PIP home visit appointment

Hi Gordon & sickand tired

For the sake of completeness and to keep everyone informed, I have received the outcome of my PIP Assessment, which finally was completed. Despite my protestations, I did have to go through the 2nd f2f, for reasons that only emerged afterwards, touched on by Gordon.
In particular, insufficient information from the 1st f2f to make an acceptable recommendation to the DWP.
But, having come out through the other side as it were, I am pleased to let you know I was eventually successful in being transferred from DLA to PIP, mercifully without any Appeal process, which I don't think I could have faced again. My thanks for your Guides, the extra personal practical help & emotional support supplied by the forum, sincerely hoping that sickandtired also got a good result as well!

Hi Running-on-mt,
So pleased for you that your PIP was settled in the end, but how awful that you had to go through the horrible f2f process again. Hope you got a long award.
I am half wishing I could have had a second f2f though, as mine was so inaccurate and misleading, I was awarded zilch (going from HRC & HRM DLA) on the HP's descriptors and the DM just cut and pasted from his whacky descriptor justifications, so no PIP for me. The HP didn't even do an examination - and I have leg weakness and had just had a knee operation so you'd think an examination would have been most appropriate, but the DM didn't weigh that up, just kept repeating: "there is no evidence of a physical examination"... as if that somehow goes against me, it's bizarre.
Also, I sent in 31 items of medical evidence, including a photo of muscle wasting in my leg and a diary for my M.E./Fibro and many medical reports which I reference within the PIP2 form, yet only 5 reports were used in the assessment! Diary, photo, crucial reports, all missing. I had put all the necessary name and NiNo info on them and attached them to the form with staples AND treasury tags but they still managed to go missing - what more can you do??
So I have brought this all up (and more) in my MR and am now waiting to hear.
Meantime I am compiling a complaint to Atos, IAS or whoever.
I will keep you posted as to the outcome.
Best wishes to all, and thanks again for this brilliant website and forum, such a help.
PS: so funny and yet so alarming - the HP put in his report that my Fibromyalgia was diagnosed by a Numerologist! Priceless, eh? It beggars belief!

Hi sickandtired,

Sorry it has taken longer than I wanted, to send a reply. I was left horrified to read of your case, and the nightmare you must be in, and you have my sympathy. I've had to consider long and hard therefore what I could say in response.

Though powerless to help, what I thought I might suggest, without knowing the stage you've now reached, is to lodge an Appeal, if you can, pointing out the shortcomings.

Then, and this is what a friend of mine in a similar situation did, when her condition was denied, and had no award as a result in moving from DLA to PIP. From what I can gather, she immediately got in touch with her GP, who knowing her condition was real, must have then got in contact with DWP, who very quickly reversed their decision and her transfer to PIP was thereupon enabled. If that could only happen for you, as well.
If not too late to Appeal, you should still go ahead applying, even if your GP or Specialist is sympathetic, because there may be a time element - and if any friends, who know you well, could contribute a letter of Support for you, describing how badly affected you are in day-to-day living, this will all help.

Another hint would be, if you can, to try to devote more time to describe how your illness affects you in life rather than going into all the details, which is where the points are scored. For example, you could get 2 people with the same illness, but how they deal with things in life may be different, and if one copes less, that one will score more in the Assessment. Easy for me to say in retrospect I know, but doesn't take away how stressful it can be, as I well know myself.

Hoping this will give some ideas how best to take your case forward, and that all will go well for you.

NB I also heard of someone else whose illness was recorded in a similar 'laughable' way to 'Numerologist', if it wasn't so serious. In this instance, best to avoid technical terms, describing in a way that may be easiest to understand by a lay person, and rather to concentrate more on how you are being affected in life by your illness and conditions.

Thanking you as well for sending your congratulations & best wishes!

Thanks for your response, Running-on-mt, and thanks for your advice, yes if I were to fill in a PIP form again I certainly would put in a lot more information about everyday activities not covered by descriptors - I usually do but had just had a knee op when doing the form so I was not fully with it as it made my M.E. much worse for months.
I have just sent in a MR request, along with copies of all the original reports which had gone missing and some new ones too, including an ESA85a (from the same week as my PIP f2f) which states I am unable to mobilize 50m in a reasonable time scale, so surely they should at least award standard rate mobility? It'll be interesting to see and I will keep you informed! All the best.

Hi sickand tired,
Sorry again not to be able to respond immediately, as like you, am not always able to sit down to a reply due to my problems. However, you certainly highlighted in a kind way the dangers of seeming to give advice, when I'm no professional, and so I should have implied that I can only speak from experience. And PIP Assessments can seem to vary with area & provider, so I should be careful not to appear to speak across the board, which would be wrong of me.
So, with that in mind, the only avenue remaining I can safely say to try, would be to check with your GP whether s/he could back you by writing a supporting letter, as experienced by the friend of mine mentioned in my previous post, which had the power to overturn the decision made. Thereafter, at least in her case, it was simply sorted that way & transfer from DLA to PIP was successful with no more fuss, which would be nice to see for you as well.
Though, I can perfectly understand it when you can't always feel like dealing with forms, and in my case always had to ask for an extension of time, because it was was so hard for me to meet the deadlines.
But with all your replies, it's been always very nice of you to send your best wishes every time for my success, even though you are still going through the ordeal yourself! I appreciate it all the more, as in sharp contrast to a 'friend', who seemed to support me every step of the way when I had to face an Appeal when it was for DLA, but once awarded, would no longer speak to me after she was turned down following her own, but unfortunately, unsuccessful Appeal. And from that day to this always looks the other way and avoids me if there is a danger of bumping into each other.
So, certainly, you deserve every success to come your way!
With many thanks again for your support!