Hi PIP declined and have Bipolar

Hi Paul

As you are aware 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.

I would not assume that you cannot win at the MR stage. It can be hard but you want to try rather than have to wait for nearly a year for an appeal.

BIS

Hi Paul

Ring and ask for a copy of the assessment report. At the same time you could tell them you are putting in for a Mandatory Reconsideration.

Then write immediately confirming your conversation saying that you want the assessment report and you are putting in for an MR. (and keep a copy).

You'll find it easier to fight once you have their reasoning. I suspect you will get things like: showed no signs of distress, presented well, made eye contact and communicated well!

Have you got any medical evidence? - if you did you should use it again to highlight your difficulties.

Apart from any medical evidence - I don't know if you have a friend or relative who wrote or could write a statement, who knows your difficulties against the PiP criteria. If you didn't do this originally you should add it as additional evidence in your MR submission.

BIS