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NO PIP Or ESA Face to Face medicals needed
- Vicky
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8 years 1 month ago #155110 by Vicky
NO PIP Or ESA Face to Face medicals needed was created by Vicky
I don't know if I can submit the following on this forum, but I'm feeling desperate and need advice.
I have suffered from debilitating mental health problems for decades. I was awarded a lifetime award of DLA at the highest rate for care and the lower rate for mobility. In January this year I was forced to apply for PIP. I submitted the forms which I filled in, following the advice from the B&W website members' guides, and sent it to DWP by their deadline of 3rd March. I also included medical testimonies.
On Saturday 26th March I received their decision which allows me the standard rate for the daily living component but nothing else. This essentially leaves us with a weekly reduction of £49 in our income. The decision maker didn't feel that a face-to-face assessment was required.
I don't feel that this award reflects either the answers I wrote, the medical evidence submitted or my level of disability. Perhaps it's another example of the way that people like myself with mental heath problems are discriminated against?
Since that initial letter in January my mental health has deteriorated significantly. I am now on the very brink of despair and although I shall challenge this decision, I dread the prospect of this dragging on for months. Also, I may not receive a better award after all that effort and misery.
I would welcome any advice or even to hear of other people's experience in particular with regard to mental ill-health. Thanks.
I have suffered from debilitating mental health problems for decades. I was awarded a lifetime award of DLA at the highest rate for care and the lower rate for mobility. In January this year I was forced to apply for PIP. I submitted the forms which I filled in, following the advice from the B&W website members' guides, and sent it to DWP by their deadline of 3rd March. I also included medical testimonies.
On Saturday 26th March I received their decision which allows me the standard rate for the daily living component but nothing else. This essentially leaves us with a weekly reduction of £49 in our income. The decision maker didn't feel that a face-to-face assessment was required.
I don't feel that this award reflects either the answers I wrote, the medical evidence submitted or my level of disability. Perhaps it's another example of the way that people like myself with mental heath problems are discriminated against?
Since that initial letter in January my mental health has deteriorated significantly. I am now on the very brink of despair and although I shall challenge this decision, I dread the prospect of this dragging on for months. Also, I may not receive a better award after all that effort and misery.
I would welcome any advice or even to hear of other people's experience in particular with regard to mental ill-health. Thanks.
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- Gordon
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8 years 1 month ago - 8 years 1 month ago #155115 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic NO PIP Or ESA Face to Face medicals needed
Sally
Sorry to hear that you are in this situation.
I've moved your post to it's own topic, please make any further posts here by using the reply button.
You can challenge the Decision, I do have to warn you that they can make any Decision that was available to the original DM, so there is a risk that you could lose your DL award. Also, they cannot take into account any deterioration in your health that has occurred since the Decision was made.
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 and 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
Sorry to hear that you are in this situation.
I've moved your post to it's own topic, please make any further posts here by using the reply button.
You can challenge the Decision, I do have to warn you that they can make any Decision that was available to the original DM, so there is a risk that you could lose your DL award. Also, they cannot take into account any deterioration in your health that has occurred since the Decision was made.
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 and 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
Last edit: 8 years 1 month ago by Gordon.
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- Vicky
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8 years 1 month ago #155266 by Vicky
Replied by Vicky on topic NO PIP Or ESA Face to Face medicals needed
Many thanks for your response, Gordon.
I'm grateful to you for making this a new post of the forum. However, I wonder if there are other people who have mental health problems who have also had their claims dismissed? Perhaps a new topic link which addresses people with mental health problems would be helpful? Many of the PIP descriptors are geared primarily towards physical disability.
I have phoned DWP to say that I wish to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. They have allowed me until the 30th of this month although I was told that this could be extended if necessary.Should I send them a letter as well? If so, I can't seem to find your template for this. Also, if I do need an extension will this be used against me?
With regard to the assessment report - is this the same as the "decision maker's reasoning" which was included in the letter sent to me about the award?
I continue to struggle in the face of all this.
I'm grateful to you for making this a new post of the forum. However, I wonder if there are other people who have mental health problems who have also had their claims dismissed? Perhaps a new topic link which addresses people with mental health problems would be helpful? Many of the PIP descriptors are geared primarily towards physical disability.
I have phoned DWP to say that I wish to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. They have allowed me until the 30th of this month although I was told that this could be extended if necessary.Should I send them a letter as well? If so, I can't seem to find your template for this. Also, if I do need an extension will this be used against me?
With regard to the assessment report - is this the same as the "decision maker's reasoning" which was included in the letter sent to me about the award?
I continue to struggle in the face of all this.
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- Gordon
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8 years 1 month ago #155277 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic NO PIP Or ESA Face to Face medicals needed
Sally
Whilst two of the Daily Living Activities (Communicating and Reading), are primarily concerned with physical limitations the other nine activities take into account mental health issues that the claimant might have, however, this does assume that any mental health issues you have affect your ability to reliably complete these activities on the majority of days.
Our recommendation is to confirm the MR request in writing, the template letter is in the PIP Appeal Submissions on the link that I provided in a previous post.
The Assessment report (PA4) is a different document than the DM's reasoning.
Gordon
Whilst two of the Daily Living Activities (Communicating and Reading), are primarily concerned with physical limitations the other nine activities take into account mental health issues that the claimant might have, however, this does assume that any mental health issues you have affect your ability to reliably complete these activities on the majority of days.
Our recommendation is to confirm the MR request in writing, the template letter is in the PIP Appeal Submissions on the link that I provided in a previous post.
The Assessment report (PA4) is a different document than the DM's reasoning.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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- Vicky
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8 years 6 days ago #157305 by Vicky
Replied by Vicky on topic NO PIP Or ESA Face to Face medicals needed
I received the Atos report and it ignored both my PIP form and medical evidence.
I phoned asking for a MR and wrote saying that I would be submitting my reasons the following week after I had spoken to a benefits advisor. DWP ignored this letter and sent a MR within days which was exactly the same as the original award and with the same DM's reasoning.
I have now got to take this to the tribunal stage. I have managed to get the assistance of a benefits advisor locally, but I'm feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and despondent. My mental health has deteriorated even further
I'm angry that I'm being put through all this additional stress. If my original form, and accompanying medical evidence, had been read properly in the first place I could have been spared this torment.
The DM took 60 minutes to read all the evidence and write up their decision. I think anyone would have been hard pressed to accomplish this in the time frame they say it took.
I phoned asking for a MR and wrote saying that I would be submitting my reasons the following week after I had spoken to a benefits advisor. DWP ignored this letter and sent a MR within days which was exactly the same as the original award and with the same DM's reasoning.
I have now got to take this to the tribunal stage. I have managed to get the assistance of a benefits advisor locally, but I'm feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and despondent. My mental health has deteriorated even further
I'm angry that I'm being put through all this additional stress. If my original form, and accompanying medical evidence, had been read properly in the first place I could have been spared this torment.
The DM took 60 minutes to read all the evidence and write up their decision. I think anyone would have been hard pressed to accomplish this in the time frame they say it took.
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- Gordon
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8 years 6 days ago #157315 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic NO PIP Or ESA Face to Face medicals needed
Sally
You can push for a second MR with time to provide any additional content that you want, but the turnover rate at MR is quite low whereas the rate at appeal is well over 50%. I can understand that appealing can be very daunting and I won't suggest that is can be, but the panel will hear your evidence from scratch and they will assign a lot less weight to the assessment report than the DWP will.
Gordon
You can push for a second MR with time to provide any additional content that you want, but the turnover rate at MR is quite low whereas the rate at appeal is well over 50%. I can understand that appealing can be very daunting and I won't suggest that is can be, but the panel will hear your evidence from scratch and they will assign a lot less weight to the assessment report than the DWP will.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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