PIP appeal

Can anyone help me I had my pip medical assessment and have now had results I have been awarded 0 points on everything, I was on high rate dla for moblity and care which had now been stopped. I have the asessor's report which frankly is not true she has mentioned several things which did not happen i.e. I walked unaided from the assessment when in fact I was aided by my partner and I have normal mobility in lower limbs when the truth is I could not lift my legs when she asked and I could get in and out of a chair unaided, I could not! she repeated these facts several times in the report even in cases when they were not relevant. I now have applied to go to a tribunal but wonder how I should proceed I feel I have been called a liar and there has been total disregard to the level of pain I am in which I was never asked about, I suffer from Fibromyalgia which I have had for at least 30 years and was told by the DWP I can walk 200 metres and I am in no pain!! how can they get away with saying this?

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

Welcome to Benefits and Work

Have you been through the Mandatory Reconsideration yet? You must go through this before you can appeal, even though the MR's do not often change the original decision.

You have one month, from the date on the decision letter, in which to submit your MR request to DWP. It is good that you have a copy of the assessor's report but do not fall into the trap of arguing with every word you feel is wrong.

You will only be re-awarded PIP by clearly showing how/why you score points against the specific descriptors - these, and the MR process, are clearly explained in our PIP guide

PIP help for claimants

May I suggest that you bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future? This will allow you to return with further questions or comments about your ESA without having to start a new topic each time. We ask members to keep everything relating to the same claim in one topic as it helps us enormously - and I hope you will find it useful too

Hi Claire.
it is very easy to feel angry when things are "miss reported". Don't get hung up on the HP's report.
You and your partner are the best people to know how your condition affects the things you can do. Sometimes we don't always convey this when filling in forms and we are predisposed to please people by nature. Often, when living with limitations for a long time, we find ways to to cope and compensate which others don't see. Stay strong, you may have to fight for what you need as the system is not perfect, but this excellent site will help you.

yes i have been through mandatory reconsideration they sent me a letter saying they based their decision on the assessors report and said they had no reason to doubt her findings I asked them to wait for a letter from my gp but the didn't wait when they said they would.

P.s I am not claiming esa.

Oh Claire, I do feel for you and this doesn't bode well for my own situation. I too have Fibromyalgia along with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Sjogren's disease, Polyosteoarthritis, Cervical Spondylosis and many other things a lot of which cause pain. While I have been awarded the enhanced rate for daily living, I've been downgraded from the enhanced rate I had on DLA for my mobility to only the standard rate. So, farewell car and little bit of independence I had left.

My husband rang the DWP to request a copy of my assessment and it arrived in ultra speedy time of only 3 days. When reading through it, (for me it took several reads to take it all in correctly), the number of, shall we say, errors by the HP, are unbelievable but the inaccuracies in the Decision Makers letter are even more unbelievable! But I've been wisely advised to only focus on the things I think I should have scored more on when doing my Mandatory Reconsideration stuff. I shall just bite my tongue about the rest of it unless I am forced to go to a tribunal for an appeal if the MR isn't successful.

My husband has spoken to a person at D.I.A.L. on my behalf this afternoon and while he's been helpful and sent us a template letter, he did point out that 99% of people who go for a Mandatory Reconsideration do not get their award changed,,,,,,,can only keep my arthritic fingers crossed and hope for the best.

I really do hope you're successful at getting your award reinstated and at the correct level for you, I know how stressful this is for us all, and I expect that you're fibro flare up has gone into overdrive over all this, coz I know mine has lol

Good luck.