DLA ( I know it's not called that anymore but can't think of new title) you guys know what i'm talking about!!!!!

[Curlygirl54]

I read on a forum somewhere ( heaven only knows where - brain fig

[Bananas5]

Personal Independence Payment - PIP

Is that all you wanted to know?

Pat x

[Curlygirl54]

Sorry - unfinished post, meds hit me and I slept for a while ( bliss!)!if only it would last......

No the question was about an internet site someone listed where they help with the forms. I'm due tonreapplybsnd am much worse than last award ( which went to appeal)

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks for your reply Pat to my rambling!

Shirley

X

[Offcut]

benefitsandwork.co.uk/compo...

Is a good place to start. PIP now has a telephone interview to start so it is important that you are aware of what the questions mean before applying. Once the interview is done they will send you a personalised form just for you based on the answers? I would speak to AGEUK or CAB about this first.

Good luck

[Curlygirl54 in reply to Offcut]

Thanks Offcut, that's the site I used before. I am reapplying but had to go appeal to get award last time.

It feels like such a challenge - as if life isn't challenging enough eh?!

Thanks for replying

Shirley

[Offcut in reply to Curlygirl54]

I am going to re apply also soon as I did the classic made it seem a lot better than it really is. It was not until I researched it more I realised how many aids I use just for day to day living and how much I rely on my wife! and the list goes on I have also been diagnosed with a few more conditions!

I went to a tribunal for my ESA as that was a total farce before the tribunal who commented on how I manage when the wife is at her part time job and granted me support in less than 10 minutes. The assessment took no notice of any of my medical notes and there was plenty?

Good luck

[Curlygirl54 in reply to Offcut]

There's no rhyme or reason to what they do - if you look at my profile it was when I was in the upper body cast they refused me - I couldn't do ANYTHING for myself at the time!!

Hey oh, the tribunal saw the nonsense of the decision thank goodness but I just know I'll,have to jump,through hoops again, even tho I've had 2 more,spinal,surgeries since and countless procedures.

Onwards and Upwards eh?!

[Curlygirl54 in reply to Curlygirl54]

There's no rhyme or reason to what they do - if you look at my profile it was when I was in the upper body cast they refused me - I couldn't do ANYTHING for myself at the time!!

Hey oh, the tribunal saw the nonsense of the decision thank goodness but I just know I'll,have to jump,through hoops again, even tho I've had 2 more,spinal,surgeries since and countless procedures.

Onwards and Upwards eh?!

Reply

[Offcut in reply to Curlygirl54]

The only way forward!

[Butterfly-lady in reply to Curlygirl54]

Hi Shirley

I worked for twelve years as a CItizens Advice Bureau(CAB) trained Welfare Rights and Debt Adviser, but I cannot work currently, due to having Lymphoedema and unable to get the proper treatment for it on NHS.

It is vital that you seek help with the documents from an independently trained adviser like myself, but who is currently working and up-to-date with the current legislation.

In some areas, like where I live in Reading, there are specific welfare rights units, otherwise go to a CAB where you live or a disability organisation such as Hafad which covers Hammersmith and Fulham.

I googled - disability information centres in UK and got the orgs listed under the following search result. If you copy and paste the the HTTP address below, onto your search engine you will have what the search came up with and in amongst the various sites are a number that help with advice about benefits and form filling.

google.com/search?q=disabil...

If by any chance you live in Reading, you can contact the Reading Community Welfare Rights Unit

Hope this helps

warm regards and good luck

Susan

[Reykua in reply to Butterfly-lady]

Please don't put down or 'shoot the messenger', I'm fully conversant with all the DWP benefits and policies and was merely trying to inform others as best I can as I'm sure you are too.

I'm a Benefits and Work Subscriber and it's in their 3rd December Newsletter. like you, I can only hope it's incorrect. Copied and pasted as follows; -

ESA Medicals Now Decide PIP And Vice Versa Plus Support Group Without Medical

Dear Reader,

Employment and support allowance (ESA) medicals – work capability assessments (WCAs) – are being used to make decisions about eligibility for personal independence payment (PIP), a government minister has confirmed.

Benefits and Work also has evidence that the reverse is true: existing ESA awards are being looked at again and changed on the basis of a PIP medical report.

What’s more, in an effort to reduce the PIP backlog, many thousands of decisions are being made by temporarily promoted DWP staff who aren’t really decision makers at all.

So, it’s probably never been more important to ensure that you give the most detailed and accurate information you can, backed up with supporting evidence if possible, when you are applying for either ESA or PIP.

Indeed, what you include on your claim forms can not only influence whether you get an award, it can also decide whether you have to endure a face-to-face medical assessment.

Mark Harper, minister for disabled people, told MPs

“. . . we take the ESA85—the report from the work capability assessment—and put it with their PIP form and any other evidence they have provided. That is enabling us to make more decisions based on the paperwork without needing to call people in for assessments.”

And it’s not just for PIP that detailed evidence can help avoid a medical assessment.

The recent independent review of the WCA has confirmed not only that regulation 35 (2) (b)is now the most common reason for claimants getting into the support group, but also that two thirds do so without having a face-to-face medical. Regulation 35 (2 ) (b) is a ‘safety net’ regulation. It allows entry to the support group for people who aren’t covered by the relevant descriptors, but where there would be a substantial risk to their health or someone else’s if they were not put in the support group.

There are no questions on this regulation in the ESA50 claim form, but there’s more information about it, and how to give evidence, in our guides

Still with the WCA, you won’t see it trumpeted in the pages of the tabloids, but recent figures show that in 2013 only 7% of incapacity benefit (IB) to employment and support allowance claimants were found capable of work. A staggering 59% were placed in the support group. The figures raise a huge question mark over what the transfer process has achieved, other than causing enormous hardship, distress and, in some cases, the death of claimants.

Actually, one thing the IB to ESA transfer process did achieve was to cause a massive backlog in the whole ESA assessment process. A minister has confirmed that there are now more than half a million ESA claimants trapped in the assessment phase, many of whom should be in the support group.

And whilst the DWP are now placing their hopes of getting back on top of assessments with Maximus, the American company due to take over from Atos next year, there is no prospect whatsoever of improvements being made to the WCA itself. The fifth and final review of the WCA has cast doubts on its suitability, but recommended that it should have a period of stability before being completely replaced sometime around 2020.

And finally, there’s the grim news that, according to the very reputable and entirely non-radical charity Contact A Family, more and more families with a disabled child are being forced to choose between heating and eating because of cuts in their benefits.

So, although David Cameron recently told Ed Miliband in an exchange in the Commons:

"I don't need lectures from anyone about looking after disabled people. I don't want to hear any more of that."

the truth is that, regardless of his own personal tragedy, Cameron needs to hear an awful lot ‘more of that’ from as many people as possible.

Good luck,

Steve Donnison

[Butterfly-lady in reply to Reykua]

Many thanks for taking the time for copying and pasting this info. I am now stunned, though not surprised, at the current government doing this.

I used to receive the newsletter, I must have dropped off their subscription list when I changed to my current email several years ago now and did not pick up on the fact that I was not receiving it anymore.

The fact that they are using "temporarily promoted DWP staff who aren’t really decision makers at all" is really worrying.

I guess I will have to keep campaigning

regards

Susan

[Curlygirl54]

Forward??!! Staying in same place would be very welcome! My spines going down like dominoes

[Reykua]

Hello all,

Just read on the Benefits and Work website that the DWP have started to link PIP to ESA even though they're separate benefits.

Allegedly, if you are unsuccessful in your ESA or PIP application - whichever comes first - you will not be granted the other!

This is supposed to be a new 'money saving' (efficiency) exercise to streamline/ join up the services ahead of the new American company taking over Disability and WCAs from ATOS and Capita.

May be worth investigating this further before making any new applications.

All the best.

[Butterfly-lady in reply to Reykua]

Hi Reykua

These are two totally separate and should not be linked at all. One is for those who cannot work or who need support to get back to work and the other is to enable people to cope with their disability. The criteria for the benefits are different also as they should be. People in receipt of DLA, now having evolved into PIP are still able to work if they want to. PIP is not taxable whilst ESA is.

According to the government website:-

"2. What you’ll get

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is usually paid every 4 weeks. It’s tax free and you can get it whether you’re in or out of work.

It’s made up of 2 components (parts). Whether you get 1 or both of these depends on how your condition affects you. "

gov.uk/pip/what-youll-get

Perhaps you could indicate where on the Benefits and Work website that it says the DWP have started to link PIP to ESA even though they're separate benefits. I could not see it.

regards

Susan