Help me challenge my PIP decision

[Worried1987]

I have recently received my report back from my pip assessment and it is full of outright lies. I have only been awarded 2 points ( for reading). A lot of the areas where I believe I meet the criteria they have put worried reports no difficulties with this where in the assessment I described in great detail all the difficulties I do have with that task. For preparing food they acknowledge some of difficulties that I outlined but state that as I am on maternity leave from a job which involves interacting with others I can’t have difficulty with activities of daily living and have awarded me no points for this. My job has absolutely nothing to with preparing food ( just as well as I would set fire to myself if it did).

How do I challenge this ? I know I need to do a mandatory reconsideration before I appeal. How do I explain the report is lies? I am so upset. I wouldn’t mind if they had told the truth but they have made me out to be massive liar.

I really recommend fightback4justice. Like you, loads of inaccuracies in the rejection letter. Stuff about toileting when we didn't apply for that. We were successful in the end.

OP I was you several years ago. My assessment (not for PIP though ) contained so many spelling mistakes and so much incorrect information that I challenged the points I had been awarded on the basis that as the assessor couldn’t even get my name, sex and occupation right his assessment of my capabilities wasn’t right either
My GP had initially provided huge amounts of information to support my claim and when he saw how few points I had been awarded he dictated a letter of complaint whilst I was still with him to go with my appeal forms. It’s fair to say he didn’t mince his words.
i can’t remember now how long it took for my appeal to be heard but I do know that I was very apprehensive about attending as I expected that the panel would make things very difficult for me and support the assessors decision. Nothing could have been further from the truth - the chairman helped me up the stairs, made sure I was comfortable sitting and the few questions I was asked were all worded so that I could only answer in a way that favoured me.
I won my appeal without any outside help (other than my GP) but as I said earlier it was some years ago for a different benefit and things may be different now.
I am usually a person who finds it easy to let things ago but I have never forgotten my assessor - a working doctor who was obviously wanting some extra money and saw this as an easy way of doing it. If he’s still practicing now I hope that he pays more attention to what his patients are telling him than he did to me.

I also highly recommend Benefits and Work OP. They have a rather lengthy, very detailed booklet on exactly how to complete these forms. It is excellent, and been successful for me many times. Also, the wording and phrases you use are extremely important, such as safely, repeatedly, reliably etc.

It is more than possible to go from 2 points to 12. After being disabled and on DLA/PIP for some years, I was reassessed during lockdown. As usual, I sent my copious medical evidence, which usually completes my claim without a medical. However, on this occasion they insisted on a telephone assessment, which considering I'm autistic didn't go brilliantly. They ignored my written evidence, and gave me zero points.

I did get my PIP rewarded at MR, but I'm still baffled how I got zero points to start with. I'm bed bound, doubly incontinent, and can't even sit upright for more than 15 minutes without vomiting. Their initial denial would have done the greatest fiction writer proud!!

You obviously have difficulties, and if you weren't allowed to have PIP just because you work, it would be against the rules to start with. Please fight for every penny. The way this country is going, it may be the last chance you get.

Best of luck. 💐

Hi OP

They very much do lie on the assessment.

I had an at home assessment and my report was so wrong I thought maybe it was for someone else.

I had an accident and couldn't walk and used a wheelchair full time and they wrote just random shit about my accident which wasn't correct, got my injuries wrong (and I even gave them the admitting hospital report), got the drugs I was on wrong and wrote that I could walk when I couldn't at all,

I supplied them with loads of documentation (there was an insurance claim) so my injuries and subsequent treatments and capacities were well documented by medical experts from both the insurance company and my own doctors.

This wasn't descriptor level stuff it was simply - no, my right leg was injured not my left, no it was my ankle not my knee.

I was genuinely appalled at how useless the assessors were.

Thank you. It is good to know that you can be awarded PIP despite scoring low in an assessment. I have got some advice and they are hopeful I can get an award.

It's all too common to be awarded 0 points at assessment, but succeed at appeal, @Worried1987.

I work in welfare rights and at our team meeting yesterday we were looking at our PIP results. Overall, only 30-35% of our applications succeed at the initial stage. We challenge the decision on almost all of the ones that fail.

Around 10% get an award at mandatory reconsideration (mostly those that only miss out by a couple of points). The rest go to appeal, and our success rate at appeals is over 98%. Two of us have 100% success rate at appeals.

That's an awful lot of wrong decisions that the DWP are making.

That is reassuring to hear. Hopefully it will be successful when I appeal.

Well I've got my PiP assessment this week so fingers crossed!

Had my PiP assessment last week and although the person on the phone was pleasant they kept repeating phrases like 'On your very best day' or 'On a good day, could you do x'.

This felt really awkward, because I had to keep saying, 'Yes, possibly. But most days I could not do any of this.' They were not interested in any of the days I can't do things - just insisting on knowing things like 'on your very best day could you use a knife and fork?'.

I got the impression they were just wanting to put 'Yes' down for everything they could. Anything I said No to they just twisted around and asked another, different question that could be answered with a yes. For eg, I very rarely leave the house, and can't cope in social situations. One of the things they eventually asked was 'If you had to go to the doctors and you were in your driveway, waiting for your DH to find his car keys to take you and a neighbour stopped to speak, could you say good morning to them?'

I suspect they are now going to put down that I am fine to go out and fine to make conversation with people unsupported - even though this is far from the case. I can see me getting awarded nothing and having to go to appeal.

Another odd question was 'Do you have a pet in the house?' When I said yes they then changed the subject - and so I'm now wondering whether they have written that I manage to care for a pet - even though it is DHs dog and he feeds and walks it! I couldn't care for a pet, most days I can't get out of bed with CF. The poor bugger would starve.

But odd that after you said yes you weren't asked to elaborate. (Type of pet, etc) But knowing them they'd take the yes as you manage to care for it.

Sorry, @TigerRag They did ask me what type of pet, and when I said 'A dog' they just changed the subject. It was because of that I afterwards thought, 'They are going to write that I can walk and feed it - even though I had previously made it clear that DH has to care for me. '. I think it threw me because once I'd said 'Dog' there were no more questions!

They don't always ask you to elaborate, it's up to you to answer with full answers and not yes no one's. When my dd had her recent assessment, it took about an hour and half and she has just had both her mobility and daily living increased to higher rates. Before this call, I did a quick search and found a website which showed what sort of things they are asking for each question, and one thing it said was do not answer with just a yes or no. Elaborate.

I am grateful they didn't ask her hypothetically can she do xyz, as they did with my ed. Such a stupid question and I got a bit cross saying how can we answer that!? Hypothetically she can do anything if she didn't have her condition, doesn't mean she can do it, but they needed an answer.

@longtompot Thank you - I'm pleased your dd has had her rates raised. That's excellent.

Yes, I did mostly elaborate. I think (because a lot of my problems are cognitive) this just felt like it wasn't a question, if that makes sense. When asked 'what kind of pet' and I said 'A dog' they just then moved onto a completely different area. At no point did they say 'And can you walk/feed it?' in which case I could have elaborated on the fact that 'No I don't. I could not. If my DH was not here then I would have to re-home the dog as I am incapable of adequately taking care of a pet'.