Asking for mandatory reconsideration for mobility

Hi everyone, first of all, thank you very much to those who helped in the past. I have received my PIP award notice and have been given enhanced rate for daily living and standard rate for mobility.

I have called to request a mandatory reconsideration for the mobility part, and told them I was going to send information in.

For my application and face to face I made sure I was really clear that every day I have 4-6 hours where I have to be lying down due to having POTS. I also made it clear that while I can walk, I experience chest pain, air hunger, dizziness and migraines after doing so. I will always need to lie down to recover from any standing, let alone walking. I also made it clear that my symptoms begin as soon as I stand up (my HR increases when upright, from 60 lying down to 110bpm standing which is when the symptoms kick in) so I fall into the category of 0 metres. The letter said that they have decided I can walk 20 but no more than 50m. I'm so angry about this. My condition means that if they say I can walk no more than 50, they are saying that that's when it becomes too much for me...however there is absolutely no reason why my POTS would only kick in after a certain distance, it is being upright! UGH!

I have received the copy of my face to face report, by request, and she documented everything I said well, however at the end observations part she said I walked the 15m to the room fine, no breathlessness or dizziness seen, did not go slower. I am really annoyed by this as I was severely tight chested that day, I sat with my feet up on the chair in the waiting room to help reduce this, I then requested a chair for my feet in the assessment room. She didn't look at me while we were walking, she walked really fast round the corner and when we got in the room my husband immediately asked for the chair for my feet which she left the room to get. She didn't seem to observe me at all. Also, I do not pant like a dog when breathless, I get air hunger which is the feeling of suffocating, no matter how deep a breath I take, so I will take big deep breaths...maybe she was expecting panting?

So what do I focus on here? These are my thoughts but please correct me if I'm wrong -

1. Highlight the information already provided - That I cannot walk any distance without dizziness, breathlessness, exhaustion, headache, ringing ears, loss of peripheral vision etc. That POTS is a condition that is symptomatic as soon as I am upright, be that sitting upright on a chair, standing or walking, and therefore there is no logic behind the statement that I can walk 20 metres but not 50.

2. Explain that at the assessment I walked the 15m to the room and immediately put my feet up to recover from the lack of blood flow to my head and lungs (the request for a chair for my feet is, thankfully, noted in my report). That I did have strong chest pain, air hunger (explain that this looks different than panting) and that I do not show dizziness outwardly as I have had the condition for over 16 years and have learned to hide the dizziness. I can also note the reason I hold my husband's hand (noted in the report) is to make the dizziness easier to cope with.

3. Include a letter from my best friend stating that I do indeed have to stay in bed for a few hours each morning before I am able to walk, that I am always symptomatic when walking and that she takes breaks with me to sit if we go anywhere, and that after activity I must rest for several hours due to the lasting chest pain/air hunger, headache and fatigue.

4. I know I read this somewhere official, so I will reference the fact that if on a day I am unable to carry out a task for a significant period of time, that it counts as not being able to do that task for that day. That if these days are more than 50% then I should be considered as not able to carry out that task and therefore fit into the 0m category.

5. And that the guidance states that I must be able to do this to an acceptable standard, which my symptoms mean I cannot, safely, which I cannot always do hence lying down for large portions of the day, repeatedly, which I cannot do without an unreasonable amount of rest inbetween or with several days of suffering afterwards if I push myself to repeat the walk.

Do you think this is enough? Is there any more evidence I can provide?

They actually gave me nothing for the fact I can't use public transport due to my ASD (which the nurse who did my face to face was very understanding of and documented well) but I feel like I have the most trouble with the physical symptoms of walking, and not enough good evidence for that part, so I am going to focus on that. I gave them a month of daily activity and symptoms journal, one entry covered when I had to get a train home from a city further away, in an emergency, on my own. It outlined how I got lost, had a meltdown and cried on the platform, had to get someone else to buy my tickets and had to get help following the signs because I was so stressed I couldn't read. I fear they have taken that part and decided I CAN take public transport because of it. I don't know if I should fight that part or not. I'm so sick of this, it's taking a toll on my health even though I've tried so hard to not let it.

Any help appreciated, I really don't want to go to tribunal.

Remember when you are writing your MR that the DWP guidance and the legislation/law are two different things- the guidance is just that ( eg about public transport or things that are termed 'may apply to claimants with xxx').

Can you clarify for me please?

Thanks!

Hi Rachel Sorry your going through all this as we are to. Its exhausting and very challenging. Because I am doing a mandatory reconsideration for PIP re mobility I have remembered to come back onto the Benefit and work website and use the guides. So much changes in law and cases being won. My advice would be to spend a bit of time going through the helpful guides on here and re-look at the descriptors and how the dwp decision makers award the points, and then look at the difficulties with your illnesses/disabilities re daily life and mobility and where you feel the extra points should be awarded. .... I know on some of our information I need to expand on why my partner has difficulties during the day with his daily living tasks and mobility and unable to do this in a safe and timely manner or repeat and as much or as often as he would like to.

All the very Best.

Meg