PIP claim

col81

I am wondering if i should be claiming for PIP? i have suffered from depression and anxiety for 3 years i take Citalopram and Propanolol for this. I have good days and bad and work full time however i sometimes don't work because if it. Am i likely to get it or is it a waste of time? 

peteuk

The PIP assessment is natouriously difficult and stressful.  However I would encourage you to look at the process before claiming.

It does not work on your diagnosis it works on the effects your diagnosis has on your day to day activities.  This effect has to be for the majority of days.  I have previously suggested to others that you take an activity and focus on it for a set period and make notes.

Alice_Holt

col81 said:

I am wondering if i should be claiming for PIP? i have suffered from depression and anxiety for 3 years i take Citalopram and Propanolol for this. I have good days and bad and work full time however i sometimes don't work because if it. Am i likely to get it or is it a waste of time? 

        Some useful information here:
  https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/

Muttleythefrog

As above.. follow the guidance on CAB website as it provides good coverage of the benefit.

My advice always to people who ask as you do is to appraise yourself against the criteria and answer the question for yourself as we are in no good position to do so. If you then think you should qualify for an award then it may well be worth applying. The process is often not easy and it is common for people to suffer poor assessment and require challenging decisions... it can be stressful and demanding including with form filling... so I do not advise people apply speculatively especially if it could worsen their health.

There are 10 Activities of Daily Living and 2 for Mobility.
If you get 8-11 points total for either component you get a standard award for that component.
If you get 12 or more points for either component you get an enhanced award for that component.

Awards can vary in length and you should expect to be reviewed in the final year of an award.

People with mental health problems alone often can score lowly across several activities of Daily Living leading to an award (often enhanced). For Mobility often those with severe problems can score across Mobility Activity 1 leading to an award. But everyone is different and it comes down to how you are affected by your illnesses in terms of the activities looked at.. people with depression and anxiety (disorders) certainly can and do get PIP. You will be expected to describe in detail how you are affected and the help you need (whether you get any or not).

Importantly... to be considered able to do an activity you must be able to do it reliably.. reliably means Safely, To an acceptable standard, Repeatedly, In a reasonable time. So for example if it takes 2 hours to get dressed then that's not in reasonable time. They will look to see how you are affected for the majority of the time.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

Suggest returning here for advice if required after assessing yourself against the criteria.