at most my hubby pops to the shop for a pint of milk or some fuel. He drops the younger children at school each day (drives my epileptic son to college) and takes my autistic daughter to her social activities. They said he was able to drive to Wolverhampton from Stafford (15-20 miles at most) for the specialist appointment at the hospital which is used against him. HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!

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7 years 2 months ago #180624 by Gordon
mum0f6

I'm afraid, as you have found, PIP has very specific criteria that the claimant needs to meet, in regard to Moving Around your husband needs to be unable to reliably stand and then move (walk) more than 20m on the majority of days.

My impression is that your husband is in constant pain while walking but the distance that he can walk exceeds the distances set by PIP. A claimant is not required to complete the PIP activities without pain, but any pain that limits the distance that they can walk should be taken into account.

If his pain is severe but he still manages to walk, then you may be able to argue that his walking is not to a necessary standard.

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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