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5 years 6 months ago #218176 by Claire
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I’m in the process of getting diagnosed for my contant pain, which points to Fibromyalgia, but other conditions like MS have to be ruled out to confirm this conclusively.

I have been prescribed anti depressants was on 50mg now upped to 100mg. I also have a iron deficiency and this is due to my poor diet, I can’t cook because of the pain, I feel and without the help of others, helping me to cook meals, I live off take aways and that is the only meal I have a day, I’m alway’s on the verge of dehydrated because I even fail to drink fluids, due to my mental state.

The assessor lied about the distance I walked from my front door to my living room & she also lied about me using my hand to position myself into the sofa, I was sitting on a 3 piece suite and to use my hand to do that, that would leave me unbalance.

She also stated I was touching my face, this is not something I do at all, so I don’t understand why she lied about that, what should that indicate?

Many other things she’s stated which works against me & I am so frustrated, that a person can lie and cheat the vunerable to earn a few extra pounds, this is so immoral!

I have no reason to lie & go to hospital appoints, getting x-rays, MRI scans, numerous blood tests & being poked & proded by people to cheat the benefits system.

I was wondering if someone could help me complete my mandotory consideration (or guidance). I just feel deflated, this process has made me health worse & it’s like hitting a brick wall.

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5 years 6 months ago #218186 by Gordon
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Claire

Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

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.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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5 years 6 months ago #218235 by Claire
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Hi Gordon, thanks for you reply, it is much appriciated.

I had already asked for my assessment forms, so have these to hand.

When I had my medical assessment, it was after a caterlogue of errors by the assesment provider, one person did not turn up with the correct paper work, the second appoint an assessor failed to turn up & they failed to inform me, lying and say they could not leave a VM, which I have on my phone.

The third time the assessment was sucessful in going ahead, however I feel like this is the last straw. The accessor omitting from including things in her report, which I told her about. Like I have fallen asleep when something is on the stove and woken only because the fire alarm went off and the pot, was competely burnt.

She also mentioned I walked from my front door into my living which is approx 15m, with no obvious signs of a gait. We measured the distance and it was less than 7m, so she missed calculated the distance (lied). She couldn’t have seen my walk, because I was behind her she arrived, because I ensured I closed my front doors, due to my concerns of my neighbours knowing my business, I am a very private person.

Can I ask when an assessor writes “she placed her hands either side of he and pushed up through her arms into a standing position. She appeared to do this at a normal pace with no obvious difficulty.

Would they decision maker take that as fact or opinion & How would I challenge this?

She also stated “insight- she appeared to have insight into her condition, medication and functional abilities.”, I don’t know how she could have arrived to this conclusion, when I don’t have a formal diagnosis in terms of the pain symptoms, I had my a rheumatology appointment impending to do tests, to see what I have & I mentioned this several times, that I don’t understand why I am in pain. I don’t understand her claims of me having insight of medication and functional abilities, could you tell me what that means, please?

The form says chronic pain wrists, back, neck...etc are primary conditions in the history and then depression is secondary. In the functional history it has depression as the primary and chronic pain as the secondary...that leaves me to believe the assessment was not written correctly and is discombobulated.

I told her I was having a good day compared to most, in terms of my depression and I was able to shower and dress, altough my hair was not groomed, I told her some days I fail to shower, she did not include this also in her assessment.

There is so much missing from this accessment, that I told her and she has lied on numerous occasions, stating I moved the table back, I used to lean on when writing, that is still where it is when I had the accessment over 5 weeks ago, which is an issue with me.

She didn’t ask me to explain a typical day for myself. Also she asked me if I have current, thoughts of self harm or suicide, not taking into account that I have had a suicide attempt years back.

I also don’t understand why me driving a manual car has any relevance to my condition, what does she expect people to sell their cars and but a modified car ot ab automatic, like it is that simple.

She also did not include the medical advice from my physio, who advised me to push through the pain, because it will lead to musle wasting.

Could you help me with some of this thank you, because I am going through medical investigations, I have no formal diagnosis, however the expert said that after the test that I may have Fibromyalgia, but he has to rule out other conditions, that act like the symptoms I have.

Do you think those points would be good enough to argue against her report?

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5 years 6 months ago #218261 by Gordon
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Claire

What did you actually score? Are we looking at a total failure, no points at all, or having to score higher than you did?

I would start by going back to your PIP2, the assessment report and our PIP Claim guide to make sure that you have explained the problems you have with completing the PIP activities in terms that address the legally defined Descriptors. Remember that you need to complete the activities "reliably" and "on the majority of days".

Re the walking, is it possible that the 15m refers to your walking to the door and then back again? What distance did you say that your walking was limited to?

Re your standing up, the legal test for Moving Around is for the claimant to stand and then move (walk). The assessor is stating this as a fact.

Some claimants do not have insight into their conditions, they are simply stating that you do.

Whilst assessors and Decision Makers more of the claimant driving a car than there is but it does suggest good concentration, reasonable grip and limited restrictions in the upper body.

If you can provide more information about your issues with the PIP activities then I may be able to help further.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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5 years 6 months ago #218279 by Claire
Replied by Claire on topic Been awarded 0 points
What did you actually score? Are we looking at a total failure, no points at all, or having to score higher than you did?

I scored 0 points on both.

I would start by going back to your PIP2, the assessment report and our PIP Claim guide to make sure that you have explained the problems you have with completing the PIP activities in terms that address the legally defined Descriptors. Remember that you need to complete the activities "reliably" and "on the majority of days".

My form was competed by someone at my local council office, so she asked me questions relating to this and I answered them, so wrote them down. I discovered this site after the form was competed.

Re the walking, is it possible that the 15m refers to your walking to the door and then back again? What distance did you say that your walking was limited to?

I told them that my walking varied, at the time the pains in my feet were not present. I have recently seen a specialist who thinks I may have fibromyalgia, however this has not been diagnosed yet, because blood tests needed to rule out other conditions.

Re your standing up, the legal test for Moving Around is for the claimant to stand and then move (walk). The assessor is stating this as a fact.

Some claimants do not have insight into their conditions, they are simply stating that you do.

Whilst assessors and Decision Makers more of the claimant driving a car than there is but it does suggest good concentration, reasonable grip and limited restrictions in the upper body.

I never mentioned any gripping issue, my issues are shoulder pain, cramping when using my hands to do certain activities, numbness, tingling in my fingers and shoulder pain. I don’t drive long distances, I can’t not drive because I have children that need to get to and from school & no one else can take them & I can’t afford taxi’s currently.

If you can provide more information about your issues with the PIP activities then I may be able to help further.

So cooking, I have issues with chopping, where repetitive movements cause pain in my wrist, finger are always numb and tingling and when peeling veg, my hands will become cramped. Stirring will also hurt my shoulder. I have also fell asleep whilst cooking a few times, due to fatigue and I did tell this to the assessor, but she omitted this from her report. I advised her that falling asleep was not a concious thing and I was only woken by the smoke alarm going off.

I also have depression and I advised her that I lack motivation to cook, a long side the pain. I also don’t eat breakfast and lunch and would normally go without eating all day, if I didn’t have the children prompting me that they are hungry, so I would usually get take away. I think this covers taking nutrients.

I am reminded by my mom and have a medicine box to take my medication and if this didn’t happen, I would forget. I also have to spend time doing physio exercises to, ensure my muscle does not waste away and stay as active as possible, the physio has told me to try and push through the pain, as best as I can.

I can’t wash my back or my hair and my son do these things for me and he will also help me dress and undress my upper body.

I don’t have any toiletting issues in regards to incontinence or wetting myself, however due to my condition, I am up atleast 5-6 times a night urinating and this along side the widespead pain disturbes my sleep. I’m also becoming sensative to certain food and have IBS like symtoms, I do know what triggers this however and avoid it now.

I have no speech issues as such, but at times, I lose my train of thought and thought and use the wrong, words. This is a constant issue with me and my son, because I may ask him to do something and give him the wrong instructions, because I get slightly confused.

Now the engaging with people is a complicated one, I think I may have some form of autism that has been undiagnosed for years. I don’t have many friends and most people don’t like me, because I tend to offend them without meaning to.

Budeting I am in a bit of debt now because of my budgetting issues, I don’t think this constitues as an issue. I’ve tended to ignore bills, not paid debts and not been very organised when it comes to the issue of money and budget.

No planning and following journeys. I told the assesor that I couldn’t undertake unfamiliar journey’s, without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid. Now to go into a bit of a background to what lead me needing to claim PIP, is that I had a car accident. I was a very confident driver perviously & had my satnav decided to not work, when going to an unfamiliar place, I would have been comfortable trying to figure my way home. Now I could never undertake an unfamiliar journey on my own, because I would have a panic attack.

Walking varies and depends on the day in terms of distance, however I can’t walk more than 200m with out it taking a toll on my body, I would be in significant pain afterwards & my fatigue would set in. It also makes the other areas pain in my body worse.

It’s so complicated, especially becsuse I don’t have a confirmed disgnoses of the pain disorder.
Gordon[/quote]

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5 years 6 months ago #218281 by Gordon
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Claire

My guess is that the primary issue with your claim is the variability of your conditions, to score you need to meet the criteria on the majority of days, was information about this included in your PIP2?

I know that you do not have a formal diagnosis but were you able to provide any evidence to support your limitations?

A quick tally of the points you are assessing yourself for suggests that you would struggle to score the eight points needed for a standard Daily Living award! You seem to to have a reasonable case to score for Preparing Food and Washing and Bathing but I think your argument for Taking Nutrition is weak there will be an expectation that you have an eating disorder for you to score for this.


The medication will only score you one point at best and you will need an exercise plan at the very least from your GP to have any chance of scoring higher for Managing Treatments.

Re your walking, the test looks at distances less than 200m so at first glance you will not score for Moving Around. As to Going Out, you will need to show "overwhelming psychological distress" to score, a panic attack may count as this if severe enough but the test is about your ability to follow a route so you would need to show that you would be prevented from doing this. This still needs to be on the majority of days.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: TheMerlin486

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