Help with PIP mobility

Alice_Holt

It rather depends on whether:
- you can convince an ATOS assessor /  DWP decision maker that I(f) applies and that you can get compelling evidence from your cares / mental health team to back up your new PIP form;
- you can go through the PIP assessment / decision / and (potentially) appeal process without it causing you undue stress.

If you notify a change on circumstances, the whole of your award will be assessed again, there is no guarantee of coming out of the process with your enhanced DL intact.  It depends on writing a good PIP form, having the evidence, and (crucially) being allocated a good assessor.

Did you get help with the PIP form / assessment last time around?
If so, are the people involved willing to help you with a supersession?   
When does your award run to?

In monetary terms an increased mobility award is c.£39 pw. You need to weigh that up, against the factors above.


It is very important to get advice on this (as poppy and spoonie have said). You may want to start to see if there is any way to appeal / pursue the unfavourable LEAP decision.
https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2021/june/dwp-may-have-unlawfully-deprived-benefit-arrears-tens-thousands-pip-claimants

When did you get the letter?  Was it over 13 months ago?

There is much, much less to lose if you can challenge the LEAP decision. 

bearfurbaby

Spoonie_Turtle said:

bearfurbaby said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

You need to understand the mobility descriptors very clearly before deciding whether to go for it. Which one do you think should apply to you?

thanks for your reply 

well i think this one 
f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.

as i can not go out anywhere with out my support workers or family, the risk is too great and with my support workers and mental health team they would never let me even if i wanted to go out alone 

In that case, you have to be certain that you meet that one and NOT descriptor E. 'Cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant' - it is not a literal "never" but based on whether, on most of the days, going out is too overwhelming.

The guidance states:
"This descriptor applies to claimants where undertaking any journey on the majority of days causes overwhelming psychological distress (OPD) despite being aided.

‘Any journey’ means that in order to satisfy the descriptor on any particular day the person must not be able to manage to undertake a single journey. If the person can manage to leave the home to undertake a journey once then on that day the descriptor is not satisfied, even if they’re unable to undertake other journeys during the same day. Being able to complete a journey at night time only however, is not considered to be completing a journey to an acceptable standard. Therefore, in these instances, this descriptor may be appropriate. 
…
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."

So you need to be sure that, for more than half of the days, you could reliably go out as long as you have someone with you.  If, on more than half the days it would be too overwhelming even with someone else, then you would likely fit descriptor E which would still only give you standard mobility. 

From the middle section of your first post about what happens even when you are with support workers, I think you may run the risk of them deciding that journeys like that are not safe or to an acceptable standard and therefore you don't satisfy the concept of 'being able to undertake a journey' with help as in descriptor F.  (But those are just my thoughts, I'm no authority by any means!)

If you can get advice like poppy suggests that would definitely be best

ok thank you for your reply i have read this through with my support worker as when i tried alone scrambled my brain. with the going out i go out once a day as i have a threapy dog and i see it as my responsilbility to always take him out and push myself to do this without him i know i wouldnt do it but i do it for him and in turn that helps me coz if i didnt go out at all like many years ago when i was completly housebound my mental health is strongly effected 

bearfurbaby

Alice_Holt said:

It rather depends on whether:
- you can convince an ATOS assessor /  DWP decision maker that I(f) applies and that you can get compelling evidence from your cares / mental health team to back up your new PIP form;
- you can go through the PIP assessment / decision / and (potentially) appeal process without it causing you undue stress.

If you notify a change on circumstances, the whole of your award will be assessed again, there is no guarantee of coming out of the process with your enhanced DL intact.  It depends on writing a good PIP form, having the evidence, and (crucially) being allocated a good assessor.

Did you get help with the PIP form / assessment last time around?
If so, are the people involved willing to help you with a supersession?   
When does your award run to?

In monetary terms an increased mobility award is c.£39 pw. You need to weigh that up, against the factors above.


It is very important to get advice on this (as poppy and spoonie have said). You may want to start to see if there is any way to appeal / pursue the unfavourable LEAP decision.


When did you get the letter?  Was it over 13 months ago?

There is much, much less to lose if you can challenge the LEAP decision. 

ok thank you my old cpn helped with my last form and it was decided i didnt have to go to the atos assessor due to the stress of not being able to do it and they were happy with my supporting evidence 
my doctor and cpn will give supporting evidence again and my cpn is happy to do the form with me 

yes the letter was over 13 months ago was a few years back, i did what i normally do and hid my head in the sand and ignored it even though myself and others felt it was wrong 

i was put on the one that gets reviewed 10 years time 

i will look at what leap decision is 

thank you 

poppy12345

bearfurbaby said:

poppy12345 said:

Even though you scored a lot last time, reporting a change of circumstances doesn't automatically mean you'll score the same again. Use the link above and drop it down to welfare benefits, put your postcode in to see what's local to you for expert advice.

yes super stressful, and yes will need to find someone who can help over the phone as obviously woulndt be able to go see them 

The majority of advice agencies are only providing support through phone calls.