So scared don’t know if it should give up

Hi Graham

The money is usually paid from the decision letter (which I know you haven't received yet - but I can't see from your posts whether this is a new claim or a review. That's why I remarked earlier - don't make assumptions about your award until you receive the letter.

BIS

Hi Graham

I have had a quick look through your posts, I would not say that you are a failure, infact the opposite is true, you have done very well to get the standrd rate for both the daily living and mobility.

I noticed in your posts that you were advised to get a copy of the assessors report (PA4), have you done this, if you have not already done so, you should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report (PA4), 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.

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, (but you do need a copy of the assessors report (PA4) before you do this), 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

Remember your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed to score the points you think you scored, 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.

We have a comprehensive guide to filling out the PIP form and appeals. It walks you through the entire process and will tell you the types of things you should be writing for each of the questions.

The size of the guide is daunting, but it will make the process of filling out the form a lot easier.

You can find it from the link below.

Guide to PIP claims and reviews

Come back if you have any specific questions after you have looked at the guide.

Gary

Hi Graham

Never apologise for asking questions - that's what we're here for.

I can't tell you whether or not you should put in for an MR. There is always a risk if you put in for an MR that your award could be downgraded. I've only every heard of that happening to two people (so it is a small risk), The majority of MR's are turned down and the awards remain the same. Only 17% of people win their MR's, but members on here have won and there is no reason why you couldn't. I know from everything that you have said already you probably wouldn't want to go on for an appeal but 83-85% of claimants win their appeal.

If you are going to put in for an MR, you need to get hold of that assessment report. Only you know if you are well enough to do that. You could write an MR without seeing the report, but you don't actually know what the assessor said about your ability to prepare food or any of the other questions. The decision-maker who made the award is a non-medical person so they generally follow the HP (health professional) who carried out the assessment.

Preparing Food: If you can't prepare a meal at all, because of the pain you are in, you could argue that you should be awarded more. The guidance is quite clear for assessors that a simple meal, is preparing it and cooking it. If your pain and mental health stop this and you live off sandwiches, you need to reiterate this. (Just bear in mind they will want to know how you get the ingredients to make the sandwiches). If you ever find yourself without food because of your mobility and unable to cope with shopping - say so.

Washing and bathing - if you didn't you could talk about the safety and reliability issues. If you sometimes stay in the same clothes - you need to say so - but this needs to be the majority of the time. If it's not clear about how long it takes you to wash in the report you need to challenge it - because this is clearly a safety issue.

They are not usually bothered about how long it takes you to get dressed, but in a similar position, I would argue there is a danger associated with increased pain and fatigue form this. You don't have any help but if you could do it would be necessary.

The issue of help should be a recurring feature for you. You don't have to have it, or you couldn't cope with it - only that it would have a positive effect on your ability to manage if it was available.

In terms of social engagement, you could argue that you are put at risk because of your ability not to be able to engage. Previous issues about taking your life, which you've mentioned in your previous posts, and the physical state of your home (the roof) and even being able to move to a safer place - because you cannot fight for this yourself and need to rely on someone else - when the services are not currently available.

I hope that gives you enough to think about the decision you want to make. You have issues that you could raise (but check out the report), there is a risk if you challenge - but it's small, it's not easy to win and MR - but some people do and an awful lot of people put in for an MRs because they believe strongly that they have not been allocated what they rightly deserve.

Hope that helps. Remember to ask if you have any questions.

BIS