Cptsd and more need advice with pip

Hello Claire and welcome to our forum.

If you have not yet had a good look around the site, this is a good place to start.
Welcome to Benefits and Work

For people considering applying for PIP there is a self assessment form here
PIP self test

If you do that it will give you an idea what the PIP assessment is about and whether or not you are likely to get it. Having the done the test it will tell you what award(s) you would get if the DWP agree with you. Awards translate into pounds
Daily Living Standard £60 per week
Daily Living Enhanced £89.60 per week
Mobility Standard £23.70 per week
Mobility Enhanced £62.55 per week
Although it is a weekly amount, generally PIP is paid monthly.

If you wish to go ahead and apply you need to ring the DWP on 0800 917 2222. Be prepared for a fairly long call. It can take about ages for them to answer and then they go through quite a few questions. I generally put my phone onto speaker and get on with something else as I wait for them reply. I have never known them not do so eventually.

You will need the following information with you when you make that call
your contact details, for example telephone number, address
your date of birth
your National Insurance number - this is on letters about tax, pensions and benefits
your bank or building society account number and sort code
your doctor or health worker’s name, address and telephone number
dates and addresses for any time you’ve spent in a care home or hospital
dates for any time you spent abroad for more than 4 weeks at a time, and the countries you visited.

Any award you receive will be back dated to the day which you make that claim (provided you get the form back to them in time). They will send you a PIP2 form which you need to complete and return to them.

You then really need to start studying our PIP guides. To get access to them you do need to be a member of this site, but in my opinion they are really really useful!

PIP resources

The first guide is the one you need to help you complete the PIP2 form, and it takes you through everything you need to know.

If you have any questions as you complete the PIP2 form please do come back to us here!

You say that your children are also disabled. Did you know that they might be qualify for DLA?

DLA resources

Whether it is for your claim or your children’s if at all possible I strongly advise finding a PIP buddy. Applying for these benefits is not a nice experience since you have to focus on all the problems you / your children have, not all the strengths you also have. If you have someone who you can trust with all sorts of personal information just to be with you and encourage you through the process it will make an enormous difference.

You might also want to see if you can find a local benefits advisor who could help you through this whole maze. With the lifting of Covid restrictions this might be more possible now.

This can be a helpful link in locating someone.

I hope this helps, and please do come back to us if you want!
Catherine