Change of circumstance?

My partner has a diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome and also has other mental health difficulties, he often experiences behavioural problems, especially when out of the home and involved in interactions with others. He is in ESA support group and gets PIP at the standard rate for daily living - he was awarded 11 points for this. My question is whether it is possible to reclaim PIP on the grounds of a change of circumstance, if that makes sense?

His mental health has deteriorated recently, as it does on a semi-regular basis, but it is becoming more difficult for him to do daily living tasks such as cooking and shopping, and getting himself to appointments and regular therapeutic activities (such as a drop-in advice service for autistic people). The cooking, shopping etc difficulties are around motivation, energy levels and organisational skills, and the going out is being impacted by unsafe behaviour such as conflicts with others, due to his difficulty in understanding the actions and intentions of others. He was arrested and cautioned for criminal damage last November, after an incident in the GP surgery after a long period of untreated crisis and distress. He is now on the Violent Patient scheme, which seriously restricts his access to NHS services. This is not an issue in itself, he fully accepts the consequences of his own actions. However, I fear similar happening again, due to this increase in mental health and behavioural difficulties.

I work full-time, and am main bread winner and am therefore unable to accompany him to many things he needs/wants to do. If he were to get an enhanced rate of daily care, I would perhaps be able to work with more flexibility and therefore be able to give him more support. It would also enable us to make a better case for a discretionary housing benefit application, (we live in a 2 bed house but maintain separate bedrooms as this provides him the space and control which is so vital to his mental health). For HB purposes, we are of course over-accommodated. I earn slightly too much for us to get Tax Credits, but money is tight and he desperately needs therapy which we have to accept we are going to need to find privately.

Sorry this is long, but it is pretty complex! Any advice about trying to change the rate of PIP would be greatly appreciated - up until this point I have been grateful that he got the award at all and terrified of rocking the boat, but things are becoming much more acute and unmanageable. Thank you all for such a helpful and supportive site.

Hi Drizzle 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

If your partner can show that his health has worsened, such that he would not qualify for the enhanced level of PIP, he can ask DWP for a 'supersession'. This would trigger the reassessment process, possibly including a face to face assessment.

It would be worth looking at the PIP self-assessment to be sure that thinks he would meet the threshold - there's no point in starting this if he does not have a realistic chance of getting the higher award. Don't forget that the assessor would be looking at the claim as if it were a new application, s/he would not simply be looking to see if your partner's needs have increased. A decision of 'no award' is still possible.

If he does decide to go ahead, please make full use of our PIP guide

PIP help for claimants

You might wish 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 comments or questions about your partner's PIP 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