HELP WITH PIP TRIBUNAL HEARING

Hi All,

I am an official carer for my mother who has some mental state and health conditions, they are as follows;

Clinical Depression
Anxiety
Learning Difficulties such as Dyslexia and Dyspraxia
Non-specific but sudden bodily pains all over body similar to the Somatic Symptom Disorder (Undiagnosed)

She is also illiterate.

She went to an Atos Healthcare Assessment for her ESA Benefit and after the assessment, we received the revived decision that she is really vulnerable and unfit for work and so therefore she is now in the Support Group which is the highest group in the benefit.

With the aforementioned conditions and difficulties, it has greatly affected her day to day living activities and mobility hence why I am her registered carer (I don't get an allowance) and my sister is her unofficial carer. We together make sure her life is easy as possible.

She was told she would also be eligible for PIP but would have to apply for it and go through another assessment.

We then applied for the PIP and after a long wait, she was given a date for an Atos 'professional' health assessment which was all the way in Bath, though we live in Bristol. But thankfully because i drive, i was able to get drive with my mum there and help her through her journey.

At the assessment, the nurse did not even want to hear me talk even though i told her that i am my mothers carer, she is uneducated and illiterate and has learning difficulties, it would be difficult for her to engage in a conversation in English, she doesn't even feel comfortable talking complex in her own language.

But i manage to answer for my mother as i have taken care of financial and medical side since i was 16 and then became third party and authorised on her behalf when i turned 18, i am now 20.

We though the assessment went good and we won't have anything to worry about, but this was far from the revelation to follow.

We received the assessments notes from Atos along with the decision notice, and the decision was that she is not entitled to the PIP as she only scored 6 points.

To fully understand the decision, i read the assessment notes and found that there were many untrue information recorded and most relevant issues were not even recorded, for example;

The nurse noted that my mother could read and write because i showed her a picture of medication and she answered to what it was and how much she takes it.

This was a complete breach of trust, as it no way did my mother answer to what it was she was looking and how many times she takes it, i showed my mother the picture of her medication to ensure they she was at least aware of what i was showing in case she thought i wasn't representing her fully.

I take care of my mothers medical therapy, i make sure she receives and takes her medication on time as i am her carer but the nurse did not note this down.

So instead of the combined 48 points, 32 in the Daily Living Component and 16 in the Mobility Component.

I asked for a mandatory reconsideration but again, the same decision was given; so now we have applied to the tribunal and its been over 28 days and we are still waiting for a date of hearing.

What can i do?

Do you think from what i mentioned she is entitled to PIP?

Hi
You can read lots of similar strories to yours on this site and successful appeals at tribunal.
The MR is really just a hurdle the government introduced to try to limit appeals and it usually just rubberstamps the original decision.
I hope you have read our guides and make sure you have all your evidence and submissions in to the appeal panel.
We cannot really comment on whether your mum should get an award as we do not look at case paperwork, submissions etc but you should definitely go to the tribunal and consider formal complaints at the inaccuracies in the report.

Can you direct me to those similar stories please.

ash12345 wrote: Can you direct me to those similar stories please.

Hi a12345,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

There is a recent topic : HERE regarding a member's success at an Appeal Tribunal Hearing, their personal experiences, and further information.

Here is a : Recent News Article which indicates that although the success rate for PIP MR's is pretty poor that once the claimant goes on to appeal, the success rate rises to 60% (6 out of 10)

If you look on the front page of the forum boards : Here which lists all the topic titles, then browse through the pages, we tend to indicate a success story with a Red Heart icon !

I know you say that you are have now submitted your appeal, but you may still find some of the following generic information helpful :

You have one month from the date of the PIP Decision Notice letter to make a written request for a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) of the PIP decision.

Sending Documents to the DWP.

You could also ring the PIP Helpline :

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

To request a copy of The PA4 PIP Medical Report compiled by the PIP Assessor at your face to face and sent to The DWP PIP DM to be used when the DM came to their decision.

If you have any problems obtaining The PA4 with a verbal request, you can make a written request which should be done as a separate issue to any MR request :

You can do this using a SAR Form :

SAR Form Download

From this page :

DWP Data Protection Policy

Or you can make the request in the form of a letter, as long as you make it clear that you are making a formal SAR under The Data Protection Act 1998.

Address the envelope : FAO The Data Controller, at the Benefits Office dealing with your PIP.

Write DPA 1998 SAR in front, top, left corner of envelope.

Once received, they have 40 calendar days to comply.

You should not miss your one month deadline if The PA4 has not arrived.

You can make comment that you have requested this and will submit further evidence if applicable when you receive it.

You should be aware that when you request an MR, any current PIP Awards, Daily Living and/or Mobility, that you might have, can be increased, reduced or taken away altogether, as they will look at the whole PIP Awards afresh.

Obviously if you have no current PIP Award, there is no risk involved.

See : PIP MR/Appeals Guidance.

Disability Rights UK Factsheet - Appeals and Mandatory Reconsiderations.

Once you have gone through The MR Process, if you are still unsuccessful, you have one month from the date of The MR Decision Notice Letter to appeal directly to The Tribunal Service. (TS)

You should do this using copy of The MR Notice letter and the : SSCS 1 Form (Download Link)

All this is explained in our PIP Appeals Guidance

In the MR request and any subsequent Appeal you should concentrate on reiterating where and why you should have scored the extra points with respect to the applicable PIP Activities and the appropriate scoring PIP Descriptor for that Activity, whilst cross-referencing to any medical evidence that you have, or may have already provided which indicates that you should have.

You should take into account that the PIP DM is not medically qualified at all, so the easier that you can make it for them to understand the limitations that you suffer as a result of your medical conditions, and how those limitations score you the required points under the appropriate scoring PIP Descriptor for each applicable PIP Activity, the better your chance of success.

Once you have the PA4, you can pose any counter arguments to the PIP Assessors recommendations in The PA4.

e.g. If they are stating that you can carry out a particular PIP Activity, has it been taken into account that to be classed as being able to carry out a PIP Activity, you must be able to do so Reliably and Safely for The Majority of Days

If the Assessor has stated that they witnessed you Walking a set distance have they taken into account the above, the time it took you to do so, and any pain, discomfort and breathless, etc that you may have suffered whilst doing so ? etc, etc, etc !!

Try and keep you counter arguments relevant to The PIP Activities/Descriptors where you would have expected to score points or more points than you were actually awarded.

See also : PIP Self Test

PIP Points Scoring System

&

PIP Claims Guide. (2nd Link down the page)

You might want to Bookmark/Favourite this page in your Internet Browser so that you can return to your topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have.

bro58