PIP face to face assessment - Need some advice.

peteuk

Robbie64 said:

I thought the assumptions that the health professionals sometimes make was where someone drove a car rather than just having a driving licence. Someone could have held a licence for years but not driven for quite some time.

The two can be used for different things.  To hold a drivers license and driven (regardless of when the last journey was) points to the cognitive and sensory capacity.  Driving shows more of a physical function. 

Spoonie_Turtle

peteuk said:

Robbie64 said:

I thought the assumptions that the health professionals sometimes make was where someone drove a car rather than just having a driving licence. Someone could have held a licence for years but not driven for quite some time.

The two can be used for different things.  To hold a drivers license and driven (regardless of when the last journey was) points to the cognitive and sensory capacity.  Driving shows more of a physical function. 

I'm not sure they think that deeply about it.  And it's nonsense anyway, if (as a large proportion of disabled people have) someone has acquired their disability after qualifying for their licence, then simply holding a licence implies two things only: 1) the person had cognitive and sensory ability at the time of qualification, and 2) they haven't surrendered their licence or had it taken away. 

Regarding nr 2, a photographic ID is required for so many official things nowadays and passports are more expensive and definitely expire, so unless there's a real need to medically surrender one's licence then it's just practical to keep it.  Plus dealing with DVLA if it's a condition with potential for enough improvement to be able to drive again - especially as illnesses tend to fluctuate over the course of time, and dealing with DVLA every few years is extra stress and hassle that unwell people do not need.  Given that it can take a year or more to get it back after a substantial improvement, there's just no point doing it unless one really must.

Plus it doesn't account for fluctuating conditions to view it as a binary; there are people who are cognitively capable of driving some days and not others.  Or they can react to things on the road and are safe to drive, but really cannot hold the route in their heads; or can do familiar routes but cannot cope with unexpected changes to the route.

As disabled people our entire lives can be grey areas and full of nuance, so for DWP to so routinely look at everything as blunt, black and white indicators, is just silly.  (And actually nondisabled people's lives are equally complex just in different ways, so really there is no excuse.)

SaitenMar

Hi all, 

So I was able to send off my MR letter today, for what good it will do. Wanted to send it off much sooner but had Covid which did a number on me, still recovering but been able to put together the form. Rewrote it so many times, it's so tough trying to get across the difficulties you face, especially when you feel like they won't give it much attention anyway and just send me another rejection letter. Was able to get together some extra evidence this time around if that at all helps. Still, it's some groundwork and if I consider applying for pip again at some point (I don't have much faith this time round) I'll have something to work with at least. The info and answers you lot have provided me helped a bunch in writing it up though, really do appreciate all the help you've given me. 

Just another waiting game that could take months now. If I need any more advice I'll post on here. 

Thanks for the help again.  

peteuk

Spoonie_Turtle said:

peteuk said:

Robbie64 said:

I thought the assumptions that the health professionals sometimes make was where someone drove a car rather than just having a driving licence. Someone could have held a licence for years but not driven for quite some time.

The two can be used for different things.  To hold a drivers license and driven (regardless of when the last journey was) points to the cognitive and sensory capacity.  Driving shows more of a physical function. 

I'm not sure they think that deeply about it.  And it's nonsense anyway, if (as a large proportion of disabled people have) someone has acquired their disability after qualifying for their licence, then simply holding a licence implies two things only: 1) the person had cognitive and sensory ability at the time of qualification, and 2) they haven't surrendered their licence or had it taken away. 

Regarding nr 2, a photographic ID is required for so many official things nowadays and passports are more expensive and definitely expire, so unless there's a real need to medically surrender one's licence then it's just practical to keep it.  Plus dealing with DVLA if it's a condition with potential for enough improvement to be able to drive again - especially as illnesses tend to fluctuate over the course of time, and dealing with DVLA every few years is extra stress and hassle that unwell people do not need.  Given that it can take a year or more to get it back after a substantial improvement, there's just no point doing it unless one really must.

Plus it doesn't account for fluctuating conditions to view it as a binary; there are people who are cognitively capable of driving some days and not others.  Or they can react to things on the road and are safe to drive, but really cannot hold the route in their heads; or can do familiar routes but cannot cope with unexpected changes to the route.

As disabled people our entire lives can be grey areas and full of nuance, so for DWP to so routinely look at everything as blunt, black and white indicators, is just silly.  (And actually nondisabled people's lives are equally complex just in different ways, so really there is no excuse.)

 One of the questions is do you have a driving license and when did you last drive., asked in Social circumstance (along with do you live in a flat, bungalow, house etc.)  and although your right the assessor doesn't think that deeply, answers to such questions can be used in numerous activities. 

Please remember that PIP covers illness and chronic diseases, as well as disability. Which IMO is one of its downfalls, as you cant apply the same principals to all three. 

SaitenMar

Hello all, 

Just a quick question, do DWP send any form of notification if they have received your MR? Just curious as I'd like to know my letter got to them safely. 

Thanks.

calcotti

SaitenMar said:

Hello all,  Just a quick question, do DWP send any form of notification if they have received your MR? Just curious as I'd like to know my letter got to them safely. Thanks.

Not usually.

SaitenMar

Hello folks, 

So I finally got my MR report back and nothing has changed. In fact, their reasoning makes less sense to me this time around than in the previous letter I got from them. All it really states is that PIP is dependent on what I can and cannot do and not the disability itself which I already knew and feel like the extra evidence supplied explained my limitations in greater detail. But it came to nothing and I'm tired and exhausted by the whole process. I know I can take it further to a tribunal or something but I just don't have it in me to do that as it's already been difficult enough and I'm deflated by the whole process. I feel worthless at the moment and dealing with my condition is more than I can cope with at the best of times so I'm not sure I could cope with taking it any further. 

Because of this, I have decided to end my attempt at claiming PIP and will look elsewhere to see if there are any other options available to me. I do want to thank everyone who has replied on this thread as I really do appreciate it. 

poppy12345

The most likely outcome of any MR is the decision stays the same. You do actually have 13 months to appeal the decision, with good reason why you didn't request it within the first month.

Success rate at Tribunal is a lot higher than MR too and the last time i checked it was about 70% success rate, if you appear in person (or telephone)

SaitenMar said:

Because of this, I have decided to end my attempt at claiming PIP and will look elsewhere to see if there are any other options available to me.

Not sure what you mean by this but PIP is the only disability benefit for working age people.

Alice_Holt

If you look back through the thread, it was explained that the likely outcome of a MR is no change.

Your route to get a PIP award is to take it to a tribunal who will decide if the DWP decision was a correct or an incorrect decision. 

This is the form to lodge an appeal with the tribunal service:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1013690/SSCS1_0821-eng.pdf

I think you could stand a very good chance of being in the 70%+ of cases that succeed at tribunal. 

sammyjammy

Just give yourself a few weeks and some thinking time, you have plenty of time to lodge an appeal.