Withdrawing PIP

Hi JenBiddy40

The DWP rarely contacts the DVLA. I have known them to do it to three people. 1. The claimant said the DWP didn't take their physical disability seriously, and their physical limitations were extreme. This was during the Mandatory Reconsideration, and the DWP wrote to the DVLA and said, 'If the claimant was as physically disabled as they were claiming, then they were not fit to drive. They subsequently lost their licence. They also didn't win their Mandatory Reconsideration. " 2. The second claimant had serious mental health difficulties and the assessor was seriously worried that they were a danger to themselves and others, and this was based on what they said at the assessment. Again, DVLA took away the licence. The family were relieved because they didn't want the claimant to drive, but hadn't been able to stop them. 3. The third claimant had a dementia diagnosis and again the assessor was very worried about them during the assessment and rightly reported them. The claimant was cross, but the family were not. But this is not something that happens often, and there are plenty of people with all sorts of conditions who drive - and the DWP knows that. There is no perfect answer and it's even hard to tell you what to say, because different assessors address the issue in different ways (and some don't even mention it).

The one tip I would say is don't try to 'over explain' in your wish to tell the truth. Eg don't give more information than you are asked for because assessors can easily trip people up when they do that, even when they don't mean to. What you said about your driving is fine, and you don't have to justify the impact to the assessor. If asked about it, simply repeat what you wrote on your form. If something has got worse, that's fine and say so. Just try not to overthink it.

BIS

Hi JenBiddy40

You have to do what feels right for you, and yes, you can withdraw your application by ringing them and saying you don't want to proceed. However, here is the issue: your papers will stay on file for the next six years, and when you apply again, they will know that you applied before, and it is possible someone will even read the previous papers. So even if you don't mention driving, most people are asked whether they drive and, if so, how often.

I don't think I understand why you think they will report you to the DVLA and try to get your licence removed. This is such a rare thing, and from what you have said, there is nothing that would make an assessor do that. There are thousands of claimants who fill in their forms with information that is correct at the time of submission, but by the time they are assessed, their condition has deteriorated, and their needs are even greater. Assessors know that, and honestly, they don't have time to dig into that. I was on a call with someone recently and they had been able to walk 50 metres when they filled in the form, but now they can only walk about ten. When they were asked about their mobility, they said their condition had grown worse, and that was accepted. There was not suggestion that perhaps she was trying to deceive anyone or had said something that was inaccurate.

I know you're worried that you didn't fill in the form accurately - but you did your best at the time, and if you made a mistake or didn't explain yourself as clearly as you would have liked, you have the opportunity to put that right in the assessment. Someone might say they drive 3 days a week, but spread over a year, there may be days when they don't drive because of illness and if they added it up it turned out to in reality be only 2 days or they could have had a family emergency spread over several months and it might average 3 1/2 days. In either case, they just said what they thought to be true at the time. Even if it could be proved their answer wasn't 100% accurate (which no one could) - it's not something that would count against them. If someone said I was driving 3 days a week, but now I only drive on average two days a month, an assessor is not going to think that was odd.

As I said, you have to do what feels right for you, and if you want to withdraw, you should do so. Just remember the DWP will know that you have applied before when you put in a new application.

BIS