Hi I am claiming for the first time, although my TBI was back in 2008. I haven't asked for any help since and now faced with no option but to reach out and get myself sorted once and for all. I have my telephone assessment next week.
Has anyone claimed and been awarded for cognitive problems, memory, depression and fatigue (all the wonderful long term effects of a TBI)
Just wanting any advice please for the assessment. U have read they try to catch you out by asking questions which then trios you up. I am of course going to be honest, but it is hard when the issues are invisable, yet have such an impact on your overall wellbeing and life.
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Kee10
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Best advice is to do the assessment as it comes to the best of your ability. Secondly make sure you have all the medical evidence to back up your condition. If you fail the assessment, you can appeal and send all your medical evidence to the DWP and this hopefully will change their decision. Different people have different experiences with the PIP assessors even with similar conditions so go ahead and see what happens.
Thank you!I have sent over my GP records from over the past 10 years, plus the medical report following my brain injury. Along with any sick notes and current prescriptions etc. Fingers crossed it's enough! 🤞
The only advice is the same as been given. Basically evidence, evidence and more evidence.
Be prepared to be confused but if you are tell them you are. If you need a rest say so. Don't just soldier on try and have someone who knows your limits to be with you to tell you if you need a rest.
Hiya! I had to ask the CAB to help me do the forms and advise me because I can't cope with all that stuff any more. The assessment really does depend on who the assessor is and how they pose the questions as they are only human and are all different. Good luck and just be as honest as you can be x
I suffer from brain injury, and multiple neurological cognitive problems. My brain injury was from chronic carbon monoxide poisoning. I have complex PTSD and was diagnosed with FND a week before my phone assessment for PIP. I suffer from chronic pain.
On the morning of my call from the assessor, she rang me 30 minutes before the arranged time. I asked her if I could have my assessment recorded, she said you can't have it recorded. This I knew was a lie. So I had my own recorder left on because I needed to remember what was said to me.
I know what it is like to suffer from cognitive issues especially memory issues. I use my recorder all the time because I have to. Anyway, throughout the assessment she was very nice, but also tried to trick me in so many ways, I only noticed after the call ended and listened back.
When I was refused PIP, I was shocked but also very hurt when I read the copy of the assessment. I was crying throughout my assessment because I was in so much pain. But also, because I needed time to think when she asked me a question.
She wrote that I remained calm throughout the assessment and told lie after lie. I listened to the assessment over and over again and was really shocked at the lies that were said. I rang PIP and explained that I had a copy of my diagnoses for FND. I was told it's too late for that. So, I sat for 3 months trying to make sense of it. I decided to fight back.
I rang PIP again, I explained that I had recorded the assessment and did not like how I was treated or the lies that were told. I explained that I was also recording this call too, because the way PIP treat some people is disgusting. I explained that I will let whoever needs to hear the true version of my assessment to be heard so that this unfairness is stopped.
They asked for a copy of the recording and I emailed it to them. Within a few days of that call I was awarded the full PIP and backdated too, even though I was way out of the time they give to complain.
My advice to you is this. Record your conversation with the assessor, even if they do say they will record it for you. I was refused mine to be recorded and if I did not have my own copy I would never have been able to fight back.
I am not saying that all assessors lie. However it does happen. What saddens me about the nurse who did my assessment. She actually sounded so sympathetic and was so nice to me in between the trick questions , I found it hard to believe the lies that I read.
I wish you luck. If you need any more advice, let me know 😊
"They asked for a copy of the recording and I emailed it to them. Within a few days of that call I was awarded the full PIP and backdated too, even though I was way out of the time they give to complain" - That's shocking but I have seen several similar instances of 0 points to full award for those who fight a wrong decision. It shouldn't be like that and does make you wonder how many worthy claimants lose their award and just accept it? I lost my DLA/Motability because PIP was too stressful & I chose not to apply despite completing the forms and addressing the envelope. I just couldn't face justifying myself again or appealing a negative outcome. I retained my Blue Badge through the hidden disabilities channel so I got a little win at least.
I am sure there are many people who have been treated very unfairly by PIP. I almost like yourself gave up. But I listened back to the recording of the assessment so many times and compared it to the PIP decision and it just made me so angry. I had all of my medical reports for them to see, I had the newer diagnoses of FND and was told it was too late. Even though it was available before they made their decision. I was exhausted in agony and sank to the depths of despair.
But something in me snapped. I thought about how difficult it was for me just filling in the long form at the beginning. The long anxious wait. The phone assessment getting cancelled twice before the actual call. Many months of waiting. I believe now, it is designed around a scheme to wear people down.
When people have disabilities, they are entitled to claim PIP for this much-needed help. I hope my story helps others not to give up. I can only say that if I had not recorded my assessment call that day, I would have had no proof of how I was questioned or how badly I was treated. And even though I was always entitled to PIP. I know for sure I would not have got it without that recording.
Have you ever considered trying again Trevor? I know it can be stressful. But for me the lies and unfairness did not sit well with me. If you have medical proof, you should fight them.
The reason that I declined to apply for PIP after DLA was so that I could apply in future if need be without ever having a claim refusal to cite or mention. At the time of my proposed PIP/DLA transition it seemed that refusal (on the same DLA terms at least) was the most likely outcome for most claims. I wasn't going through all of that to lose Motablity which seemed to be their objective at the time. I decided to try to cope without trouble free motoring that I'd been privileged to receive for many years. As time goes by though and my circumstances have changed (in terms of being older, leaving the workforce to become economically inactive, thankfully coping reasonably financially & staying home alone for most the time these days) then that eventuality of needing to go through the stress of a PIP claim seems further away thankfully. Well done for sticking with it yourself. Meeting the PIP descriptors and justifying that is one thing but fighting the process, system & attitudes is just an additional layer of grief. Evidence to back it all up is key and when faced with that and a claimant who will take them on then they will often back down, as you proved. It shouldn't be like that but that's the way of the world these days.
I work as a decision maker for Adult Disabilty Payment which is Scotlands new own version of PIP. Although it's a much fairer system, it is similar to PIP. Just remember, awards are based on how it effects your day to day living, not just because you have a diagnosed disability. When filling in the forms or if you have to have a practitioner assessment, they are trying to establish if it effects you day to day more than it doesn't. So for example, if you tell them that your ability to cook and prepare food is deminised only 1 day a month and the rest of the time you manage fine then you won't score for it as for the majority of the time it does not impact your life. Best of luck and happy to help with questions
have you tried contacting headway? They are a charity that provides free help for TBI patients. Amber was amazing with my son. We went along to our nearest centre and she filled the forms for us. They have centres across the country.
Hi I had my accident in 2019 and went for pip and it was hard going and I had to Appeal as they said no first time but then I got it with all your systems and others. If you don't get it 1st time appeal with medical proof and you WILL get it good luck with the call
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