To be utterly broken by the PIP review process?

[IdidNotAskForThisIllness]

I have ME/CFS and have suffered with this awful debilitating complex illness for years.

I applied for PIP a few years ago and was immediately turned down but did score some points .

I was also turned down at re consideration.

I went to tribunal and I won for enhanced care .

It took almost a year from application to money being paid in to my bank account .

The responses in the reports were upsetting and infuriating - how a person can decide how much my disability affects me by asking a couple of questions in a 20 minute interview is beyond me.

Fast forward to this year and I was called for review - a full year before my award ends .

I was asked to attend face to face assessment and today , again, I've been turned down for ANY PIP.

Enhanced to nothing?!

Even though , I'm losing my job due to the illness , I've been off sick since last year and I've also told them how my condition has worsened.

I sent evidence I had but as this illness has no treatment plan , I no longer have a consultant so have no specialist to provide recent evidence . Such is the nature of the condition.

The most upsetting part is that on one of the areas of the report they've noted that how I was acting at the assessment is "inconsistent" with what I'm saying I can't do.

I've been entirely honest from the outset and the actual problem is that the assessor doesn't understand how this illness works - they don't seem to have understood that my ability to complete a descriptor deteriorates as the day goes on .

I'm so upset . Money is going to be so tight now.

I don't know if I have the energy to appeal

YANBU This is not being done in my name, but i am sorry it's happening to you and others.

I'm so sorry - I have a similar condition. I can't help but didn't want to read and run. I'm sure one of the very knowledgeable people on PIP will be along soon to give you a bit of support. IN the meantime here's handhold from me.

You must try to carry on with the appeal. I know it's hard and dispiriting to have to go through this process but there is still hope that you will succeed.

I know I'm going to have to appeal

I just can't believe that I have to fight all over again .

I have just watched I Daniel Blake and was reading online about how the powers that be say this film isn’t a true reflection. It is a joke and I am so sorry you are going through this. Stay strong if you can

Yanbu. But don't quit, its what they want. Get help from CAB or Welfare Advice and appeal, the comments are inaccurate.

Many of the new assessment centres aren't even wheelchair accessible. That is a deliberate decision to make claiming more difficult.

Rationally I think I have a fair chance of winning an appeal again (I won the first time).

Common sense should prevail and see that as confirmed by the assessor that this is a lifelong condition , it wouldn't have magically become better because a non specialist has decided I'm fine?

Is it reasonable to think this?

My DH has started pulling the reports apart for mandatory reconsideration .

I know this is going to take months but I'm going to forget about it for now and we will just have to struggle on.

OP can you get yourself to the CAB?

PM me if I can help, I've had a little experience, and I'm here. 💚

I can't advise on the PIP thing but I just came here to say hang in there OP I have the same condition as you, plus fibromyalgia and undergoing diagnosis for an autoimmune condition and I know how it is when people just don't understand. The most simple thing is sometimes impossible or very painful. It will be hard to keep fighting when you're so tired but it sounds like your DH is already fighting your corner. Good luck x

Fightback4Justice, can be found on FB are amazing. They do everything, including attending assessments and Tribunals.
Might be worth you checking them out, good luck

Fightback4Justice, can be found on FB are amazing. They do everything, including attending assessments and Tribunals.
Might be worth you checking them out, good luck

Don't give up. That's what the bastards want.

Go to CAB, welfare rights or similar and get a benefit specialist to do your appeal. Then forget about it until the day of the tribunal.

They really are a bunch of cunts. As if a disabling condition isn't bad enough, they have to put people through all this shit just to get what they're entitled to. It makes my blood boil.

So sorry you’re going through this. I’ve experience in the area if you need any support. The majority of man re-cons and appeals I see won are those that strongly dispute the reports, doctors letters outlining the flaws in their findings, those who CAB are supporting with the appeal etc. Keep fighting. We need those who deserve the money to be paid it.

Sympathies, OP - I was so fucked over by ATOS over 10 years ago, I've never been able to face reapplying

I was talking to someone yesterday who has Fibromyalgia and had exactly the same experience OP, except they were turned down on appeal as

I'm just preparing for my pip tribunal atm.

It is utterly soul destroying I know.

Nothing constructive to say other than - you're not alone

Full sympathies OP. I was offered a job in that department which would have seen a significant pay rise and I turned it down. Having a disabled sister aside, I have read and heard people’s experiences of this and could not have that on my conscious at night. I hope it all works out for you.

I don't know if I have the energy to appeal

I know it's horrible, but please appeal. They are banking on people not appealling imo, that's why they are making so many shit decisions.

I think, and I know it's so awful, folks need to now think of the process as form, face-to-face, mandatory reconsideration and appeal. Just assume every time that they'll have to go to appeal. It doesn't help with the financial side of the wait I know, but they really are making appealling basically part of the process.

How outrageous. You keep fighting with every ounce of strength OP.

So sorry to hear this.

I’ve to face the review this time next year. I’ve rheumatoid arthritis and am dreading it.

Yanbu, the system is a national bloody disgrace
Please appeal.

This site has lots of useful info and detailed guides on how to claim to have the best chance of success. It does cost £19.95 for a years subscription, tho.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

I've helped a relative with applications and appeals over the last 15 years. It was exhausting for me, as someone who's not ill, and really wearing for my relative.
Get all the help you can to get an appeal in.

I went right through to tribunal. I got turned down. In the summing up of why, it totally contradicted my Consultants.

If what they said was right then it would mean that I'm under the wrong team at the hospital and my planned surgery was inappropriate.

Because i'd had surgery, I could start a new claim. I was awarded it.

The ironic thing is that I'm much better than I was.

If they choose to ignore your medical evidence, then there should be legal redress.

I went through the CAB.