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ZERO points after PIP assessment. Mental Health

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6 years 10 months ago #188927 by Vincent
Hello folks,
My name is Vincent,
For the past 6 years I have been helping my wife Liz who was diagnosed with psychotic
Schizophrenia in 2010/11.
I only claimed the Old DLA after about two years simply because I did not think we could claim it but my wife's support worker at the time helped us through the process and she was awarded higher rate on the caring side and low on the mobility side.
I received notification that my wife had to apply for the new PIPs award in February and last month we went to the face to face assessment. at Wigan .
Today started well but around lunchtime the postmen came and delivered two brown envelopes, yes the result from DWP.
The first envelope told me that my carers allowance would be ending at the end of this month, the second envelope was about the PIPs decision. Yes you might have guessed. My wife was awarded absolutely no points, yes ZERO . Again ending on the 30th of this month.
At the moment I am still in shock and I cannot believe this result.
I looked into all the advice given on this web-site and thought I had made a good job of completing the PIPs form and was reasonably confident.
My wife Liz had for many years been under the care of various mental health organisations within the NHS and indeed had two lengthy stays in the secure units.
However with the medication sorted out my wife was released from their care as there was no foreseeable further improvement and her care passed over to the local GP.
The GP is a lovely man, but for the past two years the only help Liz has had is an Annual review with the Doctor, and Blood tests again annually.
I had kept all my wifes notes and care plans and these were submitted alongside the PIP claim form.
In other words Liz has not been under the care of dedicated Mental Health Support for two years.
I finished worked two years ago to enable me to give more support to Liz, previously I worked for the NHS in community services and I opted for early retirement ( 64 years old now)
Now what I need is help and fast. I know I have to appeal and need to know my best options, obviously this is time critical.
This is a nightmare and I know that Liz cannot go back to the Jobcentre , heavens above she will soon deteriorate.. If she is not ill then why does she have to take medication everyday and be prompted to do it. I could write a book about all the events and trama that we have all been through during the last several years but for the moment this is not the problem. Where and who do I turn to?
As well as the above I am naturally very concerned about our finances as this result will put us in dire circumstances. as we only live in our benefits plus I get a small pension from the NHS and carers allowance.
Regards Vincent, trying to stay calm but very worried at this moment in time

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6 years 10 months ago #188943 by Gordon
Vincent

Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the PIP area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip

You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report if you have not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.

Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;

"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"

than their opinions

"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.

When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: Vincent

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6 years 10 months ago #189163 by Vincent
This is just an update following a call today from DWP.
All the case notes and plans that I sent in to the DWP for my wifes PIP assessment have been disregarded as historical and not evidence of her condition. My wifes care was passed over to our Doctor over two years ago and now consists of a yearly review and blood tests.
She does not see anybody at all now apart from the Doctor.

The DWP did not contact any of my wife's mental health support people she had seen over the past six years which I wrote on the form , nor did they write to the Doctor.

I have now made an urgent appointment to see the Doctor has without his professional prognosis it seems that we are up the proverbial creek. Had I have known this I would have sought his prior to sending the PIPS claim in. It seems my word as a carer and husband is worth nothing.
Still we may have an positive outcome yet, time will tell.
A thank you to Gordon for his last post.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gordon

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6 years 10 months ago #189302 by unBat412Fd
Replied by unBat412Fd on topic ZERO points after PIP assessment. Mental Health
Hello Vincent. I find it shocking that your wife was awarded no points at all. I hope my expereience will give you the courage to appeal and fight them all the way. Last year I got the same result as your wife, a big fat zero. With the help from my support worker (arranged through my doctor) I put in an MR but was still awarded no points. We then asked for a second MR and eventually I went from zero to enhanced on both. Absolutely crazy I know! I believe it's not that common to win at MR stage but I does happen. Wishing you and your wife good luck. Regards PP:)

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