Benefits reduced

venomx

I have a long term mental health condition and diagnosis etc and have had PIP since 2017.

After having a telephone assessment just over a month ago I received a phone call today telling me my PIP has been stopped and this will impact my ESA significantly ( something a long the lines of my severe disability will be stopped )
 
They lady did say it is possible to appeal this, is this the correct route? 

As I have bills to pay and a flat to maintain, the huge drop in benefits will make it very difficult for me to move forwards.

Where should I go from here ?

KxMx

Yes appealing the decision to stop the PIP is the way forward.
Do get support from CAB or DAB.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/appeals/apply-to-tribunal/

Whelky

As KxMx advised! You have 1 month to request a Mandatory Reconsideration of the PIP decision, strongly advise you contact Citizens Advice as they can help you with this. 

poppy12345

The SDP in your ESA is linked to the daily living award for PIP. Without that the SDP stops. Also if you're privately renting your home, single and you're under 35 then you will now only be entitled to the shared rate of LHA. You need to report the changes to your local Authority.

Although you have 1 month to request the MR you actually have 13 months with good reason. For benefits advice from an agency near you have a look at this link here and it will tell you what's local to you for support https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

Alice_Holt

Whelky said:

As KxMx advised! You have 1 month to request a Mandatory Reconsideration of the PIP decision, strongly advise you contact Citizens Advice as they can help you with this. 

     There is an absolute 13 month deadline. 
     The OP can request a Mandatory Reconsideration after the 1 month time period.

Alice_Holt

https://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-win-pip-appeal

https://www.advicenow.org.uk/pip-tool

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683380/if-you-disagree-with-a-decision-made-by-dwp.PDF

TELLIT01

Presumably the rules about downgrading / stopping benefits have changed in recent years.  When I worked on ESA and IS, this couldn't happen without a face-to-face assessment.

poppy12345

TELLIT01 said:

Presumably the rules about downgrading / stopping benefits have changed in recent years.  When I worked on ESA and IS, this couldn't happen without a face-to-face assessment.

That used to apply to ESA but this was a PIP assessment so that rule has never applied. Their ESA will reduce because of the SDP, it hasn't completely stopped.

venomx

poppy12345 said:

TELLIT01 said:

Presumably the rules about downgrading / stopping benefits have changed in recent years.  When I worked on ESA and IS, this couldn't happen without a face-to-face assessment.

That used to apply to ESA but this was a PIP assessment so that rule has never applied. Their ESA will reduce because of the SDP, it hasn't completely stopped.

Yeah thats the information I was given over the phone. I thought it wasn't so bad until I did some reading.
 
How I'm supposed to manage with £600 odd less each month I don't know.

Thankfully I have care workers who know how this all works.

venomx

poppy12345 said:

The SDP in your ESA is linked to the daily living award for PIP. Without that the SDP stops. Also if you're privately renting your home, single and you're under 35 then you will now only be entitled to the shared rate of LHA. You need to report the changes to your local Authority.

Although you have 1 month to request the MR you actually have 13 months with good reason. For benefits advice from an agency near you have a look at this link here and it will tell you what's local to you for support https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

Very strange they can halve my benefits then think it's OK to reduce my housing benefit at the same time. Makes no sense at all, if my benefits were to reduce, I'll have barely enough money for food and bills, let alone paying extra for my flat.

So they are effectively taking money off me, then expecting me to pay more 

So should I wait until I have the cancellation letter in writing, then pop down to the citizens advice and take it from there ?

poppy12345

venomx said:

poppy12345 said:

The SDP in your ESA is linked to the daily living award for PIP. Without that the SDP stops. Also if you're privately renting your home, single and you're under 35 then you will now only be entitled to the shared rate of LHA. You need to report the changes to your local Authority.

Although you have 1 month to request the MR you actually have 13 months with good reason. For benefits advice from an agency near you have a look at this link here and it will tell you what's local to you for support https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

Very strange they can halve my benefits then think it's OK to reduce my housing benefit at the same time. Makes no sense at all, if my benefits were to reduce, I'll have barely enough money for food and bills, let alone paying extra for my flat.

So should I wait until I have the cancellation letter in writing, then pop down to the citizens advice and take it from there ?

Your benefits will reduce because of the PIP refusal. If you're privately renting and under 35 then housing benefit reduces too. There's nothing you can do about that. You can apply for a discretionary housing payment to cover the shortfall but it's not guaranteed. You will need to ask your local Authority to send you a form but you may want to get some help filling it in because they are quite complex, speaking from experience. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments/claiming-discretionary-housing-payments

If awarded it's only for a short period of time before you need to reapply.

For help with your PIP MR/Tribunal going forward then yes speak to an advice agency local to you. This link will help you find what's local to you. https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits