New here - help needed with PIP reconsideration

I am appointee for my son who has Autism and related sensory difficulties.He previously received DLA benefit but following a medical assessment has not received enough points to receive PIP.

I have received the assessor report and have some queries with this. On the section relating to cooking a simple meal the assessor details his difficulties and states that he requires supervision as he leaves the gas on and struggles with using knives etc. He has scored no points as she considers he can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided. An OT therapist report states that he is independent and can cook a simple meal. This report however was complied when my son was in a residential specialist school and therefore had full time 1:1 support and supervision at all times. Can I therefore use this argument to challenge the score?

In regard to travelling he scored 4 points and is considered able to complete a journey with prompting. The assessor however has stated several times in her report that he cannot go out of the house alone and struggles with engaging with strangers. On this basis she considers 'it is likely he could complete this activity with prompting'.

He scored 0 points for budgeting however as DWP agreed I can act as his appointee it is clear that he cannot manage his affairs on his own.

There are other conflicting comments which I would like to raise further. Is it worth me requesting a reconsideration?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

Hi andWelcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I am sorry that you and your son are going through this

You can certainly ask for a MR. It is unusual for the new decision maker to do anything other than 'rubber stamp' the original decision - but it happens enough to make it worthwhile. In addition, it is the first step towards appealing.

As your son was not awarded any level of PIP you have nothing to lose.

I suggest that your next step should be to have a look at our PIP guide, especially our comments about the 'going out' descriptor as it is quite difficult to score any more than 4 points on this one.

PIP help for claimants

The guide also talks you through the MR process. I'm not sure whether there is currently a template request letter, if not there is one in the ESA MR resources.

ESA mandatory reconsiderations and appeals

You might want to bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future. That will allow you to return with further questions/comments without having to start a new topic each time. We find it enormously helpful when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one place - and I hope you will too

Well I submitted a long letter requesting a mandatory reconsideration about 6 weeks ago and explained why I didn't agree with the assessor's decision for certain descriptors. Have not heard from them but logged into my bank account today to see that I have received a payment today!

I am so pleased for my son and would like to thank you for the excellent guides and the advice given on this site

I think that gives us grounds to be cautiously optimistic. However, I will save the congratulations for when you have the decision letter!

I have now received the decision letter. They have reconsidered the whole application as I had requested and in my letter I had highlighted the main areas that I disagreed with. The points awarded for daily living have been increased from 4 to 20 meaning he now receives the enhanced rate which he previously wasn't receiving with DLA.

The mobility award has been increased from 4 to 10 points.

I had no further evidence to submit with my reconsideration but just hoped that my letter was enough to show that the assessor had not considered all the previously submitted evidence. I felt that they had made assumptions that because he is high functioning he could manage a lot of tasks without help but his Autism prevents him from doing this. This has been agreed until 2022 so I am very relieved and pleased about this. It will make a big difference to my son's life.