PIP: Change of circumstances

JayKay70

Hi all,

I need to lower the points on my sons pip assessment as he has improved over the last couple of months.

I.E on Planning and following journeys his gone from 12 too 4 points

Is it just a case of phoning them and they change it over the phone?

elsien

It may trigger a reassessment. How sure are you that the improvements will be maintained? 

Martyn_H

Parent of a child with special needs here. I agree with elsien. My advice is to say nothing unless you're asked and give as little away as possible.

Savvy_Sue

Also, is it going to change his overall assessment - obviously in your opinion? but if nothing else has changed, does that reduction make a difference?

If those few points lost would take him down a lower level of payment, then you SHOULD tell them, but keep the advice above in mind, and I'd certainly want to keep the improvement under review for a little longer.

If it's clearly not going to bring him down to a lower level of payment, then even more reason to keep the change under review and not rush to inform them. A full-blown reassessment can go horribly wrong ... 

Spoonie_Turtle

JayKay70 said:

Hi all,

I need to lower the points on my sons pip assessment as he has improved over the last couple of months.

I.E on Planning and following journeys his gone from 12 too 4 points

Is it just a case of phoning them and they change it over the phone?

This is the crucial point.  You need to be sure things will stay the same for at least a year before you tell them - PIP technically is about the last three months with it being expected to last at least another 9 months.  So

Highly unlikely they'll just do it over the phone, to my knowledge a change of ability/condition like this would usually trigger a full reassessment.

JayKay70

Thanks all for the replies, just some info.....

The reason for the downgrade is down to my son has come a long way, he now has a girlfriend who has helped him massively with us as a family aswell, he is also set himself goals to get himself off PIP......he want's to set himself a goal of feeling independent and wean his way of PIP.

I am so proud of him for doing so and feel that for him to do this is to conquer that point system and use it as a way to conquer his life.

If that makes sense....

My worry is that when i phone them and tell them how his improved they might carry on paying him his enhanced rate for many many months whilst they sort it out and then once they have downgraded him from higher living rate too lower living rate we will have to pay it back due to over payment because of how long it took them to sort it out.

chrisw

Just to say congratulations to your son. With that attitude and supportive family and friends I sincerely hope he gains the independence he deserves.

elsien

I’m not sure that conflating PIP with not being independent is necessarily the right way to be looking at it?
It’s meant to support independence with the extra costs that having an illness or disability can bring. People can work,  have their own home, have a relationship,  have children and still be entitled to claim PIP.
Weaning himself off it, to me just seems an odd turn of phrase to use. If he is associating Pip with not being able to do anything that’s fair enough, but that isn’t what it’s intended to be about. Although I can completely see why people wouldn’t want to put themselves through the assessment process process because it can be so difficult but that’s down to the system not down to the individuals claiming. 

MouldyOldDough

JayKay70 said:

Thanks all for the replies, just some info.....

The reason for the downgrade is down to my son has come a long way, he now has a girlfriend who has helped him massively with us as a family aswell, he is also set himself goals to get himself off PIP......he want's to set himself a goal of feeling independent and wean his way of PIP.

I am so proud of him for doing so and feel that for him to do this is to conquer that point system and use it as a way to conquer his life.

If that makes sense....

My worry is that when i phone them and tell them how his improved they might carry on paying him his enhanced rate for many many months whilst they sort it out and then once they have downgraded him from higher living rate too lower living rate we will have to pay it back due to over payment because of how long it took them to sort it out.

12 down to 4 points will mean zero PIP payment - are you 100% sure that your son wants this ?

if so - you will be cancelling all payments completely - with no easy return (because DWP will consider your son is no longer a claimant). Also no carers allowance will be available !!

So please think extremely carefully about your plans

Spoonie_Turtle

MouldyOldDough said:

JayKay70 said:

Thanks all for the replies, just some info.....

The reason for the downgrade is down to my son has come a long way, he now has a girlfriend who has helped him massively with us as a family aswell, he is also set himself goals to get himself off PIP......he want's to set himself a goal of feeling independent and wean his way of PIP.

I am so proud of him for doing so and feel that for him to do this is to conquer that point system and use it as a way to conquer his life.

If that makes sense....

My worry is that when i phone them and tell them how his improved they might carry on paying him his enhanced rate for many many months whilst they sort it out and then once they have downgraded him from higher living rate too lower living rate we will have to pay it back due to over payment because of how long it took them to sort it out.

12 down to 4 points will mean zero PIP payment - are you 100% sure that your son wants this ?

if so - you will be cancelling all payments completely - with no easy return (because DWP will consider your son is no longer a claimant). Also no carers allowance will be available !!

So please think extremely carefully about your plans

Depends if he claims the daily living part or not - if it is only the mobility element now then there's already no carers allowance available.

But I echo the sentiment of caution!

Alice_Holt

"he now has a girlfriend who has helped him massively with us as a family as well"

Which is great, but how would he cope without this help. 

Could he reliably get to a familiar / unfamiliar place on his own, cope with public transport and people, cope with changes to timetables, etc without suffering psychological distress?  

As others have said PIP looks over 12 months.

Advising a change of circumstance will result in a fresh assessment.