Hi I've been in touch with our GP about giving supporting evidence for our claim she has given me printed sheets of all his telephone assessments and appointments and his discharge sheets from previous admissions will theses be adequate to support a claim
Thanks for any info x
They'll certainly help, whether they are enough then maybe not.
What I do is work out what score we think hubby matches for each of the descriptors i.e. needs prompting/support to take food/nutrition - this because he often needed bed rest so physically needed wakened to get his food at the correct time. I wrote these all out and hubbies consultant then wrote basically the same and put a clinical slant on why this is the case i.e. patient suffers x, y & z which frequently means he needs day time bed rest from which he needs to be wakened to take his essential food and nutrition.
As much information as you can provide the better, don't assume the assessor knows anything about liver disease and it's symptoms & impacts. Some of those who do the atos assessments arn't doctors or nurses - often they are physiotherapists etc. so have no clinical knowledge on liver issues.
The Benefits & Work website which I mentioned previously in earlier replies helps you to set out the details needed for each descriptor. benefitsandwork.co.uk/
Katie
Hi,PIP is an absolute nightmare to claim, my husband had lots of evidence, and twice in 3 years we ended up at tribunal.
Be prepared for the assessor to lie, common practice sadly. The last assessor was vile and she told so many lies I thought I was reading about a different person! Second time around he lost all of it apart from standard mobility.
We used a company called fightback4justice, who I must say were absolutely fab! They did his MR (mandatory reconsideration) where they look at the claim again, there is also time limits on these. You will need to go through the assessors report and highlight the descriptors that are inaccurate and explain why. 85% of these are also refused, then you appeal to tribunal, stats at the moment are high, 72% of these are overturned. You can ask the DWP for a copy of the accessors report, do this about a week or so after the assessment, as DWP use the report to make the decision on the claim.
Give as much detailed information as possible, a daily diary will also come in useful. Also state what aids he uses, and photograph them with the date, and make sure that ID is in the photograph, I.e a blue badge, driving license, otherwise they will say you stole the photograph from the internet!
Also keep copies of the forms and make sure you return them either by recorded or special delivery, forms have a nasty habit of been lost by DWP.
We had a presenting officer from DWP, at the last tribunal, and he actually admitted after hearing all the evidence that they got the decision wrong. This was after waiting 18 months to get to court.
Tribunal’s are completely independent from DWP, and are a panel made up of the judge (Clark) a disabled person and usually a doctor. They are very nice people and much better than the actual assessor in my opinion.
Good luck x
Puts me off doing it have I really got fight in me I look at life now and its changed so much ste went to bed at 8am I will have to wake him up at 12 for his meds and food his muscle mass is wasted he needs to eat then he will get up and that's his sleep till it all starts again his mood in the last week has changed he was a gentle giant now very snappy which I totally understand he must feel so down I did sit and read the notes properly last night and they are useless half the conversation on the phone consultation isnt even noted no mention of cramps or depression.Ste had a traumatic childhood I only found out during lockdown drinking was his way of coping i new he drank but during lockdown I found out just how much so all the time I thought ste was maybe suffering with arthritis aches and pains feeling sluggish he was probably hiding hangovers I found bottles hidden everywhere but he always worked and such a great man just trying to hide his thoughts .so fast forward counselling has helped although no face to face due to covid and no booze since 9th oct decompensated liver and half the man he was our world has completely turned upside down .I drove him to work yesterday to collect some tools and when I see him next to his workmates he looks so poorly they havnt seen him since Nov and they were shocked its heartbreaking .Then to fight to get some help is truly terrifying we have never claimed a penny ste worked 50 hrs week from being young he said working was his way of therapy and now got now zest for anything .I read other posts and see so many positives it gives us hope that our life at the moment is temporary and with the right diet and healthy life style his liver will repair and we wont need pip we have hope 🙏❤
Don’t be put off, you have nothing to loose, and he sounds very much like he is entitled to it.My husbands medical evidence along with his summary was ignored, again that’s not unusual as they go on what the assessor writes, but you have evidence which is what the tribunal base there decision on, oral and written.
They also don’t go on diagnosis but rather how the illness affects daily living, everyone is different.
DWP are a nightmare to deal with,
I had the same with my youngest son, who transferred from DLA over to PIP, they only awarded mobility and nothing for daily living, so I challenged the decision and by this stage was prepared to fight them at tribunal.
The assessor hadn’t got a clue, had no idea what a statement of special needs was, and so far out of her depth it wasn’t true. And they will come up with statements like, he can have a bath with the plug out, or he lives in a ground floor flat but can manage the stairs with no issues.
On my sons He turned into a she, and because he could get the bus to work, he could cook a meal with no assistance, it was quite easy to pull apart with explanation’s and evidence to back it up.
They backed down, and awarded daily living.
I’m sure you will be fine x
Take care x
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