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Mental health issues and transport
- Elaine
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5 years 5 months ago #222025 by Elaine
Mental health issues and transport was created by Elaine
Can anyone advise me what I should do to question my pip mobility not being awarded even though I notified assessor at original interview that I cannot travel on public transport and cannot follow familiar/unfamiliar route without overwhelming psychological distress and always have to have someone with me.doctor sent letter supporting this.esa assessment "due to health",reasons authorized private transport to and from interview.i am in support group ESA and due to send in review .can anyone help
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- Gordon
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5 years 5 months ago #222030 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic Mental health issues and transport
Elaine
The problem with the use of Public Transport is that the legally defined Descriptors make no reference to this, so although it appears in the DWP guidance we regularly see DWP Decision Makers failing to award points for it.
You say you suffer from overwhelming psychological distress, is this when you have to leave your house or can you leave your house without a problem but then have problems when you are out trying to get follow a route?
Gordon
The problem with the use of Public Transport is that the legally defined Descriptors make no reference to this, so although it appears in the DWP guidance we regularly see DWP Decision Makers failing to award points for it.
You say you suffer from overwhelming psychological distress, is this when you have to leave your house or can you leave your house without a problem but then have problems when you are out trying to get follow a route?
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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- Elaine
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5 years 5 months ago #222049 by Elaine
Replied by Elaine on topic Mental health issues and transport
I cannot use public transport and have not done so for over 20 years.being confined with strangers causes me panicked attacks and serious distress,as I have nowhere to escape to.my partner has struggled to keep car on road and has to take me to appointment s and has to always accompany me whenever I have to travel.this causes me overwhelming psychology distress and I'm always in state of panic that something goes wrong.this applies to familiar and unfamiliar journeys and I always need reassuring if roads change or something changes that I am not prepared for and my mind races and my first instinct is to panic.i have missed/reschedule numerous spots.and to make matters worse I diagnosed i.b.s which is a very debilitating condition when public toilets are very rare.i have experienced issues with this.car costs taken from esa
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- Gordon
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5 years 5 months ago #222058 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic Mental health issues and transport
Elaine
I think you need to change the emphasis or your arguments from the Public Transport to the issues you have when following a route, I'm not saying to ignore the PT issue but the Descriptor is about following a route, so talk about this first.
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
I think you need to change the emphasis or your arguments from the Public Transport to the issues you have when following a route, I'm not saying to ignore the PT issue but the Descriptor is about following a route, so talk about this first.
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
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