Advice for a friend please.

Orville

Hi,

I know nothing about this but I thought you might be able to help.

My friend has just had her allowances cut by around £800 a month.

She has a son who is stage 2 autistic.

I shall quote what she has said.

"Was getting dla for my son and carers but then they changed dla to pip and now they say he doesn't fit there criteria for that xx so they have cut me be 800 a month but for me and my son nothing has changed in our circumstances at all xxx"

Is there anything she can do to fight this?

£800 a month is quite a hit to anyone's budget.

elsien

No idea what stage 2 autistic is meant to be, but PIP is based on what the person can/can't do and the impact on daily life, not on diagnosis as such.

Did she have help filling in the forms, did she show how her son's needs meet the descriptors, did she provide supporting evidence and and has she yet requested a reconsideration? There are timetables she needs to stick to, so how long ago was she turned down? How many points was he awarded?

How old is her son?
She can appeal but she needs to understand how PIP works.

NeilCr

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

Might be worth getting some help with it if she can

poppy12345

Orville wrote: »

She has a son who is stage 2 autistic.

Never heard of this before, sorry.


I agree with others that an understanding of PIP descriptors will help here and so will face to face advice from CAB or the likes.

antrobus

Presumably, Level 2 autism
https://www.healthline.com/health/levels-of-autism#level-1

A formal diagnosis is useful, but only to the extent that it helps support what is being said about the PIP descriptors.

Alice_Holt

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/contact-us/

tomtom256

Her allowance hasn't been cut, her son just hasn;t met the descriptors, so no longer qualifies for benefit.

They can request an MR and then appeal or do nothing, CAB or a welfare rights type place should be able to help.

poppy12345

wallpaperman wrote: »

How much does someone receive in benefits in the first place each month, to have it cut by £800 per month? Mind boggling.

It totally depends on what benefits a person receives. If someone is claiming tax credits for their child and the child claims a disability benefit like DLA/PIP then they will receive extra tax credits for that child. A maximum DLA award is almost £600 every 4 weeks and that's just to start with.

[Deleted User]

Orville wrote: »

Hi,

I know nothing about this but I thought you might be able to help.

My friend has just had her allowances cut by around £800 a month.

She has a son who is stage 2 autistic.

I shall quote what she has said.

"Was getting dla for my son and carers but then they changed dla to pip and now they say he doesn't fit there criteria for that xx so they have cut me be 800 a month but for me and my son nothing has changed in our circumstances at all xxx"

Is there anything she can do to fight this?

£800 a month is quite a hit to anyone's budget.

The thing from my point of view, is when someone says things like "hit to anyones budget" or "have been cut by £x", that shouldnt be what you potray and put across.

Both DLA & PIP are disability benefits and therefore in my eyes should not be included in the daily, weekly or monthly, day to day living expenses budget someone uses, because it is not intended for those puroses.


Someone may have a benefit taken away or reduced or whatever is the case, but that shouldnt impact their day to day living expenses and this is how the post is coming across for me.

Rubyroobs

MarkN88 wrote: »

The thing from my point of view, is when someone says things like "hit to anyones budget" or "have been cut by £x", that shouldnt be what you potray and put across.

Both DLA & PIP are disability benefits and therefore in my eyes should not be included in the daily, weekly or monthly, day to day living expenses budget someone uses, because it is not intended for those puroses.


Someone may have a benefit taken away or reduced or whatever is the case, but that shouldnt impact their day to day living expenses and this is how the post is coming across for me.

Losing £800 a month is bound to impact someone's budget though. A family with a disabled person may use that extra disability benefit to rent a better house that benefits the disabled person or run a car to get the disabled person around in. These things are bound to impact the family hugely if they can't be afforded. No one checks up what disability benefits and the extra premiums attached to them are used for so I'm sure in many cases those benefits do supplement day to day living expenses.

calcotti

MarkN88 wrote: »

Someone may have a benefit taken away or reduced or whatever is the case, but that shouldnt impact their day to day living expenses and this is how the post is coming across for me.

Even if the disability benefits are not contributing to 'normal' household expenses the fact the disability benefits have been taken away doesn't mean the disabilities have disappeared so removing the benefits is bound to impact the household budget.