PIP December 2017 High Court ruling

HellaHeart

Hi everyone,

I was hoping to find some advice. I recently made a claim for PIP, and was awarded nothing for daily living but given the standard rate for mobility.

Although I take issue with not being awarded anything for daily living, my main concern is the fact I've been awarded the standard rate for mobility, despite the December 2017 High Court ruling stating I must be awarded the higher rate. This is because I scored 10 points for planning and following a journey - 'You can't undertake any journey because it would cause you significant mental distress'.

Now of course, based on the High Court ruling that the government have confirmed they will not appeal, if you score points under this particular criteria, you must now be awarded the higher rate as it was found to be discriminatory against those with mental health conditions.

As such, if they have awarded me points on this basis, I cannot understand how I was still given the standard rate. If they are reviewing all claims to backdate pay for anyone who falls under this criteria, how is it new claimants are still being awarded the standard rate?

I thought this was a huge oversight by the assessor and must be a mistake. However, after putting in for a mandatory reconsideration, and giving detailed information on this ruling, including a link from this very website explaining it - they have again awarded me the standard rate for mobility!

The assessor makes no mention of anything I put in my mandatory reconsideration relating to this ruling, it is not mentioned once. Instead, I just scored a further 5 points on daily living up from 2 points to 7, 1 point under what I would need to be awarded anything for daily living.

Before I appeal to a tribunal, I wanted to seek some advice from people who are experienced in this area. Am I missing something? Or have two assessors been able to make the exact same mistake? This just doesn't seem right and I feel there could be legal implications for making such a decision not only once, but twice.

Any constructive advice would be warmly welcomed!

Alice_Holt

I'm afraid your interpretation of the ruling is not correct.
The ruling removed the phrase "for reasons other than psychological distress”. inserted by the DWP into some PIP Mobility descriptors including 1f. (Also 1c and 1d).
1f - This is now:
"1f Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. 12 points. "
Rather than
"For reasons other than psychological distress, cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid"

Descriptor 1e was not affected by the ruling.

To get enhanced rate Mobility, you would need to show 1f applied rather than 1e
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system

Since you are so close to 8 points for the Daily Living component, this should probably be the focus of your appeal (I would suggest).

This gives more info on the criteria for assessing and awarding points:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/725533/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-assessment-criteria.pdf

Re Mobility and the difference between 10 points for 1e and 12 points for 1f - Look at pages 109 on.

Does this apply:
"1f. A claimant who suffers
overwhelming psychological distress whilst on the familiar journey and who needs
to be accompanied to overcome the overwhelming psychological distress may
satisfy descriptor 1f.
A claimant who is actively suicidal or who is at substantial risk of exhibiting violent
behaviour and who needs to be accompanied by another person to prevent them
harming themselves or others when undertaking a journey would meet this
descriptor."

Rather than:
"1e This descriptor is likely to apply to claimants with severe mental health conditions
(for example, severe agoraphobia, panic disorder or psychotic illness associated
with severe paranoia) or cognitive impairments (for example, a person with
dementia who may become very agitated and distressed when leaving home, to
the extent that journeys outside the home can no longer be made either at all, or
on the majority of days, even with the support of another person).
A claimant who satisfies 1e cannot also satisfy 1f. If they cannot undertake a
single journey on the majority of days due to overwhelming psychological
distress, then 1e will be the applicable descriptor, even if there are occasions
when they could follow a familiar route, if accompanied"

poppy12345

Great advice there from Alice, as always.



OP your thoughts are incorrect i'm afraid.



If you can go out at least once in a day, most days then it's not11E
If you can go out but only with another person due to overwhelming psychological distressthen it's not 11E , it is 11F.

It won't be 11F, if you cannot go out on the majority of days due to overwhelming psychological distress,therefore it jumps back a descriptor to 11E. Therefore it depends on your reasons why you don't/can't go out.

HellaHeart

Thanks for the great advice.

That’s quite disappointing and I think many others who fall under the same category as me will be confused, as the following quote from this website is as follows :

‘While all PIP claims are being reviewed, the trigger for this was the ruling on how people with mental health conditions had been treated. So the people most likely to benefit are claimants who meet both of the following criteria:

They don't currently get the higher rate for the mobility part of PIP.
They are unable to make a familiar journey by themselves due to psychological distress.’

The ambiguity in that passage comes from the ‘by themselves’, as if you can’t leave the house due to psychological distress you can’t leave by yourself. It’s the wording that’s caught me and I’m sure many others out. I find that discriminatory and bizarre in itself.

Anyway, back to my personal situation. I have been on medication since January after seeing the secondary health care team at my home. Since this time, I have been able to leave the house if I am accompanied by someone. Would it be better to go to tribunal with this new information, or report a change of circumstances? Which would be more likely to be successful in getting the higher rate for mobility?

Secondly, as I hear going to tribunal often leads to success, what is the likelihood that my daily living will gain a higher point score leading to the standard rate of daily allowance? Do I risk losing it all?

I wrote this up last night but it seems it didn’t post 😕

Alice_Holt

HellaHeart wrote: »

Anyway, back to my personal situation. I have been on medication since January after seeing the secondary health care team at my home. Since this time, I have been able to leave the house if I am accompanied by someone. Would it be better to go to tribunal with this new information, or report a change of circumstances? Which would be more likely to be successful in getting the higher rate for mobility?

Secondly, as I hear going to tribunal often leads to success, what is the likelihood that my daily living will gain a higher point score leading to the standard rate of daily allowance? Do I risk losing it all?

The tribunal are reviewing the DWP decision at the date the DWP made that decision.
It is your condition / abilities at that time which are relevant to the panel.
They are not looking at your circumstances on the day of the tribunal.

Think back to the time of the assessment. Did you go to an assessment centre, or was it a home visit?
If at a centre, where you accompanied?
How did you arrange to get to essential appointments (e.g. GP)?
How did you manage food shopping, etc?

It difficult to speculate on the Daily Living component, but you are now so close to an award!
I would add that if the MR moved you from 2 to 7 points, this suggests to me that the assessment was flawed and there may well be additional points which a tribunal panel could award if you attended the hearing and were able to explain more / clarify things to them.

I would suggest that you go through the activities / descriptors / points carefully. (Use the 2 links I posted). If you believe extra points should be awarded, then put that case to the tribunal in a statement (backed up with evidence if possible).

This is a good guide to the appeal process:
https://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-win-pip-appeal

You may wish to get face to face advice on your options from your local advice agency / CAB.

poppy12345

It's always better to take it to Tribunal that report a change of circumstances.

dreamylittledream

poppy12345 wrote: »

It's always better to take it to Tribunal that report a change of circumstances.

Erm not if the person's circumstances have changed since the original date of decision as the Tribunal can't take that into account.

Its not a binary game anyway - a claimant can request supersession in the basis of deterioration and appeal the original decision at the same time.

poppy12345

HellaHeart wrote: »

Anyway, back to my personal situation. I have been on medication since January after seeing the secondary health care team at my home. Since this time, I have been able to leave the house if I am accompanied by someone. Would it be better to go to tribunal with this new information, or report a change of circumstances? Which would be more likely to be successful in getting the higher rate for mobility?

For a worsening of condition, you must have had this for at least 3 months and expect it to last at least a further 9 months. So, if your condition has only got worse since January then DWP won't be able to take that into consideration.

KPJ_0771

i was awarded standard rate for both daily living and mobility, in the mobility assessment with (moving around) i was awarded 10 pts, ( YOU CAN MOVE USING AN AID OR APPLIANCE MORE THEN 20 METRES BUT NO MORE THEN 50 METRES)
I disagree, I can move only between 10 - 20 metres before needing to sit and rest due to arthritis and breathlessness (Aortic stenosis)

can anyone advise how to raise mobility points from 10 to 12 to receive the higher rate

poppy12345

KPJ_0771 wrote: »

i was awarded standard rate for both daily living and mobility, in the mobility assessment with (moving around) i was awarded 10 pts, ( YOU CAN MOVE USING AN AID OR APPLIANCE MORE THEN 20 METRES BUT NO MORE THEN 50 METRES)
I disagree, I can move only between 10 - 20 metres before needing to sit and rest due to arthritis and breathlessness (Aortic stenosis)

can anyone advise how to raise mobility points from 10 to 12 to receive the higher rate

It would have been better to have started your own thread with your question. Confusion often starts when asking questions on other peoples thread because they read the first post and answer that.



Depending on when the decision was made then your first step is to request the mandatory Reconsideration (MR) but asking for the MR they will look at the whole decision again and not just part of it.



You'll need evidence to support your claim, which needs to prove how your conditions affect you. If the MR decision remains the same then Tribunal is your next step.


https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/appeals/mandatory-reconsideration/

KPJ_0771

new to the site, so sorry for any inconvienience, stil llearning