Long Term DLA to PIP

Hi,

First, congratulation on a really helpful site.

After receiving the equivalent of DLA for over 50 years, I have now received a request to apply for PIP.

I have a condition that includes a host of other conditions. I noted somewhere on the web that someone had documented their conditions fully, with explanations as to what affect these conditions have on her life, and then when answering the questions from each sections of the questionnaire, referred the assessor to the relevant condition and affects on her list.

I wanted to ask if this would be a good way of filling in the questionnaire, rather than writing reams on each section, or is there a chance that an assessor could overlook some important information.

Any advice would be helpful

Hi Sally and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I don't think claimants should make things any harder than they need to be for the assessor. Or for the DWP Decision Maker, who will have no medical knowledge.

Of course, in an ideal world things would be made as easy as possible for the claimant - After all, it is they who have long-term sickness or disability that makes things more difficult! However, this world is far from perfect, especially when it comes to claiming benefits

I think doing what you suggest runs the risk of the assessor overlooking important details, unless you clearly mark each paragraph and point the assessor directly to it.

What we often suggest is to type the answer to each question as a word document and then write on the form 'please see additional page 3' etc. This does necessitate a lot of repetition as many answers are similar.

When push comes to shove, this is your claim and you need to be happy with how it has been dealt with. I suggest you have a read of our PIP guide and then use whatever approach you think is best.

PIP help for claimants

You might want to 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/comments about your PIP claim without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one place - and I hope you will find it useful too

Thank you for your reply Mrs Hurtyback.

I agree it runs the risk of important information being missed by asking the assessor the refer back to a statement. With this in mind, I will answer each point indiviually, even though it mean repeating certain things.

I will report back on the outcome

Sally

Having had my assessment during the past two weeks, there are a couple of things I would like clarification on if possible.

I was told by the Assessor that it was highly unlikely that I would be granted PIP, as it was only for people under the age of 65. I replied that, as I understood it, that only applied to new claims and not changing from DVLA to PIP. Could you advise if this is correct?

Also, I was told that because I needed assistant with getting in and out of the bath then a walk in shower/wet room would be more suited. I explained that I needed a bath as lying in warm water helps with my pain relief. I was advised that the DWP are not interested in such things, only what would help with regards to assistance. Is this correct?

Once I have my decision I will report back fully, however, I have to say that I didn’t have much confidence in the Assessor as she claimed that I hadn’t mentioned two operations I had undergone on my form, which I had, and it was also stated in my Consultants letter. Clearly, she hadn’t read the file properly.

Your views would be much appreciated.

Sally

Thanks for that Gordon.

As I said, I will report back once I have my decision.
I found the affair quite bizarre at times , but more of that when I return.

Thank you again.