PIP

peteuk

zoemk12 said:

@peteuk thanks for your reply and useful insight. To clarify, currently I CANNOT drive and I stated this to be the case. Yes I have a driving licence but the report says claimant ‘drives’ and can plan a journey. Ignoring the point about planning a journey do you see how this is misleading? It should say saying something like claimant drives but is currently unable to do so. 

Same with eating, I said my husband prepares all our meals as I am unable to use sharp knives, lift things out of the oven and no I couldn’t open a can of soup on a bad day which is more than half the days. The question is in two parts, food prep and consumption. 

I could go on but I wont. I do understand about it not being the condition but how it affects you and that’s why I claimed. 

Which activity is this under…I assume planing a journey.  

The two mobility activities are treated differently  

 1) Plannning is not affected by physical ability
2) Moving is all about physical ability. 

So the fact that you either dont or cant drive, has no bearing on your ability to plan and undertake a journey.  By previously driving and obtained a driving licence you have shown the mental capcity to learn and drive.  If youd had a stroke which affected your cognative ability or memory then yes the fact you drove is discounted.   

Physical causes that stop you from driving, doesnt stop you from planning a journey.   Say you take the bus to town but it diverts and drops you in the wrong place, Your physical conditions doesnt stop you from getting where you want to be. 

Moving is purely about physical conditions, feet, ankles, knees, hips and backs mainly, it can be argued that if you drive a manual car you have power, grip and range of movement to do other activities (I know that does apply in this age but it gives you an idea of how PIP assessors use the whole information)

Muttleythefrog

It seems currently most applications for PIP are refused... and sadly the experience you report is common... with assessors finding strange extrapolations and irrelevancy. 

Definitely focus on the descriptors and relevant activities and submit an MR (only around 1 in 5 I think currently result in changed decision) ... and then appeal if necessary where all evidence and sanity tends to prevail!

HillStreetBlues

zoemk12 said:

@peteuk thanks for your reply and useful insight. To clarify, currently I CANNOT drive and I stated this to be the case. Yes I have a driving licence but the report says claimant ‘drives’ and can plan a journey.

If you go to a Tribunal  I expect they will pick up on this, If you can not drive then you shouldn't have a driving licence. Having one implies you're medically fit to  drive.

born_again

zoemk12 said:

born_again said:

As to 3.
You get a text from PIP, once they have received it. Till then you can't get a copy. Even ringing assessor for a copy they will say no.
Mrs went for an internal audit & took 5 weeks to get to PIP.

Yes I’d had the text before I asked for the assessment form. On both occasions I was told it had been sent. 

Now I have the rejection letter can I start my reassessment application or is the assessment different ? 

Usually takes at least 10 days for a report to arrive via post to you.

As others have said sit down & look at the descriptors. Get husband to do it, from his perspective. Once you have done it. Leave it for a day or 2 then go back & look at it again. Does it make sense then, could it be better worded? 

How long have you not been driving, do you think you will drive again?


Stay away from accusing assessor & your opinion of what they have done.

zoemk12

peteuk said:

zoemk12 said:

@peteuk thanks for your reply and useful insight. To clarify, currently I CANNOT drive and I stated this to be the case. Yes I have a driving licence but the report says claimant ‘drives’ and can plan a journey. Ignoring the point about planning a journey do you see how this is misleading? It should say saying something like claimant drives but is currently unable to do so. 

Same with eating, I said my husband prepares all our meals as I am unable to use sharp knives, lift things out of the oven and no I couldn’t open a can of soup on a bad day which is more than half the days. The question is in two parts, food prep and consumption. 

I could go on but I wont. I do understand about it not being the condition but how it affects you and that’s why I claimed. 

Which activity is this under…I assume planing a journey.  

The two mobility activities are treated differently  

 1) Plannning is not affected by physical ability
2) Moving is all about physical ability. 

So the fact that you either dont or cant drive, has no bearing on your ability to plan and undertake a journey.  By previously driving and obtained a driving licence you have shown the mental capcity to learn and drive.  If youd had a stroke which affected your cognative ability or memory then yes the fact you drove is discounted.   

Physical causes that stop you from driving, doesnt stop you from planning a journey.   Say you take the bus to town but it diverts and drops you in the wrong place, Your physical conditions doesnt stop you from getting where you want to be. 

Moving is purely about physical conditions, feet, ankles, knees, hips and backs mainly, it can be argued that if you drive a manual car you have power, grip and range of movement to do other activities (I know that does apply in this age but it gives you an idea of how PIP assessors use the whole information)

She asked very early on if I could drive and asked much later on about planning a journey. I couldn’t take a bus because I’m immunocompromised. I’ve never suggested I don’t have e mental capacity to plan a journey or follow a particular route. I wasn’t expect to receive the motility element. 

born_again

zoemk12 said:

peteuk said:

zoemk12 said:

@peteuk thanks for your reply and useful insight. To clarify, currently I CANNOT drive and I stated this to be the case. Yes I have a driving licence but the report says claimant ‘drives’ and can plan a journey. Ignoring the point about planning a journey do you see how this is misleading? It should say saying something like claimant drives but is currently unable to do so. 

Same with eating, I said my husband prepares all our meals as I am unable to use sharp knives, lift things out of the oven and no I couldn’t open a can of soup on a bad day which is more than half the days. The question is in two parts, food prep and consumption. 

I could go on but I wont. I do understand about it not being the condition but how it affects you and that’s why I claimed. 

Which activity is this under…I assume planing a journey.  

The two mobility activities are treated differently  

 1) Plannning is not affected by physical ability
2) Moving is all about physical ability. 

So the fact that you either dont or cant drive, has no bearing on your ability to plan and undertake a journey.  By previously driving and obtained a driving licence you have shown the mental capcity to learn and drive.  If youd had a stroke which affected your cognative ability or memory then yes the fact you drove is discounted.   

Physical causes that stop you from driving, doesnt stop you from planning a journey.   Say you take the bus to town but it diverts and drops you in the wrong place, Your physical conditions doesnt stop you from getting where you want to be. 

Moving is purely about physical conditions, feet, ankles, knees, hips and backs mainly, it can be argued that if you drive a manual car you have power, grip and range of movement to do other activities (I know that does apply in this age but it gives you an idea of how PIP assessors use the whole information)

She asked very early on if I could drive and asked much later on about planning a journey. I couldn’t take a bus because I’m immunocompromised. I’ve never suggested I don’t have e mental capacity to plan a journey or follow a particular route. I wasn’t expect to receive the motility element. 

Don't take this the wrong way. Just a pointer on what you say to these assessors.

You say you can't take a bus, but, guessing you do go out as you did drive or go with husband. So you do mix with other people. So that leads to no reason to not use a bus.
There was another long running thread, where they to got caught out by saying they could drive, but could not do other things, where there is a cross over in limb usage.

If you are not expecting to get anything on mobility.
Then you need to focus on the daily living & give examples on why you can not do things. 

Such as
I also said my husband currently prepares all our food as I cannot cook, she’s said I can use cutlery and I’m getting nutrition! 

Focus on why you can not prepare meals, & give examples.
As preparing food & taking nutrition are 2 separate descriptors, so the answer you quoted makes no sense from the assessor. 

As you mentioned you no longer drive due to your hands, that leads nicely into why you can not prepare or cook. But you need examples. 👍

peteuk

zoemk12 said:

She asked very early on if I could drive and asked much later on about planning a journey. I couldn’t take a bus because I’m immunocompromised. I’ve never suggested I don’t have e mental capacity to plan a journey or follow a particular route. I wasn’t expect to receive the motility element. 

The way I was taught and I believe the routine for most, if not all PIP assessments is as follows. 

1) Security check 
2) Social background - family, house, pets, work, driving history, education etc. 
3) Mobility activities 
4) Daily activities. 

Alot of what you say in the social background can be used to evidence a nil point assessment. I have written this a few time nows - but given the evidence, if the assessor finds it easy to justify a zero point discription then that is what they will write. 

As others have said if your not expecting a mobility element then why are you questioning the planning a route, as the abilty to physically drive has nothing to do with planning a route. 

When was the last time you drove? Other evidence can be used to counter claim your abilty to drive (grip of cutlary, grip of clothing etc. 

ayupmeduck

zoemk12 said:

Hi

I recently applied for PIP & had my assessment 2 weeks ago, I’ve just been declined and given absolutely no points! I’ve seen posts from people saying assessors lie and I’d thought they were exaggerating but I’m shocked at my report & experience really! 

I feel the whole system is designed to put people off. 

1 the phone line is awful, with the automated system often not working so you just keep going round in circles. 

2 I asked for the assessment to be recorded and received this on a CD! Who has a CD rom these days? Again is this deliberate? 

3 the same day as the assessment I called and asked for my report, a week later I called again as it hadn’t arrived, I’ve not received either so I’d guess they weren’t even sent. 

4 it feels as if the assessor has used a lot of creative licence or just lied. Eg she asked if I drove and I said I have a licence but currently I’m not driving because of the issues with my hands. She’s reported - I can drive and have no issues planning journeys. !!!!!!?! My claim isn’t for cognitive issues. 

I also said my husband currently prepares all our food as I cannot cook, she’s said I can use cutlery and I’m getting nutrition! Well yes if I wasn’t getting nutrition I’d need more than PIP! 

And because I still work, from home due to being immunocompromised she said I wasn’t depressed as I was motivated enough to work! 

I will of course appeal but I’m just shocked, I’m not even sure why I’m posting this but I suppose as a cautionary tale. 

Unfortunately if you are working regularly with little time off, it goes against motivation issues. Also I assume you're taking about eating when you mention cutlery, eating has nothing to do with preparing food, going days without eating, constant prompting, weight loss, specialists involved are what they are looking for

HillStreetBlues

Read this about an MP who applied for PIP and just scored 2 points.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/jun/28/disabled-labour-mp-olivia-blake-welfare-bill-u-turn-starmer