mandatory reconsideration BRAIN FOG HELP

Hi Jacqui

The things you need to focus on when writing your mandatory reconsideration is where your husband didn't score as many points as you believe he should have done. Take one question at a time and see what the assessor said. If they didn't comment at all - well that is easy - because you can say the assessor ignored evidence that you sent in and you quote from what you originally said on the form and you quote from any medical evidence (eg doctor's letters) that you have. Make sure that you were clear in your original evidence that you have answered against the PIP criteria - because if you don't match that - it doesn't matter what difficulties your husband might have they will ignore them.

If you disagree with the assessor you can say so - but do not make any personal attacks. For example if the assessor has said eg "he walked into the room and showed no signs of distress," - you say something like "although my husband walked into the room showing no signs of distress, the assessor made this judgment within a few minutes of meeting him. She does not know that he was extremely distressed at the assessment which I witnessed on the journey to the centre and and his anxiety was so severed he was only able to give one or two-word answers throughout the interview. This means he was not able to give a good account throughout the interview of his difficulties and the assessor did nothing to try and encourage him to speak more."

(You don't have to be as wordy as I am, and this is just an example. I obviously no nothing about your husband - you do!)

If your husband is not taking medication for depression then you need to explain why. Has he tried it, has he refused it, has the doctor said it would not be beneficial? It doesn't matter what the reason is and not everyone takes it, but because it is common to do so they will make judgments that aren't necessarily fair - so explain.

I don't know what you said about the tests he is having investigated, but it's not enough just to mention them. You need to say how these symptoms impact on his ability to fulfil the PIP criteria.
So for example if he has vascular problems - he may have difficulties with his mobility. If so, how does it manifest itself? Does this make it difficult for him to cook a meal or take a shower/bath?

Sorry if you have done this in detail already. Although it is not always the case sometimes people don't get the PIP award they are hoping for because they haven't explained the difficulties well enough.

Your husband should not worry whether they think he is a liar. These people don't know him. He will never meet the assessor again. It's one person's judgment and the Decision Maker made their judgment on that report. He has to let that go and focus on trying to get the decision overturned at MR.

BIS

Jacqui

The dM should look at all of the information, your claim form and the evidence attached, the assessment report and any additional information that was sourced.

Gordon

Hi Jacqui

MSO = Medical Services Observation'
IO - Informal Observations

BIS