Hope you are all doing ok this morning. My post is about the recent PIP announcement and what I think we can do to try and limit the scope or the affect of the announcement reassessment timetable.
I’ll be contacting my MP and as I live in Scotland, my MSP who just happens to be the First Minister. I’ll be putting forward the argument that the DWP can search for claims which contain a demonstrable mental health element and can review these cases to see if the claimant has been awarded the full complement of points for the affect of their mental health condition.
I’ll be submitting that there is absolutely no need to reassess people who have already been judged entitled to the enhanced rates as there is no prospect that they are entitled to more money (which is the guise of the announcement); and I’d submit that where a mental health condition isn’t central to the application or where the claimant has already been awarded full mobility allowance then there is no need to review the application as doing so won’t change the outcome in the customers favour and will only serve to cause further stress and upset.
Here in Scotland the situation is complicated further as powers over PIP will be taken from the DWP and moved to the Scottish Government’s new Social Security Agency. For those of us in Scotland we could add a call for MSP’s and MP’s to ask the DWP to defer general PIP reassessments (subject to the above) as the Scottish Government will soon take over responsibility for PIP.
What does everyone think? Is it something we could perhaps collaborate on and come up with an open letter alongside contacting our own MP’s, AM’s, MLA’s and MP’s (perhaps even some sympathetic members of the House of Lords).
I understand some won’t want to go public and add their name to a letter and that is okay; contacting your own representative MP, AM, MLA or MSP will help up the pressure on the DWP.
As chair of Welfare Scotland and member of the group looking into how the new Social Security agency will be set up and how it will function, I am going to contact the new Scottish Social Security Minister and also put forward concerns into this recent announcement.
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I’m not sure how people are going to feel about my comment on PIP but I’m going to voice it anyway.
A friend of mine has dyslexia but she’s absolutely fine filling out forms etc and is perfectly normal in everyway she manages her own house and bills and everything that comes with it with no help, she receives over 130 a month more in PIP benefits than I do and I’m completely house bound can’t walk without crutches and can’t even walk to my toilet without crying in pain.
Now I’m all for people with mental health issues receiving that amount as I know first hand day to day and month to month how hard life is with that however I don’t believe slight dyslexia should even be on there let alone get that much money.
I’m glad they are going to help people with mental health issues more and that they are really finally starting to realise it’s a huge disability to so many people and they help that the PIP money brings is amazing
Yeah she had her assessment and everything it’s ridiculous, and they won’t re asses me as they said my condition can’t of changed that much from me being able to go to my assessment a year ago and if they did re asses me they said I might loose it if I don’t go to the assessment centre as they won’t come to my house and I can’t get to the assessment centre lol it’s just all a joke to be fair, 20 pound a week is not enough for me to get the help I desperately need.
I’m not sure how she even got through her assessment and still got that it does annoy me
PIP is mostly about luck, imho. Good assessor? Bad assessor? DM having a grumpy day?
However, please consider that you may not know the whole story here. Many people simply aren't comfortable telling others about their disabilities, sometimes because of stigma or embarrassment, and sometimes because, well, they shouldn't have to. As I'm sure you know, many disabilities are invisible. I know I hate it when John Q. Public notices my concessionary bus pass and demands that I prove that I'm entitled to it. If I weren't massively anxious about these situations perhaps I'd be able to look at them coldly and say, "I murdered my brother when I was 6, so the quacks like to keep me on a short leash." Hah! At least I entertain myself.
Perhaps she has incontinence problems. Perhaps she's also mentally ill but doesn't want to share that with you. Perhaps she has kidney disease and when her function gets low enough she'll go on the transplant list, but until then she'd rather not make a big deal of it.
They do this enough to us; let's not do it to each other, hmm?
I’ve known her my whole life I’ve read her doctors notes I’ve gone to doctors with her I’ve called people for her I know everything there is to know and she makes everything about herself sound a lot worse.
So please don’t get all high and mighty on me because I literally know everything there is to know about her and there is nothing else wrong with her she just plays the system.
Hi there I suggest that you call a PIP help centre and contact your local councillor as they will both be able to help you. Don't be put off by them saying that a reassessment may result in you losing your claim as they say that to everybody. Get your consultant to do you a letter also then I'm sure you will be awarded a higher amount....good luck🍀
PIP is not fit for purpose. It is funded by the tax payer and the tax payer does not want to pay more tax than they need to.
I am on PIP and I use it to fund medical treatment. This is comparison to many who use it to pay for social activities. I find it embarrassing that because I recieve PIP I receive an extra £50 per week in ESA benefits. The old DLA where I received an extra £20 was used for medical treatment.
What is needed is the development of skills and help to live a reasonable quality life and the means to provide various forms of support to the local community. Why should I be on the scrap heap because I have a long term disability? What is offered instead is nothing that is of much us. The money from PIP can buy a fancy TV and fund holidays, but who is that helping?
I have met people with mental health problems who live in a world of their own. They do not pay electricity bills they are unable to manage simple management skills and lack discernment. How is throwing money at them going to help them if they lack discernment skills.
If a PIP assessment decides that a person has mental health problems then social ability courses need to be available with people made available to to help. It took me years to discover the mental health damage that the after effects of a road traffic accident did to me. It was very hard work to try and develop the means to regain lost skills or find the means to find alternative methods of doing things for skills that cannot be regained.
We all need the tools to investigate are own health disability and the people to help us develop skills. The NHS does not recognise the need for this because it still concentrates on treatment to be given in the shortest amount of time.
This may be not quite on topic, but I think it needs to be discussed.
Hi John I think you have a lot of valid points on people needing more help with their medical matters but I do think people have the right to spend the money as they wish. You can't give it then dictate on how it must be spent. Maybe we could be offered some treatment that's not available on the NHS where we could pay weekly.....just a thought.
Sorry John Smith I think you have lost the meaning of PIP. Sounds like you are describing ESA and, getting people of whatever the health or disability is, back to work.
As you know PIP can be paid whether you work or not. It is paid to help with the extra costs of that disability or chronic illness.. For some people who can barely move..a TV may help. Or a holiday.. Yes it can, and does, pay for drugs for many people. CBD is becoming a very good alternative...a natural medicine but not available on a script.
A mobility car, which is not free, can enable someone to work. The care component can pay for a PA to help you get up, dressed and ready for work.
My husband gets a War Pension for serious injuries while serving in the Royal Navy. This money goes a long way to giving him some quality of life. Paid for by Tax payers...we all pay tax in some form. Would you say he doesn't deserve that life?
I get mine for a totally different reason.I do not have a chronic illness nor MH. But the DWP decided I fully meet their criteria so awarded mine to enable me to leave the house and have a life too.
I do not feel ashamed but meet life head on with all its challenges.No one should be made to feel inadequate because they can't do as the rest of the pack do.
I have PIP and for me it pays for treatment which enables me to function better than I other wise would. I am very aware of the extra expense that disability can cause. I am also aware that I was happy with DLA at the lowest level and had that taken away and had to fight for PIP which awards money at a higher level.
Whether we like it or not there is a money shortage coming in 2020. The figures of what will come in taxes will have a problem meeting the Government's out goings. This will result in many short cuts being taken that will cause injury to people. it is already happening. Grenfell Tower is a case in point. Someone did not have time to check what fire ratings meant because there were not enough people employed to do a particular job.
There is a shortage of police because of lack of money. I would be happy to receive a little less money. However, the law says you can only receive help if you meet certain criteria. It does not discriminate as to how bad the criteria of disability is.
I have to meet my GP on a regular basis because I am on ESA and need them to be on board about my disability when I run into difficulties with the DWP. You have to search my medical records to find what my disabilities are because the computer system does not flag up the condition I have. This costs money in terms of NHS time.
Reform is needed. I do not know what the reform is.
Thanks for the link. I have had a quick read. I also read some more of the paper and felt disappointment on its lack of addressing the need for disabled people to have education to help with managing quality of life.
Many people with chronic conditions are short of money and have to spend a lot more time on doing things that a person in good health can do relatively quickly. How can I have good healthy food on a limited budget? How can I enable life to be worthwhile on a limited budget? How can I determine what time management issues need juggling. How do I determine what people I know are destructive to good mental health and what people will help me to grow as a person?
These questions require a lot of research, time and effort. An Educational officer provided by government to provide some help in this area would be most useful.
We are getting quite a few enquiries about the new mental health ruling re PIP, here is how the DWP will deal with it, you do not need to appeal the decision separately however we will know more as time passes:
REF: MH court ruling The DWP said no one will have to endure a fresh face-to-face disability assessment instead case managers will review people's claims using existing information, and bump up their benefits if appropriate.
Case managers will contact claimants or ...their GPs if they need to find out more.
Priority will be given to claimants who have since died, and those who had their benefits denied entirely.
Officials will then move on to those who were paid PIP but got less than they deserved.
Officials will then move on to those who were paid PIP but got less than they deserved.
The Minister refused to publish a timetable of how many months or even years it will take for this 'complex exercise' to be completed.
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