Assessment report received/MR advice needed please

A letter from a Consultant may help, but for it to have any real weight then it will need to address the issues you have in completing the PIP activities, will they be able to make such comment?

I'll ask. When my DLA was cut, they wrote a letter addressing my difficulties more specifically, so they may be willing to do it again. That said, if dropping the matter won't constitute agreement on my part / cause future problems, I may just drop it to avoid further distress.

However, am I right in thinking that tribunal panels seldom increase the length of an award? My consultant (who I've seen for almost a decade) did specify in their letter that I'm not going to get better, so I was surprised to receive a 4-year award down from an indefinite DLA one.

I suspect the latter...

My consultant replied and is happy to clarify anything they can. I've just looked at my GP's original letter again, and they seem to have a lot of PIP knowledge. They wrote several A4 sides stating things like "[NAME] needs prompting to eat" and "[NAME] needs assistance to cook a simple meal." It looks like the DM completely disregarded it!

Both my GP and consultant stated in their letters that the prognosis for my condition is bad, and I am highly unlikely to ever improve much.

*Sigh* I need advice as to whether to go through with this, but the welfare support service can't spare the resources. All they can do is support me if I decide to appeal.

I know no-one here can advise me, and I'm not asking for that. An ongoing award would lift such a weight from my shoulders, even if it was at my current rates. If I could only pick one, I'd rather have that than the extra £25 a week but with the need to keep renewing.

It's a tough position to be in, albeit better than people who've been denied. Thank you for reading, and thank you Gordon for your help.

Further to my previous post (”Disagree with DM <...>"), my assessment report has arrived, and there are a few errors in there as expected. One states that I didn't report needing prompting to eat even though I reported it in my form - as if that must mean I was lying or something? But I wasn't asked! I went back through the recording I made, and the HP only asked about whether I had physical difficulties with food and drink consumption.

I know about volunteering information if they don't ask you, but unfortunately I couldn't keep every single thing in my head while also struggling against pain, fatigue and rising panic and trying to answer the questions I WAS asked, and besides, it's not a cross-examination, is it? I put it in my form and one of my doctors backed it up in their letter. If the HP had asked me about it, I would have talked about it. If our form evidence is disregarded if we don't repeat it in the assessment, why even bother with the forms?

I'm going to try for a Mandatory Reconsideration, and I have a few questions. I've read the Members' Guides but I'm struggling to understand them, despite the DWP finding I have no issues understanding complex written information . It's taken me 3 days with help to write this, for goodness' sake.

1) How does the process work? Different sources say different things. When I inform the DWP of my desire for a MR, will they send me out any paperwork, or is it up to me to follow up by sending them my challenge letter and further evidence independently?

2) I've been advised to ask for further written reasons, but they included a 'My Decision' explanation in the letter. Will they refuse to send out a more detailed decision on the basis that they've already given reasons?

3) Is the DWP obliged to give me some time to collect the evidence once I've informed them I want the MR, or can they just go ahead and reconsider it anyway? I won't have time to collate and send the evidence before their ridiculously tight deadline. I'll need a week or two after telling them.

4) Is it OK to challenge the errors in the assessment report in my MR evidence pack? I've looked at the members' guides and sample challenges, but they seem to be referring to the appeal itself.

5) Does the 'severe discomfort' rule still apply? If doing something causes me severe discomfort and I can't repeat the action for days or weeks, does that count as not being able to do it at all? I thought it did, but judging by the report, the fact that I was able to do some things at the assessment apparently means that I'm able to do them repeatedly, when in reality the assessment took me a long time to recover from.

I feel a bit guilty about this when other people have received no award at all, but I'm reliant on benefits as my sole income, the reassessments make me iller every time, and the thought of having to go through this hell repeatedly, like I had to before I was awarded indefinite DLA, well, I don't think I can live like that. Thank you for any advice you have.

Hi Cat,

I have merged your query with the previous topic relating to your PIP claim. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one topic.

I will try to answer your questions in order -
1) The DWP will not send out any paperwork when they receive your MR request. It will be up to you to let them know what you believe is wrong and provide evidence in support of this (even if you are just drawing their attention to something you have already supplied).

2) If you have had a copy of the Decision Maker's reasons and the assessor's report then that is all there will be at the moment.

3) There is no specified time that the DWP must give you to submit evidence and we have heard from members who have received the MR decision before t hey have submitted their evidence. Get the MR request submitted in time and explain that you will be sending in further documents. You should then get these documents to DWP as soon as you reasonably can.

4) It is fine to challenge the assessor's report. However, it is not worth spending time pointing out every error, especially where doing so would not gain you the extra points you need. As Gordon says, it is far easier to challenge fact rather than opinion.

5) The 'severe discomfort' is relevant to 'reliability' -
• Safely – in a fashion that is unlikely to cause harm to themselves or to another person.
• To a necessary and appropriate standard – given the nature of the activity.
• Repeatedly – as often as is reasonably required.
• In a timely manner – in a reasonable time period.

Finally - please don't forget that the MR can improve your award, reduce it or remove it so taking this further is not without danger.

Please reply to this message with any further questions or comments about your PIP at any stage in the process and we will do our best to help. You will find this easily in future if you bookmark/favourite it on your web browser now.