PIP Turned down - decision is based on absolute opposite of what I said! Help!

[ItsDisneyBitch]

I had an hour call with PIP Assessor for DD, the DLA has been stopped as of this month.

The summary given has completely glossed over all the problems DD has! And contradicted all the points I have made.

Has anyone appealed successfully?

But she isn’t independent. She has to rely on me to remind her to do everything properly. Surely that is what personal independence payments are for?

Sounds about normal, you need to gather evidence and appeal but do remember you need to satisfy the criteria in multiple areas to get 8 points minimum which can be hard for mental/neuro diverse conditions because often they can do things. To be honest I've given up. Dd is autistic but the stress wasn't worth w

It is. You're right. But everything they do is designed to deny the disabled person the help they need.

Pp mentioned the inaccessible buildings.

They also lead you to the furthest away room and if you make it there then they say you have no problems walking.

They also pretend to be so supportive and sympathetic so don't be fooled by that. And never for a second trust them to accurately report what you said. Like I said, always record everything on a dictaphone.

@TILFA
Apologies I didn’t mean to generalise
I meant that if she couldn’t make a meal due to problems with her hands and dexterity it could also be difficult to open those horrible child proof bottles and to be able to do it with ease several times a day or open those pill containers .
Sorry for generalising

I didn’t make jt very clear what I was trying to explain

@ItsDisneyBitch

But she isn’t independent. She has to rely on me to remind her to do everything properly. Surely that is what personal independence payments are for?

Yes, you should get points for 'prompting' in this case, have a look at the descriptors and see which ones you think apply. It will help.

I told them worst days even down to personal hygiene in bathroom trouble doing it so need extra wash. Very embarrassed but it’s the truth some days I hobble every where.

Please do appeal. You can write a statement saying the details.

You might find the DWP ring you as it goes to the appeal stage and offer it to you, sometimes at a reduced rate.

Take care with this, they can be open to negotiation however. For example over length of the award. They can suddenly realise many more points are scored!

If they have made factual errors point it out at MR.

Out of interest does anyone know if they are still doing assessments mainly on the phone?

I heard this was the case but thought they would miss opportunities to lie perhaps, such as with the 'seeing someone walking in' example.

You have one month to challenge this decision.

If you call citizens advice they will help you with this. They have a team that challenges benefit decisions

Don't let it get to you, honestly this must be what they do, as I have had the exact same thing. Report came back and contradicticted literally everything I'd said on the phonecall. I burst into tears when I read it. Ive just pit in for a mandatory reconsideration- but I'm not expecting them to change their minds at that either. I think their way is to just be as difficult as possible in the hope most of us will give up with the stress and humiliation of it all.

Definitely appeal. It seems to be some sort of a game to some assessors - how many answers can we twist?!

The forms are stupid too - my DM had to fill in one for severely disabled DSis.

How far can she walk? Up to 10m, 10m-100m, more than 100m (these are examples, can't remember the exact options).

She can't walk. At all. But there's no option for that. So we had to tick "up to 10m", so they assume she can walk. Ridiculous!

Orangesandlemons77

Out of interest does anyone know if they are still doing assessments mainly on the phone?

I heard this was the case but thought they would miss opportunities to lie perhaps, such as with the 'seeing someone walking in' example.

I think so. Mine was but obviously they don’t need to see dd walk anywhere.

I downloaded the mandatory reconsideration form and I’ve filled it out and added a sheet clarifying each point and contradicting where they have contradicted me. I’ve also asked to see a copy of their report. Should I do more?

Also noticeably their letter is dated 11th March it turned up yesterday so leaving me with 2 weeks to respond within a month.

Yes they did this with me too! I was late in getting my MR in as result, I explained in it the reason why, that it took them 2 weeks to get it to me, leaving me not enough time to prepare!!! I had a text last week saying they've recieved it and I will hear back in around 12 weeks!

They are absolute tools - I said I cant get dressed without help from my child. Report said I can get dressed unaided !! It was like that throughout. I dont know how they get away with it, it could cause someone to spiral badly, it very nearly tipped me over the edge. It's almost like Gaslighting

@ItsDisneyBitch

An example is this; can she prepare a meal. My answer was she won’t eat or eats cereal unless someone can cook for her. I am the only person allowed near her food or she won’t eat. The one time she tried to cook I had to talk her through the oven and leave visual aid and a FaceTime to help.

They took this as she can cook and handle food. Well she can’t!

How old is she?

She is 16

It's very difficult OP. Ds had a lifetime award of DLA at HRM and HRC on transfer to PIP he got 2 points so no award. At Mandatory Reconsideration he got 4 points.
At Tribunal DWP had no case, they had no reasoning for the decisions they made, they admitted they hadn't looked at any of the reports we sent in and the only question they wanted to know was "Had he ever attended a football match?" Tribunal were really critical of DWP and awarded ds more than 20 points so he eventually got the same award he had had previously.
Did you send in reports from all professionals involved? Obviously no good if they don't look at them. You should appeal if the MR is unsuccessful.

Thanks for the reply about the phone assessments.

Yes they seem to do all they can to avoid you getting things in on time etc, just stay calm and try not to take anything personally (hard I know) write clearly and factually, the words to remember are repeatedly, reliably and safely. (I think) oh and for the majority of the time.

With me, the MR didn't change anything but suddenly after - when I filled in the (now online) form to appeal they rang and offered me the award (at higher rate)

So it's a bit like a court case with two 'sides' having to follow the deadlines etc / responses, and then with the appeals the final stage.

I successfully got my yds claim overturned. The whole point of this particular assessment was to get it raised to include the mobility element and they actually took it all away!
I phoned the dwp got a copy of the report the assessors wrote and what the determiner wrote. The assessor lied about a lot of things so I wrote a long letter stating each and every place where they lied ie my yd took the appointment letter out of my bag. She didn't, I took it out and gave it to her. There were so many others. She had not only her basic amount returned, she also had the lower level mobility component added.

If they kick back the mandatory reconsideration form what happens then?

If they refuse the mandatory reconsideration or don't change enough for you, you're off to the tribunal. You'll need to apply for that. Have a read:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/appeals/apply-to-tribunal/

@ItsDisneyBitch

If they kick back the mandatory reconsideration form what happens then?

Then you appeal, to the tribunals service. The form is online now.

@ItsDisneyBitch

If they kick back the mandatory reconsideration form what happens then?

You would need to go to appeal which can take up to a year depending on backlog in your area.

@ItsDisneyBitch

I downloaded the mandatory reconsideration form and I’ve filled it out and added a sheet clarifying each point and contradicting where they have contradicted me. I’ve also asked to see a copy of their report. Should I do more?

Also noticeably their letter is dated 11th March it turned up yesterday so leaving me with 2 weeks to respond within a month.

Don’t waste time contradicting the report in your MR ....you can call them all the liars under the sun....but they will just respond that that was the assessors interpretation .....concentrate on your evidence For the DM....give at least 2 examples for each category....actual examples of what happened when she tried these activities....to evidence that she cannot complete them safely and consistently....examples of her on her very worst days....don’t say ...she can only do it if x y and z.... cos that means she can do it