Pips appeal and what it's ?

[Pollyannna]

Has anyone ever had to go to an appeal with regards to a pips decision.

I have decided to appeal, and as I sit here .. moving back and forth on my chair, and being completely pulled up (doc meds only), and being Christmas I washed them down with a brandy and water, I find that my pain level is at a very manageable 3 .... And I just thought .. do I really need to appeal there decision.. if meds could keep me at this level, I would feel like I had just won't be Euro millions.. and I would be able to go back to work .. which would make me very happy....

Which brought on the thought that if pain meds worked , would I be nolonger elegible for pips ... What's your thoughts ? ..... Also if you been through the process.. what happens ?

[RAYJAYC]

Hi

Firstly, mixing pain meds with alcohol isn't a sensible idea because;

1. The alcohol can increase the effects of the med which can cause extra drowsiness.

2. These effects render you unable to function normally so definitely aren't conducive to going to work.

3. You might just like the pain relieving results a little too much and then you're on a slippery slope!

Yes I've been to tribunal with regard to PIP. I won but it was all due to extra medical evidence mixed with them actually seeing me on the day. It's tough going and requires some good organisation but is possible. They mainly went through the points that I disagreed with when I requested the MR.

If you've got some good medical back up from the professionals involved in your care who can reiterate your pointsmade in the MR then I say definitely go for it but be prepared for some invasive questions and attempts to 'catch you out' on certain areas. They word things differently and are expert at recognising body language, changes in intonation in your voice, the speed atwhich you answer and the answer itself!!

Good luck & stay away from the brandy!! 😊

RJC x

[Pollyannna in reply to RAYJAYC]

Hi, thank you for your reply, I have eventually finished the bottle of brand, so no more for me ... I did mention it to my doctor ..That taking my meds with alcohol does make them work faster, and he just smiled and said .. you didn't tell me that. But a seconed choice is coffee, to get a quicker response. As to having more medical evidence, it all depends on when I get a date, as I am under investigation,and hope to get a better diagnosis for my pain, and more help with regards to better medication, physiotherapy, and a management plan. My problem will be that if I am having a good day and my pain is anything under a 5 I seem to think that I am getting better now and am over the moon and full of positivaty even I don't believe how painful it will be in the next few hours or days, but unfortunately I can't choose, otherwise I would choose to be well all the time. I am glad that you won your appeal, and that they believed your suffering. How long did it take to get your appointment after you sent your mandatory letter back ?

[RAYJAYC in reply to Pollyannna]

My MR response came back within two weeks. The tribunal hearing was four months later.

[Pollyannna in reply to RAYJAYC]

Hi I have only been waiting for about 2 weeks .. I may be completely grey worrying about it if it takes that long .

[RAYJAYC in reply to Pollyannna]

So you've had your Mandatory Reconsideration result and you disagree with it so have filled in the form to request to go to tribunal?

If so, it's good that the wait for the hearing date is a few months away because that gives you time to collect all your medical evidence together. Once you've got a hearing date, you can still send evidence in up to seven days before (unless of course something major becomes available in those seven days; something that is beyond your control time wise like a consultant letter).

[Pollyannna in reply to RAYJAYC]

Hi my consultant advised me that they are behind with there letters to GPS .. my GP hasn't even got the !After from July yet so I am not sure what I can do. Although my main concern is getting help to get better, I am aware that it is a slow process, but I didn't expect the reports to be as slow. I did ask my GP about a letter but he said that if pips need one they will right to him and ask for one. So I don't know what else to do.

[RAYJAYC in reply to Pollyannna]

Waiting for doctor's letters is frustrating I agree but DONT RELY on the DWP contacting any of them!! They say that they will if they need to but it doesn't appear to happen!!

All I can advise is to openly beg whoever it is you're waiting for to please do so because one of your benefits claims is hinging on it!

[Pollyannna in reply to RAYJAYC]

Hi just re read the points that you made and my pain meds taken with alcohol don't make me drowsy, I tried it though tonight just to see and I am still awake and struggling to find sleep due to pain, I took my gabapentin and amitriptyline dihydrocodene and paracetamol at 9.30pm and it's currently 2am and I am just considering taking them again ..Although I know I am supposed to wait until morning... Any tips?.. I have noticed when reading other posts that I am only on a low dose, so that's probably why it doesn't make me drowsy. And yes i am addicted to not being in pain .. on occasion when I rest rest rest my meds work and it's wonderful. Then I feel I am back to normal and start pottering around the house and the pain starts again. If having no pain is a slippery slope .. I will happily slide down head first into my old life of independence hard work and even harder play xxx

[RAYJAYC in reply to Pollyannna]

This could swerve into an argument about alcohol & medication if we're not careful! The information with each medication will give advice or directions about avoiding alcohol whilst taking them and its up to you whether you heed that advice!! 😊

We're all addicted to being pain free; that's a 'high' we're all chasing but no pharmaceutical company in the land has managed to find the magic 'one suits all' answer yet! There are combinations of therapies and medications that solve it for some but alas, I and many other folk on here, are yet to have that luxury!!

You say that you're on lower doses of some meds than others? What are your prescribed doses of what?

*please don't double up or take any medication early to try to get some pain relief......I'm thinking maybe you need a medication review....

RJC x

[RAYJAYC in reply to Pollyannna]

......also, have you had any information about 'pacing' your activities to avoid the 'boom & bust' cycle?

RJC x

[Pollyannna in reply to RAYJAYC]

Thanks I think your right, I need a meds review, I have been advised to pace, but really struggle something, doing nothing for 90% of the day just to take down my pain levels to an acceptable level is really boring, but given the choice of boardham or pain ..I have been choosing extra pills . I will right it down for when I have my next pain clinic appointment x

[Blakejess]

It's not just based on meds . It's how yr daily life is affected i.e. Do u struggle with care and mobility. Could u get by with ou yr meds. Some people on pip need aids to get them through the day sticks chairs , purching stoles ect but there still awarded cos they need theses things to try to be independent. If you feel nothing has changed then appeal I did and won . If ur saying I can now live a full productive life able to care for yr self and mobilise then you most likely will not be successful. Welfare rights will review ur case and tell I if they feel u get some where

[Pollyannna in reply to Blakejess]

Thank you for your reply, I am better than I was on my first assessment and am hoping that pain clinic ect. Will make a huge difference, unfortunately when I had my first assessment the health care person told lies and said that I could do almost everything,she said nothing about situation,and just asking if I could peel a potato, to which I said of coarse I can, the fact that I hadn't tried since my accident was irrelevant, when in reality I couldn't move at all, but I was so poorly that I couldn't appeal .. when I say I am getting better to the second assessor, it's on my scale not there's .. but I didn't realise that until I read the report. I am glad you won your appeal, and I hope to do the same, or I would prefer pain clinic to make me better then I wouldn't need to go at all. How long did it take for appointment to come through ?

[Blakejess in reply to Pollyannna]

At least 6 months. Don't forget these people are trained to make assumptions and lie. U have to give them yr worse day s to .

[JeffMett]

I'm on Morphine for my pain, the trouble with pain medication they only hide the problem so what you have got to think is if I go back to work will this do more damage and can my body keep taking that level of medication, with my medication apparently it can damage my immune system. I was offered £72 a week to run a house and a car because I can't carry things like shopping very far, so I am going to work with my Doctor telling me I could becoming paralysed all I was told I could apply for more then. Don't worry I have not finished with these B_ _ _ _ _ _ s yet.

[Pollyannna in reply to JeffMett]

Good .. can you not see about ESA? the thing is !! It's a catch 22 .. take loads of pills .. and feel reasonable ok to potter around the house or don't take pain meds and suffer .. and still no nothing.. either way it's poo... I would rather take a magic pill and be better and not bother with pips or ESA for my stamp.

[Ydontujustdie]

I had to wait over a year to get to the first tier tribunal and the delay caused my conditions to deteriorate as I did not have the care or finances to maintain myself. My lifetime award of high rate care and mobility DLA was changed to 0 points for PIP when the assessor lied on every question. My motability car had been taken and I cannot even walk to my front gate to get in a taxi even if I could afford one so I can't attend medical appointments or go shopping so my entire income goes on delivered food and printing ink to reply to the kilos of paperwork I get from the DWP. I won the £21 pw basic rate motability on a paper hearing but then the DWP deducted £23 pw for a private pension thar I was forced to cash in when my income support was stopped for no reason. I had help from the CAB. A ruling in my favour from the independent case examiner and a previous tribunal. The DWP ignored all of these outcomes and I cannot initiate the complaints procedure because they ignore the letters even if they have been signed for. The attitude seems to be "so what are you gona do about it?" There is no legal aid for this and you can't go to the ombudsman without going through your MP who will only take action if you have completed the complaints process. The CAB complained that they had me between a rock and a hard place, they replied "we agree". I realise that every letter I write or form I fill in is a waste of time in the short term but I just hope it is all going to be valid evidence of abuse of office and other crimes if there is ever a proper investigation and hopefully some accountability and reparation. As the letters are written anonymously and signed by a person who does not exist they are covering themselves. What is important is to make subject access requests to get your files and find out the operator numbers from.the computer logins. I wrote to the first tier tribunal judge over a month ago to try to get my case to the second tier because there was an obvious error of law in his decision but have had no reply.

You may be pulling the tail of a psychopathic lion when you engage with these people

[Pollyannna in reply to Ydontujustdie]

Thank you for your reply, it sounds hurendos, can you get help from a partner, or family member or have you tried a disability help center, used to be called D.I.S.C, we have a drop in center in town, they are all volunteers, and very helpful.

[Ydontujustdie in reply to Pollyannna]

Where i live the CAB is open 6 hours a week and people literally fight to get in the queue which starts hours before opening. And they have no telephone or email service. I have been on a waiting list for an appointment at the local DIAL for over a year and all other services are for ethnic minorities only

[mjhp]

I have considered going down to the local office and setting it a light with a match then I would be looked after in prison, full meds bed TV food no worries no probs.

[Ydontujustdie in reply to mjhp]

Personally I would rather storm the place, drag the staff into the street and tar and feather them

[Pollyannna in reply to Ydontujustdie]

A little harsh, don't you think, I think they have to reduce numbers to save money, and are picking on everybody and probably hopeing that people will just give up, especially the ones who suffer anxiety aswell as pain and immobility. Easy pickings ..... Well not this time, I have help.

I did find that having my assessment for my stamp was better, (even though I did get a little upset) but at least they listened to me, and reported the truth... What a difference.

[Pollyannna in reply to mjhp]

Yes but it's not the people who work there .. it's the government.. well it was Camero, but I think things are due on change .. and not before time.

[Ydontujustdie in reply to Pollyannna]

It was never government policy to get staff to lie and act in a sadistic way. This is a culture that has developed because the staff enjoy the power. It would only take a few convictions for abuse of office to make them realise that they are not omnipotent and act appropriately. The government has tried to improve this behaviour and there have been 4 green papers warning them to stop treating people in such a harsh manner but they have ignored it as they have ignored the UN report telling them that they are violating human rights. The UK has now been demoted to the same level as China all because of the DWP which has by any definition become a terrorist organisation and a successful one that has killed thousands.

[Pollyannna in reply to Ydontujustdie]

I must say that due to the abuse and lies that I suffered has given me the strength to complain in about her to atos and I have received a reply that is as daft and (my word against hers) anyway she didn't admit it, as I expected, but I did think that if more people complained about poor treatment then someone may listen and it will week out the rotters. ( Wow for late reply)

[NFDK]

Their attitude is just deplorable, isn't it? I am in receipt of PIP at the regular rate for both care and mobility. There is a world of difference between the day of the assessment and now, 6 months later. My health has plummeted, I am no longer able to work and the pain has gone through the roof. The advisor at the CAB said that I should ask to be put up to the enhanced rate for both areas, but how can I? Because of the awful way that we are treated by these awful people who decide our futures and with some people, whether they live or die - in the cases of people suffering from depression, at least - I am too damn terrified to pick up the phone to tell them how much my health has worsened, in order to be able to get the extra help I need. I KNOW what the extra stress and fear will do to my pain levels....and I don't know if I could get through that kind of agony

[Pollyannna in reply to NFDK]

Hi, have you anyone, a partner or a member of your family who can help you, then at least your not directly in the firing line. It's a shame that you have had to give up work, have you looked at ESA to help, I know that it's means tested, which is why PIPS is good because it's not.

Pol x

[NFDK]

Thanks, Pollyannna - my son is officially my carer and he would go with me to any interview (interrogation!) - yes, I will be applying for ESA as soon as my old workplace sends me a certain form which I need. As we are poor as church mice, the means tested bit shouldn't matter Wendy x

[Pollyannna in reply to NFDK]

It's definitely worth applying for ESA, I had to when I was edited from work a few years ago and they helped with mortgage interest payments and council tax aswell as giving me nearly £100 a week for the other bills and food, .. I didn't know about pips then and they certainly didn't tell me about it either.. I should have put in for it then. Kind regards x

[NFDK]

Thank you, Pollyannna - you have been so helpful My son is going to phone my old head office tomorrow to get the paperwork that we need so that I can apply for ESA. Best wishes, Wendy x

[johnsmith]

See an organisation which specifies in benefits law. They can tell you what the law is and whether you need to modify your application to fit the PIP legal definitions.

You need to do this quickly.

Hope I have been helpful.

[Ydontujustdie in reply to johnsmith]

Before replying with this sort of advice you should also least verify it will be helpful. In many areas there is no advice available at all because what does exist is inundated and cannot take new clients. Even finding a lawyer that will take the work on for full fees is almost impossible. I begun by contacting a few organisations who reply that they can't help but suggest 3 or 4 other organisations. Each of them reply that they can't help but suggest a few other organisations which include some you have already tried. After contacting over 70 organisations they have all directed you to each other and wasted weeks of time and a fortune in ink jet replacements. People do not believe it can be so bad until they need to go through it all themselves

[Pollyannna in reply to Ydontujustdie]

I agree with you, there is the government web site which is very helpful, and another one called benefit and work (with no space's. I only wish that I had have known this years ago when I first "fell off my perch" I call it anyway. I hope you are sorted now.

Also this site is brill for info 😀

[johnsmith in reply to Ydontujustdie]

Thank you for the reply.

Everyone lives in different areas. It is impossible for me to know what is available in a person's local area. Where I live there are two agencies that I know of which specialise in benefit law. When I went for the PIP I used both. They were both helpful in explaining what the requirements of the law were in regard for PIP. They checked the wording of my appeal document in regard to the law's requirements. This enabled me to correct mistakes which I had not realised I had made.

One agency I found by chance, the other I had known about for years.

When I got DLA which I went for on advice from social services I used another benefit agency which has now closed.

Benefit law keeps changing. Case law keeps on getting updated. The only people who know what the latest law is and how to apply it are the agencies which specialise in benefit law.

As the result of the help I received from the benefit agencies I had approached I got the PIP. I had to go to a tribunal. I was provided legal help at the tribunal by one of the local benefit agencies.

I am sorry that you found what I said unhelpful.

[Pollyannna in reply to johnsmith]

It wasn't me which d what you said unhelpful.. however if you got that level of help you are very lucky and I am pleased that it is available for some people.. but for every one else we have Google and forums like this to share knowledge which is as we all know is ..... Or used to be power ...Even it it only feels like it 😊