PIP Appeal for ASD & ADHD

Hi Frangipane

Welcome to the forum. You can find information on how to navigate the site here, along with useful information. www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/faq/general

I am sorry that you find yourselves in this position. IAS certainly did play dirty tricks - but a complaint probably won't get you anywhere.

In order to put in an Appeal - you have to do so within one month of the date on the decision letter. This may sound scary - but you don't have to submit the information all at once - and you can continue to do so up to three weeks before the Tribunal is heard.

Your second option as far as the appeal is concerned, is to send in a late submission - which you can do up to 13 months. However, you have to give a reason for the late submission which they can turn down. However, it's easy to argue that you are unwell and your son cannot do this alone and so it has taken you longer to make the decision.

Another option is for you to start the Appeal process and then take the time to look at our guides and see whether an appeal is the right thing or whether your son would be better off putting in a new application for PIP. In which case you would just withdraw the appeal.

Obviously, I know nothing about your son or the quality of the advice you received from the local charity, but I am pretty certain that sending in his ADHD assessment formulation report as a standalone piece of evidence would have made no difference to the DWP's decision. The person reading that report would not be medically trained, and without linking what the report said to the specific PIP criteria, their eyes would have glazed over, and the chances are they would have ignored it.

Similarly -I suspect the DSA assessment report may not have been understood or they didn't see the relevance to the PIP criteria.

You should ring the DWP and ask for a copy of the assessment report. That's a PA4 - though as he didn't appear to have a proper assessment - they may say one doesn't exist. If they made a paper-based decision, then it's a PA5. If you can get hold of a report - this should give more details on why he was awarded zero points.

You should also look at our Guide to PIP claims and reviews. It is a large document, but it goes through every question, giving examples of the sorts of answers the DWP are looking for. Although your son had help to fill out the original application - you need to check whether the right type of information was given. It's very easy to assume that the reader should have some knowledge of ASD and ADHD, but they might never have come across it. If, after looking at this document, you feel that he/you could do a better job of filling out the form - you might want to cancel the Appeal and put in a new application for PIP using our guides to help you.

Your other option is just to forget about the appeal and start off a new application. As the score was zero - you could put in for this when you're ready. Bear in mind they will know that he has applied before - but that doesn't matter. It will give you more time to make sure that your son fully understands the process.

I'm sorry this is a long post. Let me just summarise your choices.

1. Put in an Appeal within one month of the decision date.
2. Put in a late appeal - up to 13 months.
3. Put in an appeal - look at the guides and withdraw the appeal.
4. Put in for a new application for PIP.

Obviously, putting in a new application may seem a more stressful option, but sometimes it may in the long term be a better option, making sure that any additional information is tied to the specific PIP criteria. Remember - PIP don't care if he needs academic support - because it's not part of the PIP criteria. If he's having trouble reading, communicating, managing money, or going out etc they are interested. And yes, I know reading and communicating can be part of his academic support needs - but it's just the way it's worded on the PIP application.

Come back and ask if you have any further questions and we will try and help.

BIS