It’s a DWP Miracle! I’m cured!!

[BendyAndTired]

I’ve been in receipt of standard rate daily living and mobility PIP for the last few years, due to Ehlers Danlos syndrome and post-sepsis syndrome (like long covid, but from sepsis)

I was awarded my PIP originally by scoring 9 for my daily living needs and 8 for my mobility. I have widespread pain and joint instability, and chronic fatigue, plus breathlessness and ‘brain fog’

I’ve just had my review and scored zero points. It’s a miracle, I didn’t even notice but apparently I’ve some how recovered from my lifelong incurable chronic degenerative conditions! I’m thrilled!! I can go back to work full time, start seeing friends for days out, cook, and clean my house, start gardening again, honestly, the possibilities are endless! Isn’t it amazing?!!??

Obviously I’ve started the mandatory reconsideration process, and asked for a copy of the review report the assessor wrote that made the decision maker conclude I’m actually perfectly fine. But holy fucking shit, it could take up to 15 weeks, and even then could go to tribunal.

I’m so angry and frustrated, this whole system is so corrupt and broken. I have medical evidence and testimonies from my GP, occupational health at work and my line manager about the accommodations they’ve made, and reduction in hours.

So sorry this has happened to you…. The system is broken.

The whole system is a mess, which I had hopes that Labour would at least attempt to sort out.

Have you heard of Benefits and Work? They have superb guides on how to do a successful MR or appeal. Good luck.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

Thank you, I’ll have a look at that. I do have help from a benefits advisor, but he’s so busy it’s hard to get an appointment with him.

I did too, but instead they made changes to make it harder to get support. My local MP is Labour, I asked her to vote against the 4 point rule change but she voted for it. A raise in taxes on big corporations or hoarded wealth could’ve raised the revenue they needed, but instead they went for the disabled

This happened to me a few years ago and I did an MR using Benefits and Work guides, as mentioned by a PP and also DWP’s own guides which referred to how if points were removed, they had to say why. So I asked what information my GP, consultant etc had given for them to conclude I was cured. Of course they had never even contacted anybody 🙄

I also queried the HP’s take on morphine only being prescribed for mild pain as opposed to NHS’s own description of it being a strong painkiller, prescribed for severe or long-standing pain. Lots of other things too that were factually incorrect, I tore their report to shreds to be honest and my MR was successful.

There is also a group called UK M.E. & Chronic Illness Benefits Advice Group if you are on Facebook, who are very helpful. I have shared my MR letter (with personal details removed) with a few members on there, as I understand figures for successful MR’s and always great.

It is an awful thing to go through, on top of daily pain and struggles. Wishing you lots of luck 💕

In a way I’m looking forward to reading the assessment report, because I recorded that whole call, so I can compare what was actually said and what was written down by the assessor. I had to go to tribunal for my original award, and I had gone through their report and made notes on it and pointed out how incorrect it was. They’d said I took mild pain relief (naproxen at 250/500mg 3-4 ties a day) and only took my anxiety meds once a week, amongst other flights of fantasy. The tribunal panel had read my corrections before I went into court and awarded me standard rate before we even began talking.

In this decision letter there’s no clear explanation of how or why they’ve taken all my points away, just a couple of (inaccurate) sentences (eg: I don’t take the maximum dose of my pain meds every time, yes, because I’ve been told to only max them when I’m having an acute flare or have subluxed a joint)

Its so stupid. I’m 99.9% certain to get this overturned, but the stress of having to fight it all over again is immense.

The disabled are just low hanging fruit in their eyes. The constant rhetoric that has been pedalled by the media, along with the backing of the Government, is why disabled people are fair game for more cutbacks, in future.

The relentless portrayal of disabled people being lazy workshy scroungers and benefit cheats is so demoralising.

It is so, and imo, a falsehood, but the public, in the main have to be on board for cuts to happen, without too much push back. The public, in the main, have absorbed the message that those on benefits, disability, etc, are somehow living it large, on what they receive from the public purse, and are somehow swinging the lead. This makes it easier for the Government to try to reduce whatever little help is available to disabled people, and so on.

What a nightmare!! Sorry they have done this to you op and I hope you manage to get it sorted out.
It's a ridiculous and inhumane system and the fact that people still think disabled people are workshy benefits scroungers is disgusting.

I'm sorry this has happened to you @BendyAndTired how horrible.

I really hope you can lodge and appeal and WIN it.

What a ludicrous system it is, when people with such serious conditions that are never going to get better are told they're FINE!

FFS, I despair.

All the best, good luck, and please do fight this. You deserve to be on those benefits...

Please do. The Benefits & Work website is excellent, and the free bits about PIP are comprehensive and interesting.

What a disgrace. I’m sure it will be overturned but what a shitshow.

same happened to my neighbour. He was a mechanic by trade and became severely disabled due to a car crash. He is unable to use his left arm and literally drags his left leg when he walks. He is in constant pain. They didn’t award him anything because he CAN walk 250 yards and ignored the fact that once doing that he has to rest for a long time and can even end up in bed for a day or two after. He can dress himself as long as he just wears baggy t shirts and tracksuit bottoms because he can’t do up buttons etc because even the fingers on his ‘good hand’ are in agony from the crash. He has even been told he can go back to work as a mechanic as these days they have holes in the ground so he can stand under the car and he’s only standing not walking or he can go on a roller underneath the car as he is able to lie down despite being in pain. What the actually fuck. He’s not even 50 and worked since he was 16 and was told he will get nothing.

I had a similar in a recent assessment, MR wasn't successful, downgraded from high rate on both to not being awarded daily living at all. I'm now awaiting the report for a recent health assessment before I try and get them to reassess (I missed the deadline for a tribunal and my recent diagnoses wouldn't be taken into account anyway for it)

So sorry to hear you are having to go through this stressful fight to get your rightful and needed support reinstated. Sending solidarity, the system is inhumane.

You’ll be another victim of the masses who have increased claims to a point where it’s unsustainable.

I’m not sure what you mean? Sustainability isn’t the issue. The Govt could fund all the PIP claims by putting a 2% tax on investments over £10m, but they won’t, because those people need every penny of their millions, and they earned it all through hard work….

It’s absurd. How can we score so highly in one assessment, then get nothing at a review? Unless the disability has miraculously disappeared

Yes, they say PIP is not an ‘out of work’ benefit, but if you can/do work it goes against you. I only work two days a week, there’s been lots of adjustments made to allow me to continue to work, including having two non-working days between working days to allow me to rest & recover. But all the DWP see is that I’ve not given up work.

I will absolutely fight this. I’ve done it before, and I’ll not give up. I don’t need the stress, but I also need the help that my PIP gives me, not just financially, but the adjustments and help like the blue parking badge etc. Those things make a huge difference.

👏👏👏👏

It’s bizarre how they work it out.
I have ehlers Danlos syndrome & a few other things, i have a ten year light touch award as they decided I would never improve.

Wow, this kind of award would be amazing. The stress of knowing they’ll reassess me every few years and try to remove my support is in itself debilitating. Did you get evidence from your Drs or anything to help you get a ten year award?

You have up to 13 months to do a tribunal
But they may ask why you took longer than 28 days