Personal Independence Payment Professionals

McKneff

Ask for a benefits assessor appoimtment, at your council.
One person did a full assesment for us. No raise in DL a but she worked out we were entitled to a 60% percent reduction in council tax. 

tomtom256

This sounds a lot like rodney the rotweiler, sorry can't remember the firm, but he offered a guarentee that he would stop any fraud investgiation in it;s step for a small fee of course. He had actually been disbarred from being a lawyer.

If you have to pay for it and nobody has heard of it, stay clear.

speedfreek1000

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Also https://pipinfo.net/ is very good, has case law for the various descriptors relating to different conditions. Very in-depth.

2nd this! 

Put together by Welfare Rights workers and is very useful.

With the shambles PIP decision making is (well all decision making by the DWP is) you probably (unless really lucky) will only be offered an award after submitting a mandatory reconsideration. Chucking in a few case law refs tends to get their attention that 1, you know what you are doing and 2, you're not going to be fobbed off. 

Alan15

If you are going to take your case to the Social Security and Child Support tribunal service, it is up to you if you wish to attend or not. Having someone represent you at tribunal may assist you, but remember it is your appeal and not the rep's. If you were to attend and the rep did not show up, the tribunal will not postpone the appeal. You have no absolute right to a representative even under article 6 of the European Court of Human Rights. In CJSA/5101/2001 Commissioner Williams said:  " The claimant has no right to representation under British law in a social security case and the European Convention on Human Rights does not give him that right.". If you were to go to tribunal, you as the appellant must give evidence as to the facts in issue and not your rep.
If you require help to lodge an appeal, I can assist you there for no cost. I'm always glad to help those willing to take on the might of the DWP as I cannot stand seeing people facing injustices.

JSB93

I'm using then currently and the service has been great so far.

They filled my forms for me and will assess my supporting evidence.

All the reviews they have are glowing and I've spoken to people that have personally used them that were awarded PIP successfully with minimal or no being messed about.

I'll let you know how mine goes.

poppy12345

JSB93 said:

I'm using then currently and the service has been great so far.

They filled my forms for me and will assess my supporting evidence.

All the reviews they have are glowing and I've spoken to people that have personally used them that were awarded PIP successfully with minimal or no being messed about.

I'll let you know how mine goes.

You've commented on a thread that's 14 months old. Having said that paying someone to help with a PIP claim is totally needless when there's advice agencies out there that will help for free. I really don't understand people that pay for a service that should be free.

Cyclamen

Poppy I agree with you people shouldn't have to pay.   But we are paying here. help in our area doesnt exist -  CAB cant help, the CIL benefits advisor retired, council only do housing benefit/council tax,  there is nobody else available. 

We both have disabilities and having got as far as Mandatory Reconsideration being refused I really don't know what else I can write differently on the forms... apart from please read this in big letters.  Claim is my husbands.. both our mental health and physical health effected by it all..   I feel guilty for not being able to do it myself but its beaten me up and spat me out. 

Not with the company mentioned.. there prices were way too high for us.. although have local friend who used them and sings their praises.

We are using 'fightback4justice' they are doing the forms, collecting all the evidence and making a file to send to the court.. they are requesting a conference call tribunal so they can advocate if things arent decided from paper.    The relief ahs been huge.  I did loads of research and they have a good reputation, the MS society contract to them, seem to be a not for profit charity and have a sliding scale if needed.  There is a monthly subscription for templates and phone help for £6 ..but i just couldnt cope with the paperwork so have asked them to do it.. £120   if  needed in court a firther £70.  Then something form any back pay.. it is expensive .. but I just cant do it ..  

Alice_Holt

I think there are some good resources available on the internet about appealing a PIP decision.
For example:
https://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-win-pip-appeal
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/appeals/mandatory-reconsideration/
https://www.mentalhealthandmoneyadvice.org/en/welfare-benefits/how-can-i-appeal-a-decision-about-my-benefits/

And https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/ have some useful guides to the appeal process, but does require membership (c.£20 per year) for the detailed guides.

Plus - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/985358/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-assessment-criteria.pdf

A lot of people confuse the PIP tribunal with a "court". 
A tribunal process is very different to a court process.
Tribunals want to hear directly from the claimant. The claimants oral evidence will be very important for the tribunal outcome. Having someone such as 'fightback4justice' present at the tribunal may not be particularly helpful. In my experience it may be better to have a family member / friend present who can help the claimant explain fully to the tribunal (and who has read the PIP descriptors, and knows how the help the claimant needs with these).   
  Tribunal panels are very good at setting claimants at ease, and asking the relevant questions.  After all c75% of tribunals decide in favour of the claimant.

 The key is understanding the PIP descriptors, "reliability", and "majority of the time"; and (most importantly) persevering - following the process outlined in the Advice Now guide and getting in front of a tribunal panel to explain their day-to-day life as fully as possible.    

Spoonie_Turtle

The thing is, the information is freely available to anyone who has the capacity to do it themselves.  A lot of people don't, though, which is why benefits advisers exist … and is why they can be extremely difficult to get in to see, too.  There's obviously a need, otherwise these services wouldn't be successful.  It's just a shame that it seems to be pot luck whether people needing the help can get it for free or whether the only help available to them is a service that charges.

minimad1970

Cyclamen, we used Fightback after my son's PIP MR was refused, there's no free services here anymore. I've always helped him with all his paperwork and appeals, but after going to a tribunal twice before I just wasn't up to doing it myself. They filed the tribunal paper work and he received a letter from the DWP a few weeks later awarding him enhanced for both mobility and daily living. He was previously awarded nothing, he only had 6 points overall. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again, it's easy for people to say that you can do it yourself but everyone's circumstances are different. Good luck with your appeal.