Error in law

Hello.

I'm trying to help my brother after he was declined PIP in November after being on DLA HM LC for 5 years, He had a pituitary tumour which was removed and has left him with Panhypopituitarism, his pituitary is non functioning.

Whilst his hormone levels are relatively stable he has all the horrible side effects of large doses of steroids and growth hormone and also takes medications for depression/anxiety.

The Atos assessment report was dire, no surprise there and MR had no reason to doubt the HP even after I politely pointed out the flaws in the report. I was a little less polite/more forthright with my opinions on the appeal submission and i'm still waiting for their reply, it's been 4 weeks.

My question is, if the assessor completed the report using Moyna broad brush 'typical day' instead of the new 50% etc and that has already been ruled as an error in law by the UTT, is there a way DWP can get around it? Would it mean that the whole report was not fit for purpose?

Thanks.

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DWP seldom do anything other than 'rubber stamp' the original decision at MR so you will probably need to progress to appeal. It is then that you should present your arguments as to why your brother qualifies for PIP., it is not enough simply to discredit the assessment as this would probably just result in another f2f rather than a favourable decision.

I suggest you have a read of our PIP guide which explains the appeal process and also the descriptors that must be satisfied in order to gain PIP.

If you wish to complain about the report or the assessor, you should do that separately from any appeal.

You should Bookmark/Favourite this page in your Internet Browser now.

That way you can return to this topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have by replying to the topic.

See : This Topic also !

Thanks in anticipation of your future co-operation in keeping all your queries relating to your brother's PIP to this topic !

Hi Mrs Hurtyback,

Thanks for the advice, I've bookmarked this page.

There were other things wrong with the report, contradicted herself all over the place, snapshot view, ignored his evidence on the day etc.

Said in the exam write up that he was exhausted and that it took great effort for him to move, everything was hard work, lethargic. He was kept waiting 20 mins so he was rested but he still walked slowly with an altered gait. Then says he can reliably and repeatedly walk 200 metres!

Decision maker didn't list Atos report as evidence used to make the decision but quoted extensively from it in her reasons, MR decision maker didn't list how your disability effects you but quoted from it in her reasons!

Thanks Gordon. I have been through the PIP guide and it was really helpful.

I'm just frustrated because they are holding my brother to the things he wrote on his how your disability affects you form. Part of his illness is socially isolating himself and on the form he wrote 'I don't go out because I don't want too!' Of course they are now saying that implies it's his choice and not because of his condition.

He thought because he's really ill they would help him. Sadly that's not the case. I went through the forms for him, he just had to copy it onto the application but he didn't think he needed to go into such detail.

Does anyone have any info on this point? One of the side effects of medications is very dry skin that builds up quite thickly. Because of muscle weakness he can't use a loofah or back strap to reach his back so someone helps him do his back. There is a specific descriptor that fits, can't wash between shoulders and waist. If that had been awarded he'd have standard rate but he was only awarded 2 points, needs an aid. Is there something I'm missing with this one? Thanks.