More and more on these forums I am seeing people in despair about the outcome of their PIP assessments and the worries and fears that they have about attending a tribunal and contesting the decision.
As one who was refused the Mobility Component of PIP (despite having it for over 20 years under DLA), went to tribunal and won the case, I can tell you that there is nothing to fear about attending and presenting yourself to the totally independent and unbiased panel of people who heard my side of the claim.
I think that we all realise by now these PIP assessments are poorly conceived and are merely designed to try and deprive people of the benefits that they are entitled to.
In a recent assessment case for a 33 year old mum of two, Emma (not her real name), who has epilepsy so severe she has had seven parts of her brain removed and takes enough drugs daily “to sedate a horse”, was moved from DLA and given a PIP assessment. During the assessment she had a severe fit and, despite this, she was scored ZERO points, meaning the support that she so desperately needed was ended.
Emma made a mandatory reconsideration appeal to the DWP and was awarded the full points in every category.
During 2017 over 200,000 disabled people were forced through formal tribunal appeals or mandatory reconsiderations before they were awarded PIP. The system is now so broken that, on top of assessment costs, the DWP spent £45million on courts to hear appeals of poor PIP decisions and there were 1,000 cases of assessors being reported to professional bodies for “conduct issues”.
What a lot of you might find helpful are the guides from Advicenow and specifically "How to win a PIP appeal".This guide will help you decide if you should challenge the decision. It, and the accompanying tool, will help you ask the DWP to look at their decision again. This is called a 'mandatory reconsideration’. If they don’t change the decision straight away, this guide shows you how to appeal the decision and win. (You must ask for a reconsideration before you can appeal). This guide is for everybody who thinks the DWP made the wrong decision about their application for PIP.
So go for it, the odds are you will win your appeal, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I have posted a link to Advicenow’s website at the end of this posting for you to download the guide. Good luck.
Advicenow have guides on other subjects that Health Unlocked members might find useful, all available in downloadable pdf format. A few examples are:
"A survival guide to Benefits and Living Together" (This guide is for you if you receive benefits or tax credits. This information will also help if you are not living with your partner but a benefits office believes you are, if you moving in with your partner, or if your relationship has ended).
"How to deal with an Interview Under Caution" (This guide will explain what an interview under caution is, help you work out whether you want to go, and explain what will happen and help you prepare for it if you do. It explains how you might be able to get help, and what you can do to help yourself if you can’t get representation or a solicitor. It also explains what happens after an interview under caution).
"How to use a grievance procedure to deal with discrimination and other problems at work" (This guide will show you how you can deal with problems at work using your work's grievance procedure. A grievance procedure is a written policy, setting out the steps you and your employer should follow to resolve a problem).
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