Mandatory reconsideration notice

A few days ago we received the dreaded brown envelope containing the pip decision. We are about to submit a Mandatory Reconsideration Notice as the decision we received was unbelievable,despite having given a full and accurate account in our claim and providing additional informational in support of it. I am too upset and angry to go into detail, having read the lies and misinterpretation in the decision, but have a simple question to ask. Does the Mandatory reconsideration have to be hand written or can it be typed? I hope you don’t think this is a silly question to ask but I just wanted to be sure, as my daughter has offered to type it for us.

Hi San,

I'm sorry the PIP decision was not what you hoped - was it refused completely?

The MR request can be handwritten or typed, whichever you prefer. The PIP guide explains the process and also has a sample request letter.

Do you have a copy of the assessor's report? If not, it is worth getting hold of one, DWP usually send them out on request.

If the report has not arrived in time, don't delay in getting the MR request submitted. If you tell DWP that you will be sending more information, they should allow you some extra time.

Please don't get too involved with arguing against the assessor's report. You will only be awarded PIP by showing exactly how/why you meet the specific descriptors.

May I suggest that you bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future? This will allow you to return with further questions or comments about your PIP without having to start a new topic each time. We ask members to keep everything relating to the same claim in one topic as it helps us enormously - and I hope you will find it useful too

We were awarded standard rate care but nothing for motability, which having had motability indefinitely for DLA for over 18/years it astounds me. Arthritis pain gets worse not better.

I will give you a brief idea, if I can, of my husbands disabilities which he has had for almost 20 years.

He was 69 yrs in July so just missed out on the April cut off date. He had a back injury whilst working on the face at a colliery when he was in his late 20s and he had 18 months off work, which resulted in a major back operation. He has had major surgery on both shoulders (rotator cuff repair). 2 attempts on both shoulders. He has had operations on both elbows, again 2 attempts at both. He has had total knee replacement to the right knee. Operation for reflux, which a couple of years ago started giving him trouble so had to be referred again. He has problems in his neck ie 2 large cysts on the spine, which gives him severe pain and neck spasms. He now has arthritis throughout his whole spine and up into the neck area. He has arthritis in both shoulders and both arms and arthritis in the left knee. The strength in his shoulders/arms is very poor and movement is restricted. He walks on two callipers and due to the neck problem he has to wear a collar fairly often for support. His reflux problem is so bad that when eating he has blockages which usually result in him having to regurgitate his food, which is not pleasant be any means. The consultant has said there is nothing more they can do for this problem. He was told by a consultant surgeon that his body was not built for physical work!! He is just over 6ft 2ins so not a small chap. The arthritis in his body is quite widespread as you can imagine and he is in constant pain. He takes a high does of painkillers including morphine and tramadol, amongst others. He also suffers from high blood pressure. Whilst they have awarded standard care, they have failed to include that he forgets to take his meds regularly or what time he took them. He has problems taking nutrition due to the reflux ( which was discussed in depth with the lady that came out to our home, as she had had the same operation and had similar experiences. They awarded points for using aids to bathe, but made no mention that on a bad days, which are quite frequent, that he needs assistance to wash and also assistance in/out of the bath. Again awarded points for aids for dressing/undressing but made no mention that he needs assistance getting dresssed with upper and lower garments.

Mobility award was nothing. He can walk up to 20 metres on his callipers but is in constant chronic pain. The lady asked him to stand, which he did with the help of his callipers, she asked him to bend but he declined due to pain. She asked him to grip her index finger, then to pinch them. She then asked him to walk approx 2 metres again with callipers and that was it. (It would appear she noted that “he had walked at a slow pace on callipers having received medication for high levels of pain[“/b])She asked if he drove, for which he said occasionally, depending how his day was. Asked if he drove a manual car. He answered yes because as we had to have a larger vehicle ie Nissan Xtrail it was too expensive for the automatic model, however we would definitely be looking at auto in the future. He was asked that if it was a good day what might he do. He said go to the supermarket with wife or daughter but sometimes he would have to go back to the car. He also said that sometimes he would just use 1 calliper and hold onto the trolley for stability, depending how he felt. She also said if you were going on a long journey how would you plan it. My husband replied we don’t go on long journeys anymore but they use Satnavs now don’t they! On that note they have said he drives a manual car, goes to the supermarket and therefore he can stand and walk 50 metres but not more than 200 metres. He can use a satnav to plan a journey as there are no signs of cognitive impairment. So they have just taken things out of context and used them against him. She had put that he held his hands above his head! This was a total lie. I have tried to give you some idea of how thing went but it is not easy.

How on earth do they arrive at that he can walk 50 metres but no more than 200metres when the health professional has stated that he walks with the aid of callipers at a slow pace with medication for high levels of pain!!!

There are 2 paras within their decision which I do not fully understand as they do not appear to make sense. Perhaps you may be able to assist.

“You said you have difficulty taking nutrition, managing therapy or monitoring health condition, engaging with other people face to face and making budgeting decisions. However your examination showed adequate grip and pinch” ???????

“There is no evidence to support a cognitive impairment and you were able to follow the process of the assessment. During the assessment you displayed appropriate interaction verbally and non verbally with good eye contact and have no mental issues input of medication”???

Do you understand them at all?

I was there to support my husband, when he wasn’t sure of something. We’ve had sent in lots of documentation ie letters from consultants, copies of all medication, confirmation of surgeries etc and we offered the health professional to look at scans and X-rays but she refused.

The medication causes the impairment and we clearly outlined this in our claim. My husband did not say either in his claim or to the HP that he had difficulties with people face to face or with budgeting. He said that he has never done the budgeting and wouldn’t know where to start as my wife did it, now our daughter helps us. Just because my husband showed interaction verbally and non verbally with good eye contact, doesn’t mean he has not got short term memory loss either.

We do not have a copy of the report but in my Mandatory Reconsideration I have asked for it. I didn’t want to wait round for it , I wanted to send th

Obviously there was a lot more to our claim but hope you have some idea of what we are up against

I have not got a copy of the report but I have requested one in The Mandatory Reconsideration letter. I didn’t want to wait for it as I have spent some time on the MR so I want to send it of ASAP.

Thank you for your reply Gordon.

I believe that there was no attention to detail when putting together the decision. The two paragraphs I mention make this clear. It really was badly written and if the claimant cannot understand parts of it , it is unacceptable.

When submitting our claim we put together a detailed account of my husbands health and provided quite a lot of additional supporting information . My husbands arthritis is severe, the type of medication he is taking supports this. Also the arthritis is only a part of what my husband has to contend with on a daily basis and again we outlined all of this but within the decision it makes no reference to any of this.

I am frustrated, angry and disappointed. It seems to me that if you say what you might do on those few good days you might experience, they jump on this and clearly base their decision on it.

I must stop writing as I am getting upset and this certainly doesn’t help the cause.

I am delighted to write that after appealing against my husbands pip award, firstly through Mandatory Reconsideration, which increased the Mobility points from 0 to 10, we were still unhappy with the decision as my husband has considerable mobility problems, We then went on to Appeal. Today, before even going to the appeal tribunal, we received a telephone call from DWP to say they have reconsidered their decision and awarded the Enhanced Mobility Payment ie 12 points and we no longer need to attend the appeal. I would like to thank everyone for their help/advice. We are delighted. Just goes to show perseverance pays off. Again many thanks