PIP for Anxiety

[IntelligenceIsFree]

AIBU to clear things up?

The current nasty rhetoric around disabled people at the moment is astounding. Society needs to be reminded that we are ALL one illness or accident away from disability.

Everyone knows someone who is gaming the system, yet the PIP fraud rate is extremely low. The public demonising, does not match the reality.

The hot topic is “anxiety” and how people with “anxiety” are gaming the system, getting “free” cars and robbing tax payers; this is being constantly fed through media, news articles and so on.

This is simply not true. The people spouting this nonsense clearly have no idea how PIP works. Nobody gets PIP without strong medical evidence. Nobody.

Before anyone posts “my neighbour got PIP just by telling lies”. No, they did not. That’s not how it works.

People need to be educated properly on how benefits work, how they are awarded and what the criteria for mobility cars actually is; the cars are not in fact free.

People need to be educated on the fact that there is anxiety, which every human suffers from at some point, and then there are anxiety DISORDERS which are entirely different and can be life changing and debilitating. Hence, the need and entitlement for PIP.

Brenda down the road who feels too anxious to go to Bingo on a Friday night is NOT getting PIP ❌

Mary up the lane who has such severe OCD that she cannot leave her own home for fear that she will die, IS getting PIP .✅

There’s a huge difference.

The current turning on disabled people is shameful and we are living in a country full of hate because Bob (and his Uncle) are annoyed that they are paying tax to “support all of these scroungers”.

Bob (and his Uncle), needs to hope that they never get cancer, or suffer life changing trauma or have an unfortunate accident to avoid being served a huge scrounged humble pie.

I do not suffer from anxiety but as a human, I am pleased we have a system in society to support the most vulnerable people who need it. Life can happen to anyone.

You wont understand how the needs are assessed by asking individuals what they spend the money on because the needs assessed arent directly linked to money spent. Theres no requirement to spend any money at all. And money someone spend relating to their disabilty it might be relating to an area they didnt get many/any points in or arent even part of the assessment.

The line is drawn in the pip criteria. You can look up the bit around meal prep..

I heard about cancer patients not getting support in the early stages. It’s terrible and there should be an emergency assessment system in place for these situations.

Overpayments due to Fraud were 0.4% (£100m) in FYE 2025, compared with 0.0% (£0m) in FYE2024.
Overpayments due to Claimant Error were 0.7% (£190m) in FYE 2025, compared with 0.3% (£60m) in FYE 2024.
Overpayments due to Official Error were 0.2% (£40m) in FYE 2025, compared with 0.1% (£30m) in FYE 2024.

Overpayment by claimant “error” is still only 0.7%

There won’t be anything in the future for anyone at this rate

All the people I know on PIP have a genuine condition, there is one who's exaggerated their anxiety and arthritis for the car though. I'd say for every three people who genuinely need it there is one who has exaggerated greatly. I also know a few people who don't get PIP but do have considerable health issues, but for their own reasons don't want to apply.

I know somebody who gets pip for anxiety. Weirdly she only gets anxious in work place settings, she’s perfectly fine going on dates and seeing friends.
Im sure there are people who genuinely need it but there are definitely going to be lots taking the piss.

No.

Get your socialism away from me.

And you illegal men entering the country and taking the wealth.

I think it definitely depends on the assessor and their knowledge on the type of disability you have. I got denied first time and I absolutely shouldn't of been then I got high rate for both on MR without any further evidence or interviews. Where pip could seriously improve is by using the pip assessors medical knowledge appropriately. I have a rare condition that effects all my organs there is no point in a podiatrist assessing me especially if they are then going to disagree with specialists i have been under for decades. These aren't your average consultant at your local hospital and my first pip assessor thought she could challenge them with absolutely zero knowledge to back what she was saying it was actually embarrassing. When I called about MR and obviously questioned some of the things she had wrote as they didn't even make scientific sense and was medically impossible I said I thought the assessors where medical professionals and he didn't know what to say. To be fair he did say they would fast track my MR which they did.

I'd like to know how much tribunals and MR costs the taxpayer

my tribunal is on the 18th. Any tips?

There won't be any jobs in the future either with the advancement in technology. But I wouldn't worry about it trump will have got us all killed well before then

Lots of evidence get letters from all your consultants, carers etc you need to be able to prove what you are saying. Also receipts for any equipment you use or therapies you pay privately for or physio etc

This.

Still remember a thread where OP had a student daughter doing really well at uni, but apparently she was too stressed to use public transport and needed ready meals because she'd burn food. That poster was unhappy that daughter didn't get max amount of PIP.

This. The level of cost is determined by assessment of a range of daily living and mobility activities to assess the level of disability. The more difficulty the claimant has with those activities the more points are awarded, and potentially the higher the award. The mistake that a lot of posters make is in assuming that PIP only covers costs such as renewing aids and appliances and travel costs. It doesn’t. Almost anything can be an allowable disability related cost if it’s as a direct result of the claimants’ condition or disability.

An example is incontinence - that’s likely to result in much higher energy costs because of extra washing/bathing. If you need care/help while bathing or toileting that’s likely to incur extra costs because care costs money. Many disabled people need home helps for housework/gardening and handyman services because something as simple as changing a light bulb is impossible unless you have someone to do it for you. This poster asked where we draw the line in what costs are allowable. I would ask the same question because every independent study has supported the fact that disability benefits don’t cover all of the costs incurred, it’s a contribution towards it.

Exactly my pip doesn't even cover close to what it costs and I also don't think people realise how much the nhs doesn't actually cover anymore.

I've never worked and have claimed DLA and PIP since I was 16. I'm 35 now. I have autism, bpd, complex mental health issues.

I don't give a shit if people judge me for being on benefits. If society didn't have so many barriers to employment for people like me, maybe we could actually work. 'normal' people are struggling to get jobs as there is huge competition for basic roles. Employers don't WANT to employ disabled people. They don't want autistic and/or mentally ill people to work for them, otherwise it wouldn't be so difficult for disabled people to find work.

To the people who keep bitching about "the welfare state isn't sustainable blah blah blah", I ask you this : where are all these jobs going to come from?! Where are all these employers lining up to employ disabled people?! You don't have an answer to that. You haven't thought that far ahead because the truth is, you would happily see disabled people living in abject poverty with no freedoms. That is the truth of it. You only care when it happens to you or your child, but of course you are "deserving" and a genuine case.

My friend has Schizoaffective disorder. Basically Schizophrenia AND Bipolar. She is on a cocktail of strong meds including anti-psychotics. To look at, she looks "normal". It's only when she talks do you realise something is wrong as she has slurred speech due to her being so drugged up. She hears voices, sees frightening things that aren't there. How the fuck is she supposed to work? She has high rate PIP and a mobility car which her husband drives.

People are very quick to judge people who claim PIP because they look normal or can do xyz, but you don't know their medical history, or what is going on in their minds, let alone their diagnosis.

So yeah, I feel zero shame at claiming PIP, why should I?

My experience is that some people do play the system or at least exaggerate or elaborate symptoms of mental distress or illness. I think the fault lies with the system where it is possible to write off people or to write of yourself in terms of work.
One young person I met was apparently too disabled to work but managed to get themselves to a series of festivals over a summer. Once at these events as a volunteer they were too disabled to do any volunteering per se, but well enough to camp and use the mobility vehicles to go out until late to drink, dance and take a bit of this and that. And then get the mobility vehicle back. The entitlement and lack of self awareness was a bit mind blowing to me.
I think of myself as Liberal and inclusive. I am happy to pay taxes to ensure that the most vulnerable in our society can have the care and support they need. But the benefits system does seem broken now, so many claims and some of these people should not be claiming.

Why do they need a car? She doesn't work. She doesn't drive it.

So how is the treasury able to claim so much from them? You can’t have it both ways. I’m sure if a low earner seeks advice on tax efficient planning that’s all good with you, but when it’s a high earner not so much. Easy to be generous with someone else’s money isn’t it??

To address your first point, PIP doesn’t cover all the additional cost of living with disability - it’s not intended to and it would be unsustainable. It’s a contribution and the line is drawn with a range of daily living and mobility activities designed to assess how much difficulty and assistance with those activities a disabled person needs. Those with the most difficulty are assessed as having the highest cost so receive the highest contribution towards that cost.

On your second point, I’m no expert but it does sound as though something is amiss and any neurodiversity or other condition responsible for your difficulties in this area would be assessed for PIP.

The PIP cooking test looks at your ability to cook a simple meal for one person using fresh ingredients, and a microwave or hob at waist height. It doesn’t consider the ability to use an oven and it assumes that all ingredients and utensils are magically automatically in front of you ready for use, so any difficulty in bending or stretching, or even carrying the food you’ve cooked isn’t considered. If you are only occasionally unable to cook you won’t pass the test, as for any of the activities the impairment has to be there at least 50% of the time and the inability to cook has to be as a direct result of your impairment.

Someone who can’t cook because they’re exhausted after a twelve hour shift is in a temporary situation and it’s not caused by disability. Someone with a disability affecting their ability to cook would have to demonstrate that the impairment is substantial and present for at least 50% of the time. Not to mention the safety aspect of some disabled people in hazardous places like kitchens and bathrooms. Which is why there is a built in safeguard to the assessment - claimants must be able to carry out each activity safely, repeatedly as often as necessary throughout the day, and in a reasonable time frame (no more than twice the time it would take a non disabled person to complete the task) and in consideration of pain, breathlessness or other discomfort experienced throughout the activity.

PIP is not designed to support occasional difficulty, the test is harsh and governed by a standard objective test, designed to assess the level of disability then translate it into the expected level of extra cost. It’s deeply flawed in its design and some experts have said it’s not fit for purpose. But unfortunately this is not to the advantage of the claimant, but definitely stacks the odds against them.

Festivals aren't my cup of tea, but as someone with ME/CFS and various other conditions, I'd say this would be hypothetically doable for me at a push and with a lot of recovery time between events, even though I cannot work. And what does going out late have to do with anything? Disabled people are adults, not kids with a curfew.

Definitely a bit off to sign up as a volunteer then not be able to do any actual volunteering though.

Because she needs to get to appointments? She's allowed to have a life and go places. Not working doesn't mean you don't need a car. Her husband is her carer so he drives her to her appointments and takes her out.

It’s really depressing to see the number of posters who still think that being disabled means you can’t go out and enjoy yourself occasionally. Not to mention that many disabilities fluctuate - you may be perfectly capable of enjoying yourself one day and flat on your back the next. And there is also, as you rightly say, the need to pace yourself.

in a a PIP assessment, the DWP looks at how the claimant is most of the time. So ‘occasionally’ not being able to cook a meal would be ignored in a PIP assessment. If however the claimant is unable to cook a meal 4 days a week, that would be considered as not being to do it because that is more than half the time.

As far as your social anxiety it concerned, you may score some points in a PIP assessment but unless you have other problems too, you would not be awarded because it would be impossible to score enough points with just that.

The examples I gave of possible extra expenses resulting from anxiety are not necessarily tbe best or mostl likely. It’s hard to come up with examples because everyone is gong to be different. The private counselling is my real example. It has cost me £1000s. I had a serious fracture a few years ago. I didn’t have to pay for any of the treatment for that.

In this context, can you see how difficult it would be to prove a fraudulent claim? You catch someone who claims to be too disabled to work out running marathons or going to back to back festivals. They then claim that they did all this on their 'good' days. Without resource intensive and probably illegal surveillance it is almost impossible to catch fraudsters.