The 20%

Ames

Aren't the questions at the f2f exactly the same as the ones on the form? It does seem like a complete waste of time and money. I can understand a physical exam, but just asking 'can you remember what you wrote a couple of months ago' doesn't seem to be much of an assessment. Especially since I imagine all fraudsters will have the nous to re read what they put before going to the 'assessment'.

As for danger of collapsing when cooking, wasn't there a tribunal ruling last year that even if the chance of it happening is small, the impact was so great that the claimant should be judged as never being able to do it?

And doesn't sitting down make it more dangerous in general - you can't leap out of the way if you pull a pan of boiling liquid onto yourself, and it'd take longer to get to the sink to treat a burn.

'Common Sense' clearly isn't a requirement in the job description.

GlasweJen

Ames wrote: »

Aren't the questions at the f2f exactly the same as the ones on the form? It does seem like a complete waste of time and money. I can understand a physical exam, but just asking 'can you remember what you wrote a couple of months ago' doesn't seem to be much of an assessment. Especially since I imagine all fraudsters will have the nous to re read what they put before going to the 'assessment'.

As for danger of collapsing when cooking, wasn't there a tribunal ruling last year that even if the chance of it happening is small, the impact was so great that the claimant should be judged as never being able to do it?

And doesn't sitting down make it more dangerous in general - you can't leap out of the way if you pull a pan of boiling liquid onto yourself, and it'd take longer to get to the sink to treat a burn.

'Common Sense' clearly isn't a requirement in the job description.

I should just put lids on stuff when I microwave it. Don’t know about your microwave but mine blows lids off if you press them on firmly. You’re meant to just use lids to cover the food to prevent it splattering everywhere, not to secure hot food in containers to make it safe for spakkers like me.

Going to chuck in an appeal and see how far it goes, I mean I do have a neurologists letter which states “Jennifer can open a packet of crisps and can of cola if required but cannot prepare any hot food or beverages despite extensive neurological rehabilitation. Even using modern technology such as adapted kettles and microwaves cannot make these tasks safe as Jennifer suffers from seizures which are unable to be controlled despite extensive input at home and abroad over the last 25 years”. The DM then over rode the DWPs own medical report in a blatant attempt to game their own system, how can that even be allowed to happen? Complaint going in lol.

dori2o

OP. I'm happy to see that the tide is finally turning for you in terms of dealing with the DWP.

With regards the inevitable discussion regarding the supposed ease if faking mental illness, I find the whole mental illness fakery thing a complete red herring, and the Gov uses its usual mouthpieces (daily mail, sun and torygraph) to convince the weak minded that everyone is faking illness to claim benefits. Thus allowing them to deny people with mental illness from receiving the help and support, medocal and financial, that they should be getting.

It also means that an ever increasing number of people begin to dismiss mental illness issues as being nothing serious to worry about.

We see the affects of u treated mental illness every day. Walk around any large town or city and the number of homeless has severely increased these past 7 years. Most of these people have significant mental illness issues.

I have sufferred with depression for over 10 years. Its a consequence of being in severe pain 24/7. But I try my hardest to mask it everyday, and Ive become quite good at it when out in public.

On my own however I cant cope. I dread being at home alone and I panic when it happens.

My mental state has declined since our teenage daughter died in 2016, but whenever someone asks me how I/we are doing, I (and my wife does the same) always answer the same way. 'I' m OK. We're getting there.' or' I'm fine. Just taking each day as it comes'.

What people dont see is me crying most days at work, or at home. Picking up my guitar and not being able to play certain songs she'd sing along to. Having panic attacks. Being unable to breathe. Having recurring dreams about finding her walking down the street and attempting to bring her home, only to wake up as we get to the door of our house. Thats the reason I've currently been up since 4.30am this morning.

Not sleeping, not eating, not socialising. And all the time I/we are doing this (I know my wife cries in private) we continue to answer the questions of 'how are you doing' etc with 'I/we are fine' or 'We' re getting there' etc. But I'm not really, and neither is Mrs D.

I have counselling but it doesnt provide a solution to the problem. I continue to hide it. I dont go to the GP. I just prefer to be at work and keep myself busy

I was going to update my PIP award. Tell the DWP my mental state had significantly decreased, but was advised not to by a colleague who used to work for DWP and dealt with PIP claims.

To the DWP this change in my mental health is temporary. Within 6 months of her death I'd be considered to no longer be sufferring mentally as a result of the loss.

The truth is I wont ever be right mentally again. But I'll continue to wear this mask.

People just see depression now as the modern day version of the 80's 'yuppie flu'. A very real illness (chronic fatigue disorder/ME) that people dont understand and dont believe exists.

I've had people tell me/us that we'll got over this and be back to 'normal' soon.

My wife has had a manager at work tell her that she needs to 'get over it. It' s been almost 12 months since the loss of your daughter, you should now start thinking more about what you want to achieve here at work . Thats more important'. (This from a childless woman).

I'm not looking for sympathy. I dont care what anyone thinks of me. But what would be nice is understanding, and for people to realise that mental health is a real and significant issue that does affect people, is debilitating, causes other health issues, is a real illness and is disabling in many cases.

Whilst I dont disagree that some people look to play the system, they do it not just with mental illnesses but with lots of medical issues. But certainly it is not 'easy' to fake, and not everyone sufferring those issues is faking.

More needs to be done in hospitals/nhs, with social care, etc to ensure that people with these issues get the help they desperately need. That includes giving people more than 6 sessions of treatment.

More also needs to be done to ensure these people have equal access to benefits where applicable. My physical health problems (chronic pain/reduced mobility/side effects of very strong opioid medication, etc) create barriers for me, but this past 18 months my mental condition has been just as, if not more debiliitating.

nicetomeetyou

A GP wouldn't be able to diagnoses Bipolar, it would have to come from secondary mental health services and you would have to see a psychiatrist and it's not diagnosed straight away. The psychiatrist would have to see the manic highs and lows.

nannytone_2

I completed my Pip forms this week. I had help from a professional organisation and wish I hadn't bothered. I am blind and have a guide dog yet she kicked no to mobility issues because I haven't got a mental impairment. It was only at the point of signing the form when I asked about the planning and following a journey section that she realised she's made a mistake. I fully expect to be turned down and will need to appeal and I'm really not surprised because I wouldn't give me an award based on those forms

Ames

nannytone wrote: »

I completed my Pip forms this week. I had help from a professional organisation and wish I hadn't bothered. I am blind and have a guide dog yet she kicked no to mobility issues because I haven't got a mental impairment. It was only at the point of signing the form when I asked about the planning and following a journey section that she realised she's made a mistake. I fully expect to be turned down and will need to appeal and I'm really not surprised because I wouldn't give me an award based on those forms

Can you do your own forms? It sounds as though you know more than the advisor (sadly quite common thanks to cutbacks to services). Maybe you can type/use your software and then someone can proof read it to check for obvious typos?

dori2o

nannytone wrote: »

I completed my Pip forms this week. I had help from a professional organisation and wish I hadn't bothered. I am blind and have a guide dog yet she kicked no to mobility issues because I haven't got a mental impairment. It was only at the point of signing the form when I asked about the planning and following a journey section that she realised she's made a mistake. I fully expect to be turned down and will need to appeal and I'm really not surprised because I wouldn't give me an award based on those forms

Part of the problem now is you get so little time to fill them in you dont have the opportunity to seek advice from more than 1 person or group to make the best effort possible.

I know some people will say why do you need time to fill in a form, but by the time you get your dates sorted out, medications, help from Citizens Advice or some other organisation, gp and specialist letters, evidence, witness statements etc the form is ready to be back with them.

When it comes to these forms I panic at the thought of filling them in.

I have copies of my last completed form and I use that as a guide, but I have to prepare myself to be able to sit down and sort it out.

Under DLA I could take my time. Do one section every 2 or 3 days, then read it back, re write it, read it back. Ask someone else to read it to see if they think Ive missed anything, update it. Get an appointment with an expert and get tbem to go over it. Go and see my GP and get a letter from them. Etc etc.

When I did the PIP claim in 2015 it made me ill.

I'd wake up in a panic. I'd be heaving when I got up in a morning. I lost weight. I couldnt concentrate. Every week there would be something in the news about plans to cut the eligibility. It was awful.

What made it worse was there was a delay between sending in my forms and getting the assessment of about 2 months. I went in December 2015. Then tbere was a delay with the decision. I had to wait until the middle of March 2016, but rather than give the award from that date they backdated the start date to 19 January.

My award runs until 19 January next year so I'll have to go through it again very soon

I know under DLA the renewal period started 20 weeks prior to the end date. I also understand that PIP is reviewed around a year before the claim end date, so a 3 year award is actually only a 2 year award. So even here we are being penalised. Its a disgrace and just another way of kicking people when they are down.

I didnt ask for this to happen to me. I dont enjoy being in pain. I dont enjoy being depressed. I dont enjoy being stresed out all the time. I certainly dont enjoy averaging around 3.5 hours sleep per night. I 6

What I worry about most in terms of losing my award is not the money. I spend most of it on treatments that the NHS wont or cant supply and covering some of the difference in my wages from my part time hours to the full time equivalent so I'll just have to give up the extra treatments and go back to work full time so I'll only be about £40 a month down. But.... Without the treatments and the added stress of working full time I'll likely have more sickness absence than I do currently, which in turn causes more problems with stress and anxiety as I get into trouble for having time off which with my conditions is unavoidable.

Working full time will have its own issues. Fatigue, stress, etc etc.

I currently have an alternative working pattern which means I dont have to work late (past 6.00pm) and I can start later (between 9.30 and 10am). This allows me time to get up. Take my meds, prepare for the day. Use heat methods if necessary to ease any stiffness in my knee. Do my exercises. Get up a little later if necessary as I don't sleep very well. Have something to eat with is important because of my meds, allow my meds to get into my system and my body to stabilise before driving to work.


Also, it's not the money that I'm bothered about.

With a mobility award comes a Blue Badge without needing a further assessment. Without that badge I will lose my on site parking bay meaning I have to park around a mile away from work. This again causes further pain before I even begin a days work. This leads to increased doses of Morphine and codeine which I use on top of Fentanyl patches for breakthrough pain (currently my average daily opiate intake is around 450mg) . This leads to having to deal with Morphines side effects.

If I dont drive, or if I can't be in the car as a responsible licenced individual so my wife can drive on her provisional licence I'd have to get public transport. This causes problems as the tram is always packed and I rarely get a seat meaning I have to stand for the entire journey. Same with the bus but thats worse as it takes longer. Then I have to walk just over a mile to work causing the same problems with pain, especially when its cold.

I get the car park space as part of a number of reasonable adjustments my employer has put in place, but it is reliant on my having the badge.

I'll have to appeal their decision to take it away and make a case for retaining it. Again this is yet more stress and anxiety I can do well without.

This is what MP's like Esther McVey dont see and dont realise.

The award of PIP is worth far more than a monetary value to a lot of people. It's the additional doors that an award opens that help in far more ways than tHe cash ever will. For most of these doors require you to be registered disabled, which in other words means you have a live/current claim for PIP/DLA/AA.

Their 'Austerity' measures, leading to the diabolical treatment of sick and disabled people, have such a huge impact.

I want to work. I need to work to keep my mind occupied and not be thinking of other things and other people, but without the award my physical health would be much better off if I gave up my current job, which I love doing.

As Ive mentioned earlier I'm still struggling to come to terms with my daughters death and this is having a severe impact on my mental health. But this is unlikely to be taken into account based on information from the internet as apparently this is a temporary issue that will get better within 6 months of her death. Meaning I should be well over it now.

I'm sick of being treated like dirt by our Government.

poppy12345

nannytone wrote: »

I completed my Pip forms this week. I had help from a professional organisation and wish I hadn't bothered. I am blind and have a guide dog yet she kicked no to mobility issues because I haven't got a mental impairment. It was only at the point of signing the form when I asked about the planning and following a journey section that she realised she's made a mistake. I fully expect to be turned down and will need to appeal and I'm really not surprised because I wouldn't give me an award based on those forms

I also had help from a professional organisation to help complete my daughters PIP form. I had all my evidence ready and thought i'd add a letter once the forms were filled in. Yes i realised i probably could have filled them in myself but those forms are scary, so decided to go ahead with the help.

The person came to my house to help. Was asked questions about my daughter, to which i answered in great detail. He filled the form in, asking more questions along the way. What was written on the form was very little and hardly any detail. I was sat there thinking, not to worry i'll do to it when he's gone. I was asked to sign the form, which i did as i'm her appointee. He then said ill take the form with me to photo copy, then i'll send it to DWP. I went into complete panic mode because i knew there wasn't enough info written.

I had huge amounts of evidence to prove those descriptors applied to her. It was just those forms that let me down. I worried thinking that she'd be refused. She was given a home assessment with a GP letter. around 6 weeks later the decision arrived. Enhanced for both.

We hear lots of stories that filling in those forms correctly are the most important thing. For my daughter that wasn't true. The evidence i gave far outweighed the poor filling in of that form.

Hopefully the same will happen to you and your award will go in your favour. Good luck.

w06

agreed the form is just part of the assessment process, I sometimes feel the emphasis on it being completed perfectly in some posts on here and elsewhere will put people off trying to apply.

I'd intentionally avoided reading fora prior to my PIP claim and had only glanced at the criteria not focused on the descriptors at all. I completed my form in an evening and sent it off - I hadn't opened the envelope until the last possible day i could send it as was dreading it.

At my face to face the assessor agreed it was barely legible (as is my hand writing) but she could pick out key words, and for many of the tick boxes I'd not been sure which applied and so eitehr ticked none or the most likely and explained (illegibly). In the more info box I added 'it would probably be easier to explain in person'.

I didn't send any evidence either - but agreed to them using my DLA claim file on the PIP1

Ended up with enhanced for both parts

Ames

poppy12345 wrote: »

I also had help from a professional organisation to help complete my daughters PIP form. I had all my evidence ready and thought i'd add a letter once the forms were filled in. Yes i realised i probably could have filled them in myself but those forms are scary, so decided to go ahead with the help.

The person came to my house to help. Was asked questions about my daughter, to which i answered in great detail. He filled the form in, asking more questions along the way. What was written on the form was very little and hardly any detail. I was sat there thinking, not to worry i'll do to it when he's gone. I was asked to sign the form, which i did as i'm her appointee. He then said ill take the form with me to photo copy, then i'll send it to DWP. I went into complete panic mode because i knew there wasn't enough info written.

I had huge amounts of evidence to prove those descriptors applied to her. It was just those forms that let me down. I worried thinking that she'd be refused. She was given a home assessment with a GP letter. around 6 weeks later the decision arrived. Enhanced for both.

We hear lots of stories that filling in those forms correctly are the most important thing. For my daughter that wasn't true. The evidence i gave far outweighed the poor filling in of that form.

Hopefully the same will happen to you and your award will go in your favour. Good luck.

Cutbacks to services mean that there's a lot of bad 'specialist advisers' out there. I was talking to one a couple of months ago and was shocked by how little she knew. Absolutely basic benefit rules, she didn't have a clue about. A couple of hours browsing the relevant MSE fora would make someone more qualified.

Years ago welfare advisers were highly trained, experienced, and employed. Now it's being done by volunteers who've been given a copy of the benefits handbook.