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AIBU?

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Original poster

This isn’t fair, this is fucking evil.

317 replies

MrsWrex · 27/10/2017 08:59

My wife has had her pip reassessment reduced because of one point.

Her condition hasn’t changed one bit, we have letters from various professionals stating this. Some assessor that knows jack about her condition has stated she has no problems with communication at all because she ‘sounded intelligent’ (yes, that is written in the reply letter, apparently you can’t have autism if you sound intelligent)

You can’t even get a diagnosis of autism without some glaring problems with communication.

Sorry, just needed to vent. Can’t do it at home as dw is stressed enough as it is. I’ve been trying to get her to stop adding up how much this is going to affect us. Dd has been diagnosed with autism too, I just feel terrified for them both in the future.

I’ve called up for a mandatory reconsideration, I am fairly certain we’ve got enough evidence to win a tribunal. This system just seems to be designed to stress us as much as possible, it’s wrong.

OP posts:
corythatwas · 28/10/2017 20:48

'I was asked why I hadn't killed myself yet if I was in that much pain.'

It does make you wonder how those assessors can live with themselves.

  • What did you do at work today, daddy?
  • I taught some little boys and girls to read.
  • What did you do, mummy?
  • I asked a sick lady why she hadn't killed herself yet.
mineofuselessinformation · 28/10/2017 20:50

I should add, (sorry, the whole thing makes me feel angry and stressed!) that I went through the report, quoted it paragraph by paragraph, and refuted the reasons given.
It was a horrible process because it focusses so much in the negative, but sadly is necessary because of the system.

DJBaggySmalls · 28/10/2017 20:50

ewen1234
It disgusts me that my son could not get it and people like this can.

Seriously, thats what you took away from the fact that a disabled women is forced to prostitute herself? Its that attitude that made people vote Tory and bring all this in. You reap as you sow.

SnorkellingCat · 28/10/2017 20:54

The system sucks.

My 2 year old needs extra care than other children. I could prove it because she's the only child in her room at Nursery who has 1-1 and she has to have language and communication work done by a SALT, and has an appointment for something at least once a fortnight. But twice despite appealing DLA said "no". I gave up after that.

ewen1234 · 28/10/2017 20:58

DJBaggy Smalls.....

The woman WASNT disabled!! That was my point!!!....My point was it seems to be the WRONG people this money is going to... My son may NOT be entitled to it and that is fine if that is their decision but there are so many other people out there who DO get it and for what???

Whats the use when people like you dont listen!!!

lazymum99 · 28/10/2017 21:00

Ewan1234 Drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes CHOOSE what they want to do and how they want to live.
Do you seriously think this. I have every sympathy with your son's Crohns but please try and educate yourself on other illnesses. This is insulting.

DJBaggySmalls · 28/10/2017 21:03

ewen1234
'People like me' know how difficult it is to claim PIP.
I havent watched the program. Are you saying she was prosecuted for fraud and had to pay all the falsely claimed PIP money back?

dataandspot · 28/10/2017 21:43

Ewen re crohns

I have sent you a pm. Not about dla but crohns.

4catsaremylife · 28/10/2017 21:59

Hi my ds1 was given PIP 3 years ago for ASD but my dd2 was denied it even though she is also ASD (as the assessor clearly hated me and thought I was trying it on) We went through all the steps for appeal unsuccessfully and eventually to tribunal. 5 days before the court date the DWP backed down and backdated her claim at enhanced rate. My advice contact NAS and use their benefits appeal guide also try and get into see a benefits rights adviser (my dd3 was at uni and we used the SU advice centre who were amazing)

phoneaddictalso · 28/10/2017 23:04

This makes for horrifying but essential reading... especially for Tory voters...

yogibunny · 29/10/2017 00:08

Nothing useful to add, but feel for you & the treatment of the disabled was a very big reason for me trying to vote the Tories out. I don’t have any experience of the system & cant offer any useful insight, but you have my utmost sympathy & support. It really is evil

JonSnowsWife · 29/10/2017 06:20

It disgusts me that my son could not get it and people like this can. Drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes CHOOSE what they want to do and how they want to live. My son did not choose to have Crohns. This has been inflicted on him through no fault of his own...

ewan1234 I'm one of a few who have very little sympathy for alcoholics but the fact you think people choose to be drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitute is beyond belief. Prostitution is the oldest Profession in the world, and as you know, PIP is not an out of work benefit so what the fact she is a Prostitute has to do with it is lost on me. It sounds like she got PIP for MH problems, which isn't at all uncommon.
PIP has very little to do with your diagnoses disabilities and illnesses and everything to do with how those three things affect day to day living and your activities.

Given your Profession, you should know more than most what Trigger offences are and what makes people 're-offend' and or keep using.

Re-apply for your son and this time appeal if it is still a no.

ellesworth · 29/10/2017 07:54

YANBU! A relative of mine, my dad's cousin in fact, was told he was fit to work, despite being barely able to walk any distance (one bad knee replacement and waiting on the other needing done) and suffering from early onset Alzheimer's.
I'd like to have known what job they thought he could do...

mumindoghouse · 29/10/2017 09:01

Society should be judged on how it treats its most vulnerable: Ghanaian, Truman, Churchill and many others.
So should our government imho. This system is evil. No system that was designed to be fair would result in that percentage of successful appeals. No government that was interested in the good of the people would know how many appeals are successful and not go back to the drawing board for a re-think.

mumindoghouse · 29/10/2017 09:02

Ghandi not Ghanaian

ewen1234 · 29/10/2017 09:39

Jonsnowswife,

You made a fair point and I take that on board. Maybe my wording was wrong but I think the point I was trying to make was that most drug addicts and alcoholics are that way because of circumstances and over time they become addicts therefore it is a choice to either keep going or stop. There are plenty or organisations and help out there but it is up to the person whether they take it or not. My son has Crohns and I cant even begin to understand this. As a parent, you DO ask yourself ...why?? why my son?? (and thats not me saying I would rather someone else's child had this condition and not mine, we have accepted this and he is getting on with it).

In life there are people with afflictions and people who have conditions and illnesses because they are self-inflicted. There is a big difference. I KNOW its wrong for me to feel the way a do about this, but Im a mother and I just cant help it.

But then again, maybe I should be more annoyed with the powers that be who make the final decisions as to who gets and who doesnt.

Jux · 29/10/2017 13:01

The trouble is, ewen, that that leads to not treating
Smokers
Fat people
Diabetics (Type II)
And that ends where? Do we include sports injuries, for instance? That’s the person’s choice too.

You see the problem, I’m sure.

ewen1234 · 29/10/2017 13:21

This is just one of these subjects Im afraid that can go on and on forever. Dont think/know if there are any right/wrong answers here but we are all entitled to our opinion.

I have mine and I dont expect everyone to agree with me at the end of the day the system still sucks!!

ProfessorCat · 29/10/2017 16:07

Sorry but you cannot compare druggies and alcoholics with cancer sufferers, MND etc.

There is ALWAYS a choice. No one forces anyone to inject poison into themselves or buy that vodka.

Traumatic experiences is just an excuse. I'm a CSA survivor, DA and have severe PTSD as a result of an extremely traumatic death. I have never turned to either.

lazymum99 · 29/10/2017 16:37

Well woopy woo for you professorcat. No one forces the cakes and biscuits on the morbidly obese or Type II diabetes amputees. No one forces the cigarettes on some of the lung cancer/heart disease patients. Where are you going to draw the line.
If this country could provide drug and alcohol services which go beyond the simple detox phase and give further support for many months it would solve some of these issues. And stop imprisoning drug addicts instead of trying to get them better.
Anyway we digress......PIP/ESA seems to be a bit of a lottery at the moment but having experience of appeals for about the last 3/4 years I have rarely seen a tribunal decision that is not fair.

HadronCollider · 29/10/2017 16:52

But just because you've had those experiences and never turned to alcohol to assuage your pain professor doesn't mean another person can cope as well. I'm a CSA survivor too, and have never touched drugs etc, but I have met others who have resorted to more drastic ways of coping with traumatic experiences by cutting themselves, or attempting suicide, or being extremely risky or sexually promiscuous. Individual differences, socialisation and degrees of support, how much negative experiences are internalised, account a great deal for how people cope with grim experiences. I have been extremely depressed in the past as a result of mine. I have never reached my potential or achieved a great career for e.g. But there are others with similar or worse experiences who have achieved a great many things, even amazing world changing things, and could turn around and say 'your trauma is no excuse'. Anecdotal comparison is a bit moot in my opinion.

HornyTortoise · 29/10/2017 16:57

My son is 18 and was diagnosed with Crohns Disease ( a very serious form of Crohns) and he applied for PIP. He was told he would have to go for a Face to Face consultation and I went with him. He received a letter about 10 weeks later to say that he did not qualify, but if he wanted to, he could appeal. He has not done this..

Your son should have appealed. Many many people who are actually entitled are refused after their 'medical'. 60% I believe...over half, at least. Some sources say 90% of decisions are overturned.

Please reapply, then appeal.

DHs cousin gets pip at standard rate for chrons.

ewen1234 · 29/10/2017 16:57

Please dont bombard me with hate posts but I still cannot get past the point of seeing that these two things are completely separate. There are those who are "self-inflicting" and those who are born with an affliction (albeit it may not come to light until later years!!).. What do you think an alcoholic, or a drug addict for that matter would spend PIP money on??? As for biscuits, cakes and cigarettes...totally different issue..

If there was only one more PIP payment to be made and the choice was to either give it to the alcoholic, (who would probably piss it up against a wall) or the poor drug addict (who would probably use it to shoot up somewhere) or a child with a serious illness (that they never asked for)...OK, the alcoholic or the drug addict got it!! What a fuckin uproar this would cause!!

I urge anyone to try and explain this to me in a way that I can understand the fairness of this because this is whats happening, the wrong people are being helped here and people who really also need it are not getting it because...??? why???

Again, please dont bother posting if it is to just give me a tongue-lashing. I genuinely dont get this and dont understand why so many people want to defend those who have mainly brought their own problems on....(Ill bet there are loads of people out there who think the way I do but probably just not able to say it!!!)

HornyTortoise · 29/10/2017 17:00

The alcoholics or addicts you are talking about, probably were refused when they applied, but they appealed.

I refuse to believe that these make up a large number of PIP claim ants like you seem to be implying.

Yes, illnesses and self inflicted conditions are different. But both can require help and support.

HornyTortoise · 29/10/2017 17:03

www.disabilitysecrets.com/resources/social-security-disability-coverage/benefits-chronic-alhoholism.htm

The Social Security Administration (SSA) cannot find you disabled based solely on your diagnosis of chronic alcoholism. However, many people who suffer from chronic alcoholism have physical or behavioral changes that limit their ability to function in a work situation and that are caused by their chronic use of alcohol. The SSA will not treat your claim any worse because your impairment is a result of chronic alcoholism.

However, if you are still drinking, and the SSA believes that if you stopped drinking your medical conditions would improve to the point where you would not be disabled, you won't get disability benefits.