Family member awarded enhanced pip - AIBU?

[Orangecrocs]

My family member has just been awarded enhanced pip in both living and mobility components.
Shes told me that she’s twisted the truth during the assessment and told the assessor that she has lots of pain and can’t really walk at all, but she walks all the time as I see her out and about - we live in a hilly area. I know people who are in a wheelchair and struggle to get enhanced rate - so I really don’t understand how she’s managed this.
I know people will say mind your own business but she’s told me she’s actually lied to them.

I've lost count of the amount of times I've corrected people over the advice of just basing every answer on your worst day. Apparently that's different to not telling the truth?

No I stated that it is possible to fly with arthritis and with other disabilities.

I’ve come across blue badge nosy parkers who think it’s not enough that you’re displaying a current badge. They seem to think they’re entitled to ask you why you have it - the ‘you don’t look very disabled’ crowd. I’ve developed a script for when I’m challenged. It consists of a hard stare and firmly telling them that that how I got the badge is none of their business - it’s current, it’s mine and I’m displaying it correctly. That’s where my obligation ends - anything else is between me and the issuing authority !!

I think that stuck in peoples’ minds because at one time DWP were asking claimants to think about how they were affected on their worst days when filling in the claim form for PIP. Now, the advice has been modified to thinking about how your disability affects you for the majority of days. The questions asked as part of the face to face assessment were supposed to clarify how often the claimant experienced their worst days and how they were affected on the majority of days. Since most PIP claims these days only seem to include a face to face if the extent of the condition can’t be verified any other way, the opportunity for clarification is less. Tricky.

It can be hard to understand even for those of us with direct experience. DS1 has never had assessment - DWP spoke to OT. He is very severely affected on a functional level by his autism which causes severe social anxiety such that he is practically housebound. He gets high level social and standard rate mobility. With review every 3 years.

DS2 was assessed on transfer to PIP from DLA. With the outcome that he also gets high rate social and standard rate mobility. Exactly the same number of points. But he is far less functionally disabled by his autism/ADHD. In that he is not housebound if that is not setting the bar too low. He was at 6th form at the time of review and now starting uni. PIP supports those with disabilities to achieve independent living.

DS1 has been let down. PIP doesn't meet the needs of those that will never live independently. There are no additional points for being so severely affected by anxiety that you are practically housebound (apart from a secure dog field which is the only outdoor time) and needing a full time carer because you don't eat or bathe or lock yourself in your bedroom if any one including a workman visits the house.

DS2 needs PIP and DSA to beat the odds and be one of the autistic with a job.

DS1 needs PIP and ESA and much better support.

I get high rate social and low rate mobility for mental health. I've never had an assessment of any kind, because my medical evidence was solid as a rock- statements from the psychiatrist I've seen monthly for 6 years, the therapist I've seen weekly for 5 years, and fact I've been sectioned for more than 6 months 3 times. The first award was for 2 years and the second was for 4 years.

I have no idea whatsoever how someone with mental health conditions can get high level mobility, that makes no sense.

@PocketSand @Barberries

It's not 'social' - I have never seen it described that way!! It's 'daily living'.

@PocketSand I think this is also adds to confusion. Everyone has an assessment in some form. DS1 has had an assessment, a paper based assessment.

There are points for not being able to undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress. Support with bathing and eating are also looked at under the daily living activities. For example, someone who needs physical help to wash will score more points than those who ‘only’ need prompting.

@Barberries people with mental health difficulties can qualify for enhanced mobility if cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.

Sorry I meant to quote the poster (20year renovation I think? )who is insistent that benefit bank accounts should be introduced!

I was on that discussion and I agree, they were really unpleasant - a few posters have commented in the same vein. Unfortunately I’ve had the same problem as you appear to have had in quoting - longer discussion strings tend to bring up the wrong quotes !!

I think comments like this demonstrate how little people know about what it’s like to live as a disabled person. PIP is universal and can be spent in any way that best supports the disabled person. And it’s designed that way for a reason. Every disability is different. No two people are affected by disability in the same way. So what they need to spend the benefit money will depend largely on how they are affected. It’s not a one size fits all system and nor should it be.

There’s an assumption on this thread that spending on disability related need is limited to aids, equipment and care. It’s not. If you’re disabled with very limited mobility you need to buy in services much more than someone without that disability. Think about it. Gardening, cleaning, essential house maintenance, taking care of yourself - bathing/washing/getting on and off the toilet. Shopping - if you’re housebound everything has to be ordered in. If you’re incontinent you have higher energy bills because of increased washing, bathing and laundry. Even changing a light bulb is down to someone else. The list of extra expense is endless. That’s what PIP is for - the extra expense of living with a disability. It’s called Daily Living component for a reason.

Benefit is already paid into the claimants bank account - issuing another bank account and debit card is just another layer of expense and it smacks of mistrust, not to mention discrimination. If the DWP suspect you of fraud they can inspect your bank account statements whenever they like. There are some dreadfully ignorant opinions here.

Yea - sorry - daily living not social. The thing is I filled in all the forms snd sent evidence for DS1's last review and heard nothing. Nada. We just continued to get the PIP. I've just sent in the documentation for his last review. The papers were sent 2nd class by post. I had to respond within 4 weeks of the date of the letter. 2 weeks had passed before I received them. The return envelope was 2nd class. I was on my toes and returned 1st class in the defined date. They are taking the piss.

Really clear, thank you.

I was in a supermarket recently, and overheard someone telling the security guard about a car in the disabled bay. He said the car was displaying a badge but "was not the sort of car a disabled person would have", whatever the fuck that means.

That’s the kind of ableist nonsense disabled people are up against every day. And some of the myths surrounding the provision of cars for the disabled via Motability don’t help. The envy is palpable, but no-one stops to consider whether they want the disability that qualifies you to use the scheme. I drive a small SUV because I’m a wheelchair user and there has to be space for the chair and the hoist - l also do better seated a bit higher up, which an SUV does. The number of times I’ve pulled into a disabled space and been challenged even before I’ve turned the engine off !!

On one hilarious occasion the nosy git who challenged me was sounding off about how I didn’t look disabled (how disabled can you look sitting behind the wheel !!). She was in the throes of demanding to see the badge as my wheelchair descended on the drivers side from the top box on the roof. I left her open mouthed and speechless when I got into the chair, asked her ‘how disabled do I look now ?’ and wheeled off !!

Before the days of mobility allowance, disabled people used to be issued with little blue one seater three wheel ‘invalid carriages’. We’ve moved on considerably since then, but when I read threads like this, I get the distinct impression that some people would like to see a return to those days.

Sometimes I think people would like disabled people to still have invacars,infact somebody on a thread I was on said they worked in the past so why not ,I asked him how it would work for disabled children when it's the parents that drive the car ,he didn't have an answer

I’ve posted a bit upthread about the invalid cars. Next time someone makes this kind of comment tell them that those vehicles were ableist and discriminatory and wouldn’t get past the Equality Act 2010 now. They isolated disabled people because they were only single seaters and they readily identified drivers as disabled.

They were also totally unreliable and dangerous - I know because I drove one from the age of 16 until the mobility allowance was introduced. They had motorbike controls and the accelerator cables used to snap regularly leaving you stranded. They had sliding doors which regularly came off the runners, and if you took a corner at more than five miles an hour they tipped over. It was illegal to drive them on the motorways. And I’ve heard of at least two people who had them spontaneously combust after parking up !!

This thread has been an eye opener. All those people who commented from the point of view of the cost of disability benefits to the tax payer - I wonder whether they’ve stopped to think how much it cost way back when it was common for disabled people to be ‘institutionalised’. If that were still the case, I’ll wager that it would cost a fair bit more than the provision of the disability benefits paid today.

It also shows ignorance as the types of disability that can qualify you for a Blue Badge. People think it is just people in wheelchairs.

My best friend has photophobia. She has a BB for it, but her DH has a little 2 seater sporty car. She has a BB because she has to be as close to the buildings as possible to avoid the sun.

I find it interesting those who have posted objecting to the motability scheme haven’t answered whether they also object to Family Fund (who provide a similar service to those under 3 and therefore not eligible for the motability scheme).

Yes.
A thread to have a go at disabled people, yet again.The people who are moaning, if they think it’s so easy, why don’t they claim it themselves!

The ‘planning and following a journey’ category is where those with mental health, sensory and cognitive disorders are assessed if they are applying solely on those grounds with no other physical disability. And the descriptors set a very high bar. The only way to achieve an enhanced award solely on these grounds is the descriptor 1f - ‘cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, orientation device or assistance dog’. The descriptor can only be satisfied by a very high level of disability, and covers severe forms of conditions like ASD spectrum disorders, some learning and cognitive disabilities, sensory disabilities like deafness and blindness and severe mental health conditions, including psychosis, schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder and BPD’s, to name a few.

I also find it really interesting that some of those who object to the Motability scheme don’t object to the PiP mobility component actually being paid to disabled people. That’s really strange considering that the mobility component is the only cost to the taxpayer involved in leasing a car on the scheme. Motability is a charity, and after handing over the mobility allowance to pay for the lease period, which covers maintenance, servicing and insurance, all other costs are covered by either the claimant or by way of means tested grants and allowances from Motability themselves. So it’s of no consequence to the tax payer whether the claimant uses the allowance to join the scheme or not.

I think some posters have no concept of what living as a disabled person means, and little idea of how the scheme works or of how much independence it offers to those with severe mobility problems. And the plain fact is, they just don’t like the fact that disabled people can get what they see as a ‘free car’. I do wonder how many of them would take up the offer of the ‘free car’ if they also had to take on the disability that goes with it. I suspect not many.

I really don't believe all these tales about someone who gets full PIP then laughs about it and performs somersaults while skiing on one leg singing Barcelona.

I simply don't.

So I'm a liar?

I know someone who broke a toe when she fell off a table whilst dancing. She claims PIP, and is sometimes in a wheelchair or on crutches.

She has a fluctuating condition, which means sometimes she can walk, and sometimes she can't.

Yet, on here, she will be considered a fraud.