Are the PIP changes going to effect your eligibility?

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The main change proposed is that you will have to score FOUR points in at least one daily living category to be eligible for the benefit.

A huge number of people are going to lose their benefit because of this change.

I'd love to know what jobs Liz Kendall thinks are going to give PIP claimants the dignity of work etc etc? Adult DS had mobility element and then even that was withdrawn. He has multiple mental health diagnoses including Borderline Personality disorder- also known as Emotionally Unstable personality disorder, and psychosis. He is unpredictable in his moods and reactions, unable to tolerate stress or even small negative events, becomes hostile and aggressive, then spirals into psychosis. His face (and body tho that would be hidden) are scarred from self harm. He has a history of multiple intentional overdoses from his 8 medications. He has no work experience to put on a CV. He also has depression, anxiety and ADHD. There is no support. Even if he were capable of work, who would employ him?
He needs the fucking dignity of CARE, not work.

Exactly this. All that I am quite sure of, is that there will be record numbers of appeals happening, when these new changes come in. This will still cost a considerable amount to process.🤔 They should really be looking at the process of assessment, it is not working!

ME association are on the case..... might not make any difference but.....
Don't think the approach is right anyway - questions are too tick box and don't reflect fluctuating conditions. Also, surprised that people can apply without diagnosed conditions.....
Am just going through the process myself with a tribunal date finally in place. Those doing the assessment have no idea of the conditions they are assessing (from my experience anyway!)

I don't know. My son has autism and is currently recieves some dla but would transition to pip later this year. We had already planned that he might not be eligible as the criteria are different.

He is fairly evenly mild to moderately affected on each category so I think the chance if a 4 are quite low.

He is in a special school which focuses on life skills and self care so if he doesnt qualify for pip the school has been a good investment for the country and people can stop moaning about his taxi costs.

(his autism is not profound, but nor is it mainstream, gcses, university, anxious - the only two presentations allowed on m)

No, thankfully.
I checked my last award letter and I am ok.
Annoyingly though I could have challenged further scores but didn’t because I already had more than enough points. If I had been aware of the new 4 point thing and hadn’t scored 4 in some categories I would have challenged the categories I got 3 in. In others I got 10 and 12.
I think a lot of people who are significantly disabled are going to have to fight at renewal time.

That’s usual for PIP anyway.

I agree with this.

My daily living score was 11 and i feel I scored higher but so many people on the help pages said that when they appealed they lost their whole award! And advised people not to risk it!

All the proposals are just that right now. There is a long way yo go before they become law. I hope there is a rethink about the points change. It is really cruel. As pp says it will just lead to more appeals and more expense.

My DH has 2×4 points and an ongoing ten year award with a light touch review. So who knows what will happen for people in that situation.

What people think that they should score, and what the assessors think, do not always tally, that much is evident.

Quite. And there will no doubt be incentives for assessors to remove 4s from people on reassessment.

It is shameful.

I think I get four on one thing but I'm not sure as it was so long ago. But I've got worse since in that I was sectioned, hospitalised and now have bad orthopaedic issues. I am getting very very concerned though.

no it won't , my adult dc is so disabled they have to live in a care home and have a DOLS in place.

sad to be relieved that they are the kind of disabled person that isn't judged.

It is horrible that the get is going down the "deserving" and "undeserving" disabled route.

I was wondering this too. I was awarded PIP for an indefinite period, avoiding scheduled reassessments, as my disabilities have been life-long and, barring a miracle, will not change. I am confident I will qualify for the enhanced rate of PIP under the new criteria due to the severity of my disability and its impact on daily living tasks, but I do not know if I will have to undergo the new assessment due to my lifetime award. I do worry for the many disabled people who will doubtless find their lives adversely affected by the removal of PIP due to no longer qualifying under the new system, while their conditions remain as severe as before.

This. I have no faith in the assessment process, and think that a lot of people who fit the criteria at this present time, may find it is a different story on review. Lots of people are going to be in for a long ride, if these changes go through.

100%

They already award the lowest they can.

If getting a 4 is the be all and end all of claims they just wont award them!

You can see from the amount of people who have all 2s and 3s on their awards (and get enhanced daily care!) that a 4 is hard to get anyways. But it didnt matter when smaller points added up.

Its a great eay for them to just disregard hundreds of thousands of people.

Its disgusting.

I don't think I'd get PIP under the new rules despite having MS and disability across a lot of categories. In each category I get 2 or 3 points, but not 4. I think the assessment is fair in my case, I shouldn't get 4 points in any one category. But the accumulation of disability across a lot of different areas of life has a bigger impact on me than say just being disabled in one category like "dressing" or "washing".

Looking at DD's PIP award she wouldn't be affected at the moment as, although she has some 2's she also has a number of 4's, 6's and even 8. Her review is in about 4 years time so who knows what will happen then.

Where she will be penalised is when she leaves school.

I will obviously lose the child element and disabled child element of UC and had expected that this would be compensated for by her being put in the LCWRA group on UC when she puts in her own claim. She will now not be entitled to this as she will be under 22.

I will also lose my single person discount on council tax and, obviously, child benefit.

DD has a condition which will never improve. Although she is in her late teens she is mentally around the age of 8/10. She is never likely to be able to hold down a job. I will probably be caring for her more once she leaves school but our income will be massively reduced. I have tried to work but because DD is often ill or attending appointments this has proved impossible.

I know that the government has to do something about the benefits bill but , despite what they are claiming, the most severely disabled will be badly affected by this.

My other alternative would be to put her into residential care, costing the government thousands but I would rather live on bread and water than do that. The government know that most carers will do anything to protect the person they care for and are cynically exploiting this.

At the moment I feel that I will never vote Labour again.

Also, if you have issues with your hands, can you open child-proof lids on medication?

DS autism & LD scores 4 or above in 6 categories and gets enhanced mobility. Under DLA we got lower mobility so PIP is more generous. We are going to be affected by the 20-22 UC change as he will have claim UC himself at 20 and may only get the basic element not the incapacity bit. But as he will start paying contributions to social care at age 20 I don’t think the loss will even affect us as the council would have taken that off him (and more) for care costs anyway.
It has always been the case those with high care needs using social care are left with much less income than those with milder needs who get PIP but don’t actually use it to buy in care or for disability equipment etc and aren’t subject to the minimum income guarantee that social care depts impose. It’s bizarre the impact on council budgets hasn’t been mentioned.

I used to work within a welfare rights charity and we’d advise the very same thing. If a category didn’t score ‘correctly’ (or even at all) it was almost irrelevant, it was the total amount of points that mattered to an award being made.
Appealing for increased points when you had already exceeded a total of 8-11 or above 12 wasn’t necessary and could put the entire claim at risk of reassessment.

Would lose standard care as descriptors for 4 points don't capture my difficulties
12 points for enhanced mobility
Was about to lease a Motability scooter, but don't know whether to leave it, remain housebound, and accept that the money saved can offset any removal of standard care and/or LCWRA, at least for a little while.
Also told my employer is letting me go as i have no prospect of being fit for work of any kind anytime soon.
Currently Band A for housing and praying that I will be offered something, which I will accept whatever the area/state of it.
I count myself as extraordinarily fortunate to even have this as an option as I have dependent children.

I can’t remember what my award was! I know I get the standard mobility rate but I can’t remember what I scored. I’m concerned I’m going to lose my benefit, even though I’m slightly worse than I was.

I get 4 in a couple of categories, mainly 2s and 3s in the rest and 12 points for mobility. I don’t think any of us can afford to be complacent, however, because I think they’re going to make it harder to score a 4 and just because you already have doesn’t mean you will going forward.

Just because we don't have a diagnosis doesn't mean we don't have needs. I'm highly unlikely to get a proper diagnosis. My needs are still there.

I will be affected by this as I only scored 2 points in categories and 12 points on mobility. But having gone through the criteria I should score 4 points on at least 2 categories. I'm due for a renewal in November 2026 so shouldn't be affected as forms are sent out months before