I secretly recorded PIP ass - Caselaw?

Hi Jim

You are a long way off before you get to a Tribunal, what you want to do is get the decision overturned at a Mandatory Reconsideration.

I'm afraid, at this stage, your recording is not going to help as the DWP are not going to review it but that does not mean that you cannot still challenge the comments in the report.

You can make a complaint about the assessor to the relevant Assessment Provider.

Complaining to the PIP Assessment Providers .

You would also be advised to look through our comprehensive PIP guide and see if you answered the questions fully enough in the first place.

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, the PIP area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip

Go through your recording, the PIP2, the assessment report and the PIP claim guide to work out why you didn't score the points you hoped for.

This could be because

- You have not shown that you met the criteria, the Descriptors can be very specific and even using the wrong language could mean that you were treated as not meeting it.

- You have misinterpreted the criteria, it is easy to try and make the Descriptors fit conditions but this will never work, you have to make the conditions fit the Descriptors if you reasonably can.

- The assessor has misinterpreted your problems, this may be due to a lack of knowledge so perhaps a mental health nurse will be less understanding of physical issues and a physiotherapist may not understand mental health problems despite their additional training.

You can't assume this but if you can show from the report that this is likely then it may be possible to override the report. Do this by using reference material, usually common symptoms.

- Lastly, the assessor has misrepresented the assessment, all you can do is correct the errors, but stick to issues that lead to points. It can be tempting to call out an assessor for their stupidity, but don't - just highlight that they were mistaken in making particular judgements. If discussions were made but not included in the assessors report, then mention them.

I don't know whether when you first applied you included a letter from a loved one, partner, relation or friend who knows you and could speak about the effect of your difficulties. If you didn't you should do so. These people know you better than any GP.

If you have any further questions, come back and ask and we will try to help.

Gary

Hi Jim

If you want to appeal a Decision then you must either complete an SSCS1 form or request the appeal via the Tribunal Service's online system.

www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision

Our appeal guides explain the process and have links to the form. The Submissions document has completed examples of the form.

Our guides will walk you through how to appeal, if you click on the link above, it is about half way down the page, there are 3 guides for you to look at.

Whenever I do an appeal I set it out as a sub mission. The first thing I do is to go through the assessors report line by line with a highlight pen highlighting everything I disagree with, which is why it is so important to request a copy of the assessors report.

I then go through each question as set out on the form and the assessors report, starting with food and drink why I believe the assessors report is incorrect, if you have any medical evidence which backs up your claim, then refer to it. If there are questions which you do not disagree with on the assessors report then ignore them, you are only appealing against the questions you disagree with what the assessor has written or information they have omitted.

It is important to remember you are being assessed as you were when you had your assessment and not how you are today, as you stated it can take over one year before you get a hearing date.

If you do a good sub mission, sometimes the DWP will contact you and offer a deal which sometimes covers everything the claimant expects of only part of what the claimant expects, nothing stops you from accepting the deal, wait for the payment to be put in place and then issue a new appeal. Whilst waiting for the appeal you will be paid what has been offered and accepted.

In regards to the recording I would mention it in your sub mission when setting out your arguement, you may need to get it professionally copied at your local solicitor who would be able to authenticate the recording.

Gary

Hi Quizzical

You have raised an interesting question but the answer is quite simple, you are entitled to the benefit until a 'New Decision' has been made, at that point you would not be entitled to the benefit. Note that some benefits have a run on of a few weeks if you loose entitlement such as CA.

Gary