Claiming PIP

[Chrissie82]

Hi all,

I have just received my letter about claiming PIP, I have always received disability benefit, have other people had success with claiming it?? If so have the PIP people contacted you for interviews or spoken to your doctors or consultants??

Many thanks

Chrissie

[fionac66]

Hi

Have you read the info on our website? pcdsupport.org.uk/faqs/dla-...

If you need any more specific help then please email us at [e-mail]

[Chrissie82 in reply to fionac66]

I will read it, I just wondered if others have changed from DA to pip and if they were successful, I also wondered if the questions they ask you are about how your health will be in the future as I have no idea, I was diagnosed as very young and was one of the first batch of people to be diagnosed so I had help from very young which gave me a good start but I don't know how PCD effects people when they are older x

[TerryBun Administrator]

From what I have read on here previously, with PIP they don't want to know what is actually wrong with you, i.e., your actual diagnosis. They have a list of criteria, which they tick, such as can you lift your arms above your head, can you read a map, can you take nutrition unaided, etc. It's not about your actual condition but what you can and cannot do.

Apparently it's not very respiratory specific and doesn't take into account the need to do twice (and more) daily physio, time it takes to do nebulisers, etc. They do ask about hearing loss, I believe.

There were a couple of posts on here a while back, one person who had previously received DLA was told, she would not be getting PIP when they assessed her for it. Another person said her husband was granted PIP, and felt it was because they fortunately had a particularly sensitive assessor.

Seems a bit of a minefield out there, it might be worth getting some advice from Citizens Advice Bureau and good luck.

[Chrissie82 in reply to TerryBun]

Thanks, that's a shame respiratory isn't taken into account, I am self employed and when I am I'll I rely on my DA money!

[TerryBun Administrator in reply to Chrissie82]

Hi Chrissie,

I was just checking it all out online and it appears that you can go into more detail about your condition and how it affects you. So it is not, as I was led to believe, only a tick list. This sounds a bit more hopeful if you are able to give them your worst case scenario and tell them how you are when you are when your PCD is really causing you problems.

I hope it works out well for you.

[Chrissie82 in reply to TerryBun]

Thank you Terri, that's good to know!

[Anita5]

Hi Chrissie

I am just going through all the process at the moment. I am on DLA and have just been assessed for PIP. I am now on PIP and am about to ask for a mandatory reconsideration as I think they have under estimated my needs. I think the important thing is to do your homework before filling in the form and to get help. The CAB site have some excellent information on the descriptors and what to consider when answering them. It is important to consider if you can you do each activity "safely", "to an acceptable standard", "repeatedly" and "in a reasonable time period".

Hope that helps and good luck!

[C9RPY]

I would be very interested in any updates on claiming PIP. Like you Chrissie I'm self employed and I do find it a struggle these days. I applied for DLA years ago but was turned down.

I've just had two weeks off with an infection that took a while to get under control - and I'm always finishing early / starting late because I don't have the energy or feel dizzy etc. Would dearly love some financial support to help me cover the bills & rent when I'm not well enough to work. I do wear hearing aids to help me communicate - as repeated grommet / permavent tube operations as a child have diminished my hearing quite a lot.

It is so frustrating living with this condition - even my specialists at the Brompton seem to have no idea how much this condition affects your everyday life. I asked them about financial help and they said it's not possible.

Please keep this thread updated!

[Chrissie82 in reply to C9RPY]

Very frustrating! Well I posted back the form so when I hear the outcome I will let you know!

[Anita5 in reply to C9RPY]

I think it is really important to be well informed before filling in the form. There is a lot of information on the internet, but I think it is best to get specialist help. It is worth spending the time on it! I have just got it! Good luck.

[Hidden]

I’ve recently applied and had my assessment at home. Just waiting to hear now.. so nerve wracking!

[Leocat]

When I first applied for PIP, I was awarded it for a set period, when the need came to renew my health had deteriorated, and provided evidence in the form of consultant letters, after second assessment they decided I no longer qualified! Mandatory reconsideration got me no where so went down appeal route with the help of Benefits and Work (Found on Google) who advised how to go about appealing . I got a copy of the reports which were done following assessments, renewal, second report was full of inaccuracies and lies. To cut a long story short, I won my appeal. It’s horrible and stressful having to keep justifying you have an illness and embarrassing, but stick with it, this is a disability. Good luck to all