PIP

[Londonal]

Hi all, my name is Alan and have been suffering with Rheumatoid Arthritis for the last 15 years. It has got to the stage of me having to give up work due to the pain or the high dose of painkillers I need to numbthe pain. I am thinking of applying for pip, but from what I've read across the Web this can be quite traumatic. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Al

[Bananas5]

Hello Alan and welcome on board.

Do you mean PIP which is paid, if you qualify, whether you are in or out of work.

The out of work benefit for those chronically sick or disabled is ESA

Yes PIP can be daunting! It isn't made easy for a variety of reasons most I ca't speak about. But....if you fill in the forms with help if possible and collect as much medical evidnce s you can - then you will have a fighting chance.

From when you apply for PIP you only get 4 weeks to fill in and return the forms. So...advice is get as much done and then apply for paper work and should have enough time.

Benefits and Work is an excellent site for information but costs a few pennies to join. Worth every penny.

x

[GarryAS in reply to Bananas5]

Are you even on benefits?

[Bananas5 in reply to GarryAS]

Are you asking me or Londonal?

[Matt8394Alien]

Takes on average about 3-4 months for PIP to be processed from when you do the PIP1 over the phone which takes about ten minutes. You get 40 days to complete and return the PIP2 but you can call the PIP enquiry line and ask for a 2 week extension if required.

PIP is for us who are disabled who may or may not work so it's non means tested. ESA is for those out of work.

[GarryAS]

Hello mate my name is Gary I've been suffering from ankylosing spondylitis for about 14 years it's getting worse but I'm handling it. Of course you should go for pip. They like to mess you about sometimes but just use the letters from your specialists and you'll be fine I've had a few arguments in the past with them but nothing that wasn't quickly solved. Ultimately they cannot argue with the advice of your rheumatologist and any help when you exist in a state of constant pain is welcome good luck sir

[Londonal]

Hi all, thanks for replies. Since applying for PIP I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis as well which my GP thinks I've had for sometime going by the x rays I've had taken of knees and shoulders. I finally had my face to face pip assessment yesterday. I feel the assessment went well even though some of the questions I was asked were a bit odd. Now I wasn't trying to fool them, but they were definitely trying to trip me up with my answers to some of their questions about my pain and day to day living. My assessor could clearly see that I was in quite some discomfort but still asked me to do things with my hands, shoulders knees etc. I refused to do most of these because of the pain I was in and he kept on typing away and asking questions about day to day living. The one piece of advice I would give is to copy the pip form you send in and read it before you go for assessment. They do ask you questions in a roundabout way to which you've already answered on the form. Some of the mental questions that he asked were: spell the word 'world' backwards. If I spent 75p how much change I would get from £1. The assessment lasted about 90 minutes including the 15 mins wait in reception in which you feel like your being watched (cc tv cameras everywhere). I now have the 4-6 week wait to find out if I'm eligible for any of the pip components. Watch this space.

Alan