I am summoning up the courage to apply for PIP. When I read on here all the advice I find it so overwhelming and DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN!! and of course when I do apply I want to be able to give it my best shot. So I thought I'd ask here AGAIN for your help (sorry if I seem stupid but am sooo scared to get started (wherever that may be) is there a system to follow ?? I hope I've made myself clear because I really need to get this application sorted. I spose I'm asking are there steps
Step one = ??
Step two =???
Should have asked this with my other message but of course forgot 🙃
Small blessings to you all 🙏🫂
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Frenchi88
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It is very stressful get help from your local community law or any organization that can help you fill out the form . Collect together all the evidence you can including letters from people that help you .for example help you get shopping or take you out etc if you have to use things like walking aids or have things fitted in your home to help you take photos any doctors reports or test reports. I dont know what age you are but people like age uk might be able to help you when it comes to the assesment itself make sure you have some one with you that knows about your problems, always answer the questions as if its your worse day, You could go onto a site could benefits and work its very good for helping with benefits.
Make sure you make it clear how long things effect you for most of the day ...or daily when you are doing something specific. Some doctors surgery have acess to people or organizations that could help you if you cannot find them yourselves.
You can contact our benefits team on 0300 999 0055 (Mon, Wed, Fri 10.00-12.00) or email benefits.advice@fmauk.org and they can send you guidelines on applying
frenchi basically tell truth best for yourself i dont know how its effecting you workwise daily events with it there are lot of sites online with lots of info before filling forms also you get help from cab there are professional form fillers but never used them theres plenty to think about theres one page that needs careful reading for the mobility part i brushed over it and cost me my mobility think its q11 but all parts need attention to be successful just go for it frenchi its your rite if your ill/disabled with it good luck dont forget this will get worse as you grow older citizensadvice.org.uk/benef...scope.org.uk/advice-and-sup... you can make appointment with cab to help you fill form but dont forget its your claim
If you get in touch with the Benefits Helpline they are able to forward you the guidelines from this website. Call 0300 999 0055 on Mon, Weds and Fri 10am to 12.00.
Also start writing a diary so you can see exactly how your conditions affect you over a week plus it will help you identify areas where you might not realise you need help or get help with. A diary template can be sent to you from the FMA UK Benefits helpline. Hope this helps.
I found that I tended to fill in how I was on my best days when you need to fill in how you are on your WORST days. The help you get will be centred around what you tell them, and you don't need to exaggerate, you know how awful it is, but I'm mostly okay but sometimes I can't get out of bed reads as "mostly okay" where "I struggle to get out of bed" reads the other way
you need help for when its at its peak, most of the time you can muddle through if you're anything like me, so if you need to use a cane to walk to the shop but you're fine around the house - say I use a cane when walking = it's true and it's so hard to get past that mindset of I'm fine and making the problem smaller than it is - even if it's only to yourself.
Sadly it's a misconception to fill the claim form in concentrating on your worst days. Rather you should fill it in saying how you are the majority of days as Ajay 575 has explained above.
Hi, Inwas exactly the same and you are not stupid. I was very daunted by it and it took me over a week to fill it out but once I had done it I felt extremely relieved. It seems when you look at it overwhelming but once you start it isn’t that bad. As always the thought of it is worse than actually doing it. Just put down how your conditions affect your life and what it now stops you from being able to do etc. I haven’t heard anything from them yet and I think I sent mine back almost 2months ago. Take your time and please try not to let it stress you out( although mine did) and that’s easy to say but harder to do. Thinking of you and hope you manage it 🤗😘
When I filled mine out 6 years ago and read it back it made me feel suicidal for the first time in my life. Knowing what I had to look forward to really sent me into a spiral of depression and I got 0 points for mental and physical... even though my hip was due to be replaced again 9-14 years ago according to the professionals who gave me it 15 years previously...I have dislocated it 9 times too as it was put in at a bad angle
Hello, this will be a short reply for now as I’m in guys having a sleepover study but it’s unbelievable to read what happened to you!!! How on earth did they come to that conclusion! It is beyond my comprehension. Reading that it makes we worry that I won’t get PIP and will have to go through an appeal😔🤗
Hi ChristCornHell, I am being shown that you replied to my msg but it is not displaying it🤷♀️I wonder if you would be able to repeat your reply. Many thanks
I am very tired after getting home from guys Hospital for my overnight sleep study but that msg was meant to say with all your conditions, my apologies x
hi, please don't worry. I have also applied for Pip. I phoned them up and they sent me a form to fill out and then sent it back. I was then informed that they had received the form and they would inform me when they made a decision. This took a little while but I have my telephone assessment on the 15th of this month and then they make a decision. I hope this is helpful. Good luck. x
I too want to apply for PIP but like you don’t know where to start/ how to go about it. I’m so frightened of being turned down and losing everything. At the moment I’m working part time but it is a struggle physically. I’m on my own so have no support at home
It took me 4 years to get it. Just apply with help from a welfare worker at your local one stop centre and you'll be OK. I ended up signing on and was told one day in the 4th year that I couldn't go in as I was too sick to sign on and they were not insured to have me in the building in case anything happened. The lady told me to do a self referral to Social Servicesfor a full assessment of needs, then book to see a welfare worker. 6 months later and after a medical assessment I got PIP. All the best 😍
Remember PIP is not about any diagnosis, but rather how your disability affects the 12 activities of daily living &/mobility. Have a look at the activities/descriptors that are looked at with PIP:
Give a couple of recent, detailed examples as to the difficulty you face for each applicable descriptor, i.e. when did it happen, where, what happened, why, did anyone see this, & were there any consequences to attempting/doing an activity?
Say if you can't do an activity 'reliably,' i.e. safely, to an acceptable standard, repeat as often as one would reasonably expect, or if it takes you much longer than someone without a disability. See this mentioned at the end of the link above. About half an A4 page for each applicable descriptor is about right.
Try keeping a diary for a week or so either for reference, or send it in with your claim form. Just complete a few questions at a time, & you can always add extra pages at the end ensuring you put your name & National Insurance number on each page.
PIP is how you are the majority of days, so bear this in mind when answering the questions. Don't fill it in as if it was your worst day, as with fibro your functional abilities will fluctuate.
You can also ring the PIP enquiry line on 0800 121 4433 to ask for extra time to complete the form, & you will be given another 2 weeks without question. Keep a copy of everything 'just in case,' & get a free Certificate of Posting from your Post Office when sending the form off.
As mentioned, you can also look for help locally here: advicelocal.uk/ choosing 'Welfare benefits' from the drop down menu. See if there's a Welfare Rights office or Citizens Advice near you. This website also has a benefit's helpline. So, as you can see, you don't need to pay for advice as it's freely available online. Please come back with any questions.
Try not to get to stressed about this. They will send you a form to fill or you can do it online. Remember that applying for pip is about how your illness /diagnosis affects you're every day living and mobility. Not your diagnosis. Practice on paper to answer the questions until you feel you have answered the descriptors. Explain what you can not do and why. Remember to focus on your bad days not good days. I didn't seek any help with forms and sadly got refused pip. However I reapplied and made complaints and after the 4th attempt I was awarded. Good luck.
Again, really good advice apart from focusing on your bad days. You should rather say how you are on the majority of days, as Ajay has also explained above.
There are some perceived problems with completing a PIP claim online if this is offered (it's currently a trial in England with only 10 claimants a day invited to try this). Should you later wish to rather do the usual PIP claim form in writing, or add further evidence, then your month in which to complete this is reduced by the amount of time you've tried to complete this online.
Whereas ordinarily if a PIP claimant, if successfully awarded, would have this run from the date they phoned about PIP, with the online form this may be from the date of completing an online form instead.
Some really good advice, but a person should say how they are the majority of days, not focus on their bad days only when completing their claim form, as Ajay575 has explained above.
I have just summoned up the courage to reapply after 6 years and the most common thing I hear is tell them how you feel on your worst days, with your worst pain, your most worrying memory problems. Write everything down now about how you feel at your worst. If I had forgotten to attend an appointment when I was having a flare up and going through another drug change, with no friends or carer to help me it's unlikely that they will see me and/or understand why. Some days I could have just slept through several alarms . Always how you feel at your worst (I know flare ups are not understood by many other people)
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