Advice re PIP please

Hi Barbarag,

Thank you for your post, and welcome to Benefits and Work.

There is no specific template to ask for the assessor's report. Simply phone DWP (PIP) and ask for a copy - the report is normally referred to as PA4. It may take a while to arrive, but the good thing is, that hopefully this will arrive to coincide with the DWP decision - if you need to make an appeal it will be ready to refer to!

Your age is an important consideration. Firstly Attendance Allowance does not comprise any mobility element, so if you decided not to pursue PIP then you could only get the the equivalent for standard/enhanced Daily Living. Secondly, in a similar way, whilst PIP can continue to be paid after age of 65, if awarded whilst under that age, the mobility award 'freezes' after age 65. What this means is that whatever mobility award you get now can never be increased, although standard daily living could be increased to enhanced if your health deteriorates. So, if you have poor mobility now and were eligible to receive standard mobility, this is the highest level you could remain at , assuming you had ongoing mobility problems. If you had very poor mobility and achieved enhanced rate now, then this could continue indefinitely.

Your birthday is in June, but you have already applied for PIP, so it will not matter that you receive your decision after that time. If you are successful, PIP will be back dated to the date of claim (or when DLA stopped if you were previously receiving that before PIP.) Hence I think it is important to consider your mobility needs (and this would include planning/following journeys as well as physical walking.) If you have any sort of mobility needs, particularly if you have identified these and mentioned them on your claim form, then if you do not pursue PIP, you will not be able to get additional benefit to represent these difficulties.

It is entirely possible that DWP will refuse your award (although of course, it is equally possible that they will grant PIP!) I In the event of either a refusal or award that is too low, then it is crucial to take on an appeal to achieve benefit in respect of mobility needs, there will be no other chance.

If you do need to appeal, the first step is to make a Mandatory reconsideration. This can be done over the phone, but is best done in writing. Explain what is wrong with the decision, referring to the assessment report where appropriate. Rather than nit pick every point, decide what is the major issue - and highlight where the assessor has made the worst errors. If you have any extra medical reports, please send them, this may help. You need to send in the Mandatory Reconsideration within 1 month of the date of the decision notice. If PIP is not awarded/increased after MR, then you need to apply to appeal to the Tribunal.

I am sorry that you found the Members Guides confusing. Benefits claims of all types can be quite daunting, and especially with PIP there is a lot of information that claimants need to be aware of, I guess that sometimes means there is a lot to take in!

At the moment, just ask for a copy of the assessment report. Try not to worry about the decision, as it may be favourable. If you do need to send in an MR letter, then perhaps you should take detailed advice from CAB or similar - it is likely that the advisor will be able to assist with the MR letter, and may be able to write this for you. He/she may also be able to assist with an appeal to the tribunal if this actually required.

I hope this helps, good luck!

LL26