PIP Query MH Planning and following a journey

Mizzie

Despite the DWP advice including references to Public Transport and taxis, these are not specified in the legal definitions of the PIP Descriptors and we regularly see points being denied for this reason.

You would need to show that you "Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress" to you, to receive an award.

This needs to be done reliably and on the majority of days.

Your comments that you drive and that you go out for an appointment and to shop, are unlikely to be helpful in your meeting this requirement.

See the latest PIP Claim guide for more information.

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

Gordon

Mizzie wrote: with the car and parking close to my destination I sometimes manage, however without that then yes I would be affected overwhelmingly with distress and would be housebound.

Is the process of the preparation it takes in order to get out of the house relevant and how when eventually you do get out, the time of day e.g. quiet times, using a high level of avoidance etc relevant.

You should certainly document any issues you have in actually leaving the house, especially if this takes a long time.

The higher point Descriptor uses the word "cannot", whilst you can certainly argue that this does not means "never" when taking the majority of days into account, any examples of you going out on your own will count against you.

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