LIBRA1's PIP Queries Topic !!!

libra1 wrote: Thanks bro58

I didn't realise that if I post I was to post only on one thread under my name at all. All my posts have been about PIP and nothing else, although with various questions about the PIP process as I have been going through each stage.

But thanks for the heads up. I will only endeavour to stick to this thread in future and bookmark the page... although the subject heading might not be accurate. It will all be under my name!



Libra

Hey, dont worry about it.

I did the same with my first few posts but now I just keep it to one thread.

Its easier for me to track what info I have gained from a single thread too.

I wish you all the best with your claim. Im waiting to hear back about my PIP f2f assessment. Many are at the moment, they dont seem to be able to handle all the applications.

What a surprise.

No problem Libra. This forum runs quite differently from many others and it can take people a little while to get used to it. The moderators try to reply to every query and it helps us if we can see what has been asked/answered previously. This saves us from duplicating things that you have already been told and means that we can move on to someone else's query. As Boomer says, it also means that you have everything in one place if you wish to refer back to it at any time

I phoned the DWP today to find out if a decision has been made yet. I was told it hasn't but I did find out that ATOS completed the report without a face to face assessment on 29th January 2016, which is when the DWP received it from them. The DWP only received my PIP2 and supporting evidence on 8th January 2016 (three weeks earlier). Is this a record for ATOS? Especially so soon after Christmas.

It is now 3 weeks since the DWP have had the assessor's report. How long do they usually take to consider it and make a decision?

Also, a few days ago I phoned to get a copy of the report but received nothing yet. The call operator only told me they would let the case manager know I wanted a copy.

I am getting really anxious, particularly because ATOS decided so quickly, that maybe it's a refusal.

I know from their guidelines that they only turn you down flat if you don't qualify (no illness/condition in the 3 months prior to applying or you are not limited by it functionally more than 50% of the time). I also know that if your condition is incompatible with the level of impairment you claim then they turn you down flat, too. I just hope my completed PIP2 and the accompanying evidence was enough to show that the illness and impairment claimed were consistent as that's the only reason they don't think it worth calling you in for a face to face and do a paper based assessment.

However, I am also worried that because I am not under mental health services care and haven't been for some years, perhaps that will count against me and my GP and family's evidence was not weighty enough.

Just worrying intensely. Wish it was all over. Although, the longer it goes on, the longer my DLA stays in payment, so there is that. It is a fixed award and is supposed to end in the middle of March (next month).

libra1 wrote: I phoned the DWP today to find out if a decision has been made yet. I was told it hasn't but I did find out that ATOS completed the report without a face to face assessment on 29th January 2016, which is when the DWP received it from them. The DWP only received my PIP2 and supporting evidence on 8th January 2016 (three weeks earlier). Is this a record for ATOS? Especially so soon after Christmas.

It is now 3 weeks since the DWP have had the assessor's report. How long do they usually take to consider it and make a decision?

Also, a few days ago I phoned to get a copy of the report but received nothing yet. The call operator only told me they would let the case manager know I wanted a copy.

I am getting really anxious, particularly because ATOS decided so quickly, that maybe it's a refusal.

I know from their guidelines that they only turn you down flat if you don't qualify (no illness/condition in the 3 months prior to applying or you are not limited by it functionally more than 50% of the time). I also know that if your condition is incompatible with the level of impairment you claim then they turn you down flat, too. I just hope my completed PIP2 and the accompanying evidence was enough to show that the illness and impairment claimed were consistent as that's the only reason they don't think it worth calling you in for a face to face and do a paper based assessment.

However, I am also worried that because I am not under mental health services care and haven't been for some years, perhaps that will count against me and my GP and family's evidence was not weighty enough.

Just worrying intensely. Wish it was all over. Although, the longer it goes on, the longer my DLA stays in payment, so there is that. It is a fixed award and is supposed to end in the middle of March (next month).

Hi l1,

It used to average 2-4 weeks for a decision !

I can only refer you back to Here in confirming that the system has been slowing down since the New Year !!

The only thing that I can advise is to ring The PIP Helpline for an update :

PIP helpline :
Telephone: 0345 850 3322
Textphone: 0345 601 6677
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

In the mean time, try to stop worrying and please do keep us updated !!!

bro58

Hello All,

Well I got a copy of the PA3 Review Report Form completed by Atos Healthcare, which was done without a f2f assessment, that I requested earlier this week. A decision from the DM at the DWP is still to be actioned.

Pretty much consistent with information provided in my PIP2 and the medical evidence from my GP, it looks like the assessor has given me 11 points for Daily Living and 4 points for Mobility:-

1. Preparing food - needs prompting - 2 pts
2. Taking nutrition - can take nutrition unaided - 0 pts
3. Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition - needs supervision, prompting or assistance to manage medication or monitor a health condition - 1 pt.
4. Washing and bathing - needs supervision or prompting - 2 pts
5. Managing toilet needs - can mange toilet needs unaided - 0 pts
6. Dressing and undressing - needs prompting - 2 pts
7. Communicating verbally - can do so unaided - 0 pts
8. Reading and understanding - can do so unaided - 0pts
9. Engaging with others face to face - needs prompting - 2pts
10.Making budgeting decisions - needs prompting or assistance to make complex budgeting decisions - 2 pts
11.Planning and following journeys - needs prompting - 4pts
12.Moving around - can do so unaided - 0pts

Everything I got 0pts for, I did not indicate any difficulty with except taking nutrition.

I gave detail of having no appetite in acute and less severe phases of my fluctuating mental health condition and there was evidence from my GP that I did not eat. However, I also mentioned that as a result of the side effects of my heavy dose of anti-psychotic medication, there would be binge eating on takeaways or unhealthy foods periodically and so my body weight has yo-yo'd since I was diagnosed and medicated. The assessor has reasoned that this is a result of the symptoms of the depressive phases rather than the medication. I don't think I was very clear in my PIP2 form that it is my meds rather than the depression causing the bingeing. That is perhaps because what I describe is myself in acute and moderate phases when it fluctuates from no appetite and not eating at all to intense bingeing and I can see why it can be attributed to the mood state, although a marked side effect of olanzapine (my anti-psychotic) is appetite increase and weight gain. I really don't know how to tackle addressing this. Had I not mentioned the bingeing because of the meds, there was medical evidence that I have no motivation to eat in severe depression and would need encouragement to eat at all.

With 11 pts, I am just shy of getting the 12 pts for the enhanced rate of PIP should the DWP DM adopt the ATOS assessor's report findings. The points attributed to needing prompting which I expected to get for taking nutrition is 4 pts, which would take me up to 15 pts.

I don't know if I should seek an MR on this or not. I know that I can get a letter from my GP to evidence acute weight loss over the spring and summer last year because of a severe depressive episode because when he saw me and weighed me he was stunned I had lost a stone and a half in so short a time. As he increased medication in the autumn, however, my weight yo-yo'd again because of the higher dose and appetite increase as a side effect. I'm at a loss, because the assessor has decided the depression contributes to the bingeing rather than the meds.

I only received the requisite 4pts for mobility which all mental health claimants for PIP tend to get as par for the course.

I also wish that monitoring a health condition like my bipolar disorder attracted more than the pointless 1 pt. It should be worth more because it is what takes up the bulk of the care from family and my GP. The vigilance and scrutiny I am under monitoring mood states and adjusting meds takes up the bulk of supervision and assistance I get beyond the other activities. When I was sectioned, the nurse used to make me open my mouth to make sure the tablet wasn't hidden under my tongue. My sister does this often, as does my daughter - out of fear that by stopping my meds, I can accelerate into a manic or psychotic state. It happened before - feeling I was well and hating the side effects - and stopping the meds and not telling them. Of course, I went high and lost touch with reality and they realised what I'd done. So, now, if I am in any kind of ebullient confident state, they are on me like white rice! It's humiliating for me and them.

The assessor has also recommended reviewing any award in 2 years. Does that mean that if the DWP DM adopts the assessor's suggestion that the award would be for 3 years, ie. 1 year more to accommodate a reassessment? Or, does it mean a 2 year award with a review after the 1st year?

Anyway, I have yet to get a formal DWP DM decision so I don't know if I will get the award or not. And, even if I did, I don't know if I have the stamina to MR it based on the taking nutrition activity. After all, I could lose it all too.

I am SO GRATEFUL I have not been put through a f2f assessment! I am mostly just so PLEASED and RELIEVED that I am BELIEVED. Half of the hell of this process is that you feel as though you are assumed to be a liar unless you can prove otherwise. The awfulness of invisible illnesses like bipolar disorder is that you hide your illness. No-one other than very close friends and family knows I have it. I cannot disclose it because of the stigma. I am brilliant at pretending I am ok when I am in deep hell and when in acute illness, I cocoon and disappear from the world. I wish I could just be open about it and not fear scrutiny and judgement. I wish. I just know from bitter experience that it is best kept to myself. The other day a new acquaintance happened to mention what a nutcase and nightmare her ex-boyfriend was who was bipolar. She thinks the world of me and has no idea I have it. I don't know if I will ever enlighten her. I doubt it. I got a pretty picture of what she might think if she knew. Don't want to be seen as 'the bipolar'. I want to be seen as me.

Hello bro58, Gordon et al.,

On reflection, looking at what I wrote on my PIP2 form about taking nutrition, it is not clear that I attribute binge eating to the side effects of my meds alone. I also make reference to doing so in moderate depressive phases. The assessor reports quite accurately that I do have phases of no appetite but can veer in such mood states to bingeing. The assessor also says that I give no physical indication of having any difficulty with taking nutrition and so from my confusing answer has concluded that whilst I am not mentally motivated to eat in severe depression, I do binge at other times and have no physical difficulty doing so. That is why I am awarded 0 pts as it is taken that I can take nutrition unaided. Not worth an MR?

Basically, it is a miracle that the report is accurate on a paper based review alone and from ATOS (having heard such horror stories). I put this down to my addressing the criteria properly in my PIP2 (with thanks to your guides and other guidance elsewhere) but mostly I avoided having a f2f because the medical evidence the assessor relied on from my GP was sufficiently corroborative.

All that remains is that the PIP Case Manager at the DWP agrees with the Assessor's recommendations.

Now more anxiety - in case I am one of those rare cases where points are taken away by the decision maker awarded by the assessment provider.

Hope I am lucky and it goes through without a hitch.

It is a drop in income, though. From high rate care low rate mobility DLA to standard daily living rate PIP - £200 per month gone! Not to mention how it affects passported benefits I get.

If the decision is made to give me an award, I am now an example of someone with mental health disability who got through (but lost out as was intended to cut the benefit bill) without a f2f on GP medical evidence alone (no CMHT or Pdoc) in the DLA to PIP journey. I've googled like crazy to find one of those all these months wondering about my chances!