pip

Hi anne.young.2,
I am in the process of drafting a letter that you can use. Please bear with me.
LL26

Hi anne.young2,
I'm sorry that you are having difficulties renewing your PIP. There has been widespread problems in this respect. Importantly, you have made a new claim, so whatever happens i the meantime, you will eventually get back dated pay when you award is renewed. (I appreciate that you would like ongoing payments, but having the back stop there is a very important starting point!)
I apologise if the rest of my post gets a bit complicated and legalistic, I will try and explain as I go along.
Background Info
Section 10(1) Social Security Act 1998 provides that Sec of State (to which I will abbreviate just to DWP) can supersede any decision including that made by an appeal tribunal. (This is s10(1)(aa) SSA1998. (Supersede basically means to revise a decision.)
Hence there is no reason why your award cannot be treated the same way as solely DWP awards.
Unfortunately I do not know when your award was dated from (this could make a difference.) Nor do I know of your medical conditions. However, you refer to the fact that you are 'currently on full rate at present', to which I assume Enhanced rate on daily living and mobility. This to me suggests that you have significant disabilities, and may well be vulnerable. (ie at risk of neglect or serious illness if you do not have sufficient income). I do not know whether your disability has become worse since the tribunal decision. Perhaps it has?
I propose that you therefore send a letter along the following lines- you will need to amend this, to take into account your exact circumstances, and the to fill in the gaps, which I don't know. Square brackets[ ] indicate the parts that you need to fill in/edit
COMPLAINT
Dear Sirs,
I am writing to complain about the failure to extend my PIP award.
I am a very vulnerable person. I have XXXX disease. [ Explain the serious nature of your illness etc] This causes significant disability such that I was awarded Enhanced Rate of both Daily Living & Mobility on [date]. Your Department has historically failed to accept my serious disabilities and it was necessary for me to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal to receive the correct award.
My award is due to end on 27th September 2021, and although I have put in a timely renewal claim, this is unlikely to be determined until after the expiry date. It is unreasonable that due to your inability to process the review of my claim I should have to go for a period of time without access to PIP funding. I have been told [give details of the call/s and date/s] that my award cannot be extended and [put a quote in eg' I will have to wait my turn'], and it is unlikely that a decision will be made within 6 months.
Due to the delays in carrying out assessments as a result of the Covid Pandemic, other PIP awards are being extended as a matter of routine, and hence claimants can continue to receive their PIP award. DWP have informed me that my award will not be extended I have been informed that this is because there is no power to extend an award made by the Tribunal. This is both misleading, discriminatory, and contrary to law.
Section 10(1)(aa) Social Security Act 1998 clearly provides that the Sec. of State has express power to supersede awards made by the Tribunal. It is therefore not known why I have been [repeatedly] and incorrectly told that my award cannot be extended. A Supersession can be made when there is a relevant change of circumstances that may affect the award. The current circumstances caused by the Corona Virus Pandemic, has caused delays in processing claims and lapses in payments as a result. This is clearly relevant and should be taken into account, by accepting that there are grounds to extend the award in these exceptional times. The lapse in payments will have significant adverse impact upon my many aspects of daily life;
[ number of options here – I have provided various suggestions, as bullet points which can be edited to fit your circumstances - use all that apply – or you can add additional paragraphs that apply]
• I am a very vulnerable individual. My Personal Independence Payment amounts to over £600 per month.
• I will lose SDP payments on my ESA and Housing Benefit. I will therefore be in considerable financial hardship.
• I have considerable outgoings in relation to my disabilities – which are…..
• I will lose my Motability vehicle
• I am at risk of social isolation. I am unable to access public transport, and hence I will be unable to afford taxi fares to enable me to visit friends and family.
• I suffer from [eg anxiety disorder – explain] The thought of losing my Personal Independence Payment money is aggravating my already high levels of anxiety. I am experiencing very negative thoughts as a result, and my GP has now increased my medication. [explain]
• Without my PIP money I will be unable to take proper care of myself.
• Due to not having enough money to cover the additional costs of my disability there is a high risk that a failure to extend my PIP award will result in me having to borrow money / get into debt.
[now continue]
According to the Government Paper entitled ‘Official Statistics - Personal Independence Payment Statics to April 2021’ published in June 2021
“All PIP award reviews and DLA to PIP reassessments which had not yet had an assessment booked were delayed and existing awards due to expire were automatically extended to ensure continuity of financial support.”
The failure to extend my Personal Independence Payment award contradicts previous Government statements, and as a result I have no ‘continuity of financial support’.
In a Parliamentary Question UIN 47371, tabled on 15 May 2020, Justin Tomlinson, Minister of State (Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work) who works within The Department for Work & Pensions, responded on 22 May 2020;

“Since 24 March the Department has been extending awards of PIP due to end from that date onwards, regardless of whether the final decision on the award was made by a Case Manager or a Tribunal.
There were a small number of claimants who had previously been awarded short-term fixed awards with no review who had made subsequent new claims to PIP, where safeguards in the system originally prevented us from extending their previous award. I can however now confirm that we have amended the system to correct this and all claimants whose awards were due to end or due for review from 24th March onwards will have had their benefit extended.”

Given the significant lifelong [explain] and worsening disability that I have, I should continue to receive Personal Independence Payment. The failure to extend my existing claim, or the ‘new’ claim which I was subsequently obliged to make, in order to continue to receive my Personal Independence Payment entitlement will create financial hardship for a considerable time if not redressed. I have been informed that there will be delay due to the requirement of an attending an assessment.
[explain that you were told you required an assessment etc]
This is also incorrect: There is no legal obligation to carry out an Assessment for either new or renewed claims:
The DWP “Personal Independence Payment Assessment guide part1: The Assessment Process” as updated on 17th May 2021 (para1.5.5) provides that a paper-based assessment should be done where
[Then choose whichever of these paragraphs apply/or use all]
• there is strong evidence on which to advise on the case and a consultation is likely to be stressful for the claimant (for example, claimants with autism, cognitive impairment or learning disability)
• the claimant questionnaire indicates a high level of disability, the information is consistent, medically reasonable and there is nothing to suggest over-reporting
• there is sufficient detailed, consistent and medically reasonable information on function.
.
In a DWP Response to Corona Virus published on 22nd June 2020 confirmed

“People who have had to go to tribunal to establish that they are entitled to PIP have already gone through a stressful and difficult process. For some of them, those difficulties have been compounded by DWP’s initial refusal to extend some awards made by tribunal. The Department says that this problem has now been resolved. We encourage Ministers to continue to engage with support organisations to ensure that, in practice, people are not facing difficulties in having their PIP awards extended.”
(para137) publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5801/cms...worpen/178/17809.htm
The comments cited above confirm ‘a stressful and difficult process’ for Tribunal appellants. Yes, this has been ‘compounded’ by the refusal of DWP to extend my Personal Independence Payment award. Contrary to the statement, (which was in bold print in the original) DWP have failed to ensure that there are no such further difficulties.
The failure to extend my Personal Independence Payment will create serious hardship for myself, and put my health at risk. I am a disabled person and have been treated unfavourably in a way that is not ‘a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’ under s15 Equality Act 2010. I am entitled to a ‘reasonable adjustment’ as a disabled person under the Equality Act 2010. Your Department has made no reasonable adjustments to me, and has ignored printed Parliamentary Responses, explaining important safeguards. This amounts to Disability Discrimination.

The failure to extend my Personal Independence Payment award and the continued failure to provide correct information about the law amount to Maladministration.
I would therefore request that my Personal Independence Payment award is extended forthwith in line with existing Government Policy.
I would therefore be grateful if you could confirm the following within 14 days:
1. My Personal Independence Payment award has been extended until an assessment can be carried out and an award is made
2. A paper-based review is carried out
3. Details of appropriate staff training to ensure that all members of staff can give correct legal advice
In the event that the above actions are not complied with, I will be seeking advice from a solicitor with a view to taking legal action in respect of both Discrimination and Maladministration.

Yours faithfully
Signed
[please note you probably won’t need to take legal action, but if you did, visiting a solicitor would be the next thing to do. DWP usually capitulate at this stage. You may get free legal advice or potentially seeing as this is an important point, pro bono advice from specialist legal firms.]
Send to DWP Complaints dept. Send to DWP at the usual address from your letters, but clearly mark this COMPLAINT and probably is best to send recorded delivery.
One final note, if you wish to cut and paste this into Word or similar, the formatting might be different. It was drafted in Word, so the formatting might be better when re-pasted. If not, it might be preferable to paste it without the original formatting, and then replace bullet points etc Maybe try both ways?
I hope this helps.
Good luck!
LL26