It's true, I'm no longer disabled - so the DWP say!!!

racon

Here's hoping that I am in the right place to ask this question?
The back story is that ever since 1993 I have always been given HIGH mobility & MIDDLE care of DLA. I have had reviews over the past 20 years, all of them giving indefinite awards . Fast forward to Nov last year. I was 65 in June 13 so PIP has to be claimed. Hearing that it could well have been 2015 at the earliest that I would be called, I would have been 67 at least. So like everything in life that I do, I take the bull by the horns and just get on with it.
I 'volunteered' for PIP in Nov 13 and eventually received a ruling in April 14 that I was no longer disabled!! In their letter it said that as I had failed the PIP test and that I was over 65, they would see if another similar allowance could be paid. This week I heard that this other allowance, Attendance something, was also refused.


What I would like to know is how do the government expect us to live when they have reduced our weekly income by over £100 a week and on top of that I have had my car taken back from me that the DLA was paying for, we no longer get any help towards the Council Tax and no help towards the mortgage. Can I put in another claim for PIP just to get the car back?

rogerblack

No, PIP does not have to be claimed simply because you reach 65.
Who told you this?

tomtontom

Many people are disabled and do not qualify for PIP/ DLA. Can you be more specific on how they say you do not meet the descriptors, and do you have evidence to the contrary?

racon

Hey thanks Roger. Do you mean that I can't go and claim PIP again? They took my claim from me when I was 65, so why not now that I am 66? I read that if you were 65 after PIP started in April 13, it was compulsory to have to claim it. Only if you were 65 or over when it started were you exempt and could keep the DLA award.

racon

Hey Tomtom. I've been reassessed quite a few times over the past 20 odd years and I had no problem getting the awards I stated. Geee, nothing has changed for the better, I'm just about ready for the knackers yard as it is. They told me that I scored 0 in everything back in April, hence why I am now no longer categorised as being disabled in any way! I don't even feature as being disabled in any way with the Attendance thing for old people. It's a miracle, I have been cured!!! Being serious, we could well do with getting the lost money reinstated, get the Council Tax paid for us as well as the mortgage. I'd even settle for just getting the car back!

poppy12345

They shouldn't have taken your DLA away from you when you reached 65, it should have been on going. Those that are claiming DLA and reach 65 should carry on getting it. I'm fairly certain this is right. I'm sorry to have to tell you but you won't be able to claim PIP because you're over the upper age limit to claim it. It's now Attendance Allowance that you'll apply for, sadly with this there's no mobility part to it only the care part. The car option for you now will never happen. You really should have got some expert advice when your DLA first stopped. Sorry i can't give you any good news.

racon

Hey Poppy. Well from what I read on the internet, everybody that was under 65 when PIP started had no choice but to claim PIP. Only those 65 and over when PIP started are exempt from PIP and carry on getting DLA. I did a lot of reading up on it. My indefinite DLA didn't stop when I claimed PIP, it stopped when they refused the PIP. That is the bit I don't understand, I was under 65 when PIP started but claimed the conversion 7 months after my 65th birthday. So how can they have accepted the PIP claim aged 65 but won't when I am 66? As for the Attendance thing, they looked at that after failing me the PIP test using the PIP form I filled in, but they failed me on that as well.
If we can't have the car back they are saying then that my mobility has improved??
On top of that how are we supposed to find the missing £106 a week that we are down AND pay the Council Tax AND pay the monthly mortgage interest of £258, both of which were being paid by Pension Credit? That's like costing us £200 a week.
And they say that us pensioners are rich and not suffering the cuts.

Torry_Quine

racon wrote: »

Hey Poppy. Well from what I read on the internet, everybody that was under 65 when PIP started had no choice but to claim PIP. Only those 65 and over when PIP started are exempt from PIP and carry on getting DLA. I did a lot of reading up on it. My indefinite DLA didn't stop when I claimed PIP, it stopped when they refused the PIP. That is the bit I don't understand, I was under 65 when PIP started but claimed the conversion 7 months after my 65th birthday. So how can they have accepted the PIP claim aged 65 but won't when I am 66? As for the Attendance thing, they looked at that after failing me the PIP test using the PIP form I filled in, but they failed me on that as well.
If we can't have the car back they are saying then that my mobility has improved??
On top of that how are we supposed to find the missing £106 a week that we are down AND pay the Council Tax AND pay the monthly mortgage interest of £258, both of which were being paid by Pension Credit? That's like costing us £200 a week.
And they say that us pensioners are rich and not suffering the cuts.

Oh no, you really have ended up in a bad situation by not understanding what was happening!

Now you are of pension age the only benefit possible to claim is Attendance Allowance which doesn't have a mobility component. It's the idea that all pensioners have decreasing mobility not that you are now mobile that's the problem. You should have waited until they contacted you to apply for PIP.

racon

Hey Torry. I'm sure that I understood what was happening. I telephoned the DWP and they confirmed that from the previous month (Oct 13) those on DLA will be moved to PIP. Are you saying that I jumped the gun a bit? It was going to happen sometime, so it seemed sensible to get on with it. It still is as clear as mud to me. They accepted a claim for PIP well after my 65th so what is the difference now that I am 66? Are you saying that they should have refused to accept the claim for PIP and carry on with my DLA? Do I understand it that there is only one chance to get it?
I was tested for the Attendance but that was refused as well. They said that my care needs were not enough even though that I have been getting MIDDLE care DLA for over 20 years and have had reviews.
I just don't understand how this works, all I know that we are £200 a week down on what we were getting when I turned 65 last year.
It makes me feel like giving up if this is what is in store for us during our old age.

poppy12345

racon wrote: »

Hey Torry. I'm sure that I understood what was happening. I telephoned the DWP and they confirmed that from the previous month (Oct 13) those on DLA will be moved to PIP. Are you saying that I jumped the gun a bit? It was going to happen sometime, so it seemed sensible to get on with it. It still is as clear as mud to me. They accepted a claim for PIP well after my 65th so what is the difference now that I am 66? Are you saying that they should have refused to accept the claim for PIP and carry on with my DLA? Do I understand it that there is only one chance to get it?
I was tested for the Attendance but that was refused as well. They said that my care needs were not enough even though that I have been getting MIDDLE care DLA for over 20 years and have had reviews.
I just don't understand how this works, all I know that we are £200 a week down on what we were getting when I turned 65 last year.
It makes me feel like giving up if this is what is in store for us during our old age.

You most certainly did jump the gun i'm afraid. You said that your DLA was an indefinite award and those awards are the last ones to be invited to apply for PIP. Which would probably have been sometime in 2017. Also because you were already claiming DLA and with your age you would have stayed as you were. Now because you jumped the gun you've got into this mess sadly. You've been refused PIP. When did you get the decision for PIP? If it was less than 1 month ago then you can ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration if it's longer then i'm sorry that's it there's nothing you can do. PIP is so much different to DLA. Only thing i can advise you to do is to apply again for Attendance Allowance but as i said this doesn't include the mobility part only the care part. Not the news you wanted to hear i know...

bryanb

racon wrote: »

So like everything in life that I do, I take the bull by the horns and just get on with it.
I 'volunteered' for PIP

Looks to me like this was your mistake.

I guess having State pension helps a bit financially.