Pip help needed

Hi Julie

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 son's 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

You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report (PA4) 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 your son meets the criteria, there are many reasons he 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.

Understand that the assessor is offering an opinion when they say that he can do the PIP activities, tackling these head-on is unlikely to be successful, you need to show that the basis of that opinion is founded on incorrect information, so try and refer to your evidence to undermine what they have said.

Also, try and stick to issues that lead to your son scoring points, I often hear members referring to the assessors spelling, as an example, whilst it may show a lack of professionalism, raising it as an issue isn't going to help your son get an award.

Lastly, make sure that you understand the criteria that your son is being assessed against, you can put the best case forward that is possible but you won't score points if you do not meet the PIP Descriptors.

If you have any further questions come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

Gary

Hi Julie

You can do an out of time MR with good cause, which would be that it took over 2 weeks for the decision to arrive and also the time it has taken you to get advice.

You do need to get a copy of the assessors report, then you have an idea why your son failed to score points, so call DWP first thing Monday morning.

Depending on where you live but there are some very good welfare rights organisations that can help with your MR even in these strange times. I would just google, welfare rights organisation in your post code area. Citizen Advice have welfare rights workers as well as some Local Authorities such as Derbyshire and Leicester.

Gary

Hi Julie
Whilst it may be helpful to get a copy of the Assessment Report, there could be delays in this reaching you. You did not say whether you were awarded any Daily Living points. As per Gary's post, you will have to send in a Mandatory Reconsideration letter; this needs to be sent within 4 weeks of the original decision. It would be best to speak to a welfare rights advisor eg CAB, if you can. Otherwise you will need to write the letter yourself, but maybe a friend or relative can help? The letter does not have to be anything more than a one line request to review DWP's decision. However, if you feel that DWP has ignored much or all of your son"s disabilities then you can say so and give examples. If you have a report from eg Special Needs teacher or doctor, enclose this too. Just make sure you put your son"s address and son's NI Number on the letter and all pieces of paper. Make sure you keep a copy of everything you send. You may want to send this recorded delivery.
Hope this helps. Good luck!