PIP advice

[didntsignupfothis]

I applied for PIP due to several conditions I have. In my application it covered one of them, that my anxiety is triggered by meeting new people and taking phone calls. This then spirals into being completely overwhelmed, panic, then shut down which is really distressing and won’t be of any use to anyone.
They sent out a letter asking me to take a phone call to go over my application. Now I know most applications get a further meeting/phone call to clarify some information etc but why arrange a phone call when one of the things I struggle with, is exactly that.
They then sent a form asking for a reason for not taking the call to which I replied the same as I mentioned above and I got a text today saying that I missed my first appointment and they will call me again today.
Can anyone advise what I could do so that my claim doesn’t get thrown out completely?

I think you have to do the interview. Is there someone you can have with you to be of moral support? It's extremely nerve wracking for a lot of people to go through it but if you keep refusing the interview calls they probably will discontinued the claim.

Can you ask someone to be with you to manage the call? Did they notify you of the time they would call in advance?

You could have someone trusted, like a friend or family member sit beside you to take the phone call with you/support you. I helped my sister with hers and we put the phone on speaker. You can also request breaks to gather yourself or have a drink of water etc.

You do need to take the call though, otherwise they may request a face to face meeting which I would imagine would be scarier for you. They could argue that you may need to have consultations with doctors or medical examiners due to your condition and you wouldnt know them. Good luck it wont be as bad as you think, I definitely recommend having someone beside you x

Thanks OP.

I am in a similar position to you, so also keen to know the answer.

Also, do you know the max amount we could be eligible to receive?

I believe you can ask for a paper based application but not sure how you can go about it. Maybe call dwp and ask!

Did you not have someone who could be an appointee? They can manage your money and can also speak for you.

You can ask for a paper based assessment but you need medical evidence really and the DWP don’t have to agree to it.

It would be much easier for you to just have someone with you on the call and ask the interviewer to speak to them.

What extra costs do you have due to this anxiety?

I requested a paper based assessment and had a 10 minutes max phone call just to clarify a few things. Still hard work but much better than the lengthy face to face appointments I’ve heard about. Hope it gets sorted for you OP, I remember the additional anxiety it caused me

Kindly OP, this is public money you’re asking for. You have to jump through their hoops, no matter how difficult it can be.

I could possibly ask for someone to speak for me but wasn’t sure if they would allow that or not. I know it’s something they need to do but unless you have severe anxiety around things like this that cause you to completely shut down, it makes the situation worse. I’m wondering if they will do a paper assessment instead 🤔

I didn’t know they would speak to someone else yon your behalf. I just need to find out how to request that via email or post.

I guess you can ask them. It seems awful that they make you do the thing that exacerbates your illness. I don't think they'll let someone speak for you. But it's worth a try. I hope you find the strength to get through it and get the award you're entitled to. X

Yes I completely understand that and I certainly wouldn’t be claiming if it wasn’t necessary like the poster above questioning me how my anxiety costs me money 🤨 some people mention doing a paper based assessment so might try find out how to do that instead 🙂

Thankyou. It’s not actually the anxiety I’m claiming for. I have two medical conditions that I’m claiming for however, severe anxiety gets in the way of things like getting support etc because I’m unable to communicate in these situations 😔

I’d really appreciate having a paper based one, as the pressure of having to take a call makes me spiral into a complete shut down. So making a call to get the paper based assessment would have to be done by someone else 🥲

Thankyou, this is really helpful.
I do receive a lot of support around my mental health in addition to my other conditions and have many appointments but I completely shut down and have ended up in crisis every appointment for a while, until I was able to build a relationship with them. And this was in a safe place that it didn’t matter if that happened and there were no expectations on me to speak etc but I completely understand what you are saying 🙂

Can anyone help with how much we can get, please?

I am in a similar place to the OP.

You could maybe request your gp to write you a letter explaining how your anxiety causes extreme stress when speaking to new/unfamiliar people - add it as additional evidence to support your request for a paper based assessment. I would imagine the more evidence you have to show that explains how this phone call would effect you the better your chances they skip the one to one phone call.

I was able to support muly sister with her call and they asked for her permission for me to support her but they did ask her direct questions which I then explained to her and when I seen she was becoming stressed I asked for short breaks to give her water etc.

You don’t need to request it. When they phone you just answer your name etc and then tell ask them to please speak with the person next to you as you find it too distressing. As long as you are with the person, they can speak.

Thanks for the DM!

Up to £194.60/week, tax free.

These are the PIP rates per week:

Standard care: £76.70
Enhanced care:£114.60

Standard mobility: £30.30
Enhanced mobility: £80.00

Thank you!

I see some daft stuff here but that takes the biscuit.

If your health condition means you can't go through the standard process then you can't do it' Full Stop. If somebody has agoraphobia to the extent they're foaming at the mouth and pass out if they step out of their front door the DWP can't insist on them, for example, going to the Job Centre to get their bank details verified.

Equality law and the Public Sector Equality Duty require them to adapt the process so people with disabilities can access the service on equal terms.

The law calls this process Reasonable Adjustments.

@didntsignupfothis should contact PIP, explain their difficulty and attempt to get DWP to agree and adjustment. For example a home visit or F2F meeting on premises of DWP or the contractor doing the assessment.

How is OP going to deal with a face to face meeting if she can’t face new people @Bromptotoo ? Wouldn’t a phone call demonstrate how difficult the OP finds these situations and work in her favour?