PIP

Dear all,
Just wanted to say a big thank you for all your help.
Originally I had lowest level DLA living and higher mobility.
I was awarded standard PIP both parts.
Put in a mandatory appeal with your help and letter from drs and SW. Received my brown envelope today and now have enhanced both parts. What a relief I can keep my car! My award is until Nov 2022.
Once again many thanks.
Karen.

Congratulations to you Karen. I was, like you, on indefinite DLA lower rate for the care component but higher rate for mobility, and have now just, (this morning), received the DWP's decision following my face to face assessment under 3 weeks ago. And while I've now been awarded the enhanced rate for care, I've been reduced to the standard rate for the mobility side of it so I'm in danger of losing what gives me my tiny bit of INDEPENDENCE! My car is my only bit of independence I have because I need so many more things doing to help me on a daily basis these days but driving's not one of them, (unless it's to somewhere unfamiliar when I need somebody with me to tell me the way as my Fibromyalgia and Sjogren's disease don't allow me to understand satnavs and I can no longer get my head around maps), albeit I can only drive to familiar places and when the journey's are no longer than 20 minutes away. I thought the whole idea of this Personal INDEPENDENCE Payment was to help folk like us with our......INDEPENDENCE!!!!!

Can't think about what to do now but my hubby's already rung the DWP requesting a copy of the HP's report because. according to what the decision maker has written in his letter, there are lots of, what I can only call 'un-truths' in it. e.g. when the assessment was almost at an end, the HP said he'd like to do a very little physical examination if I was ok with that'. Both my husband and I said almost in unison, that it would depend on what it involved. So, the HP, (a physio he said he was but only after I'd asked him what his qualifications were to be doing this assessment), proceeded to show me 2 things he'd want me to do. First was to lift each leg one by one keeping it straight whilst siting down. I told him that would cause pain in my knees and more in my lower back. Second was to bend each leg and raise it upwards, one at a time to which I said that that would cause more pain in my back and my hips. So, he said that he could see I was in obvious discomfort just sitting there so he wouldn't ask me to do those and said he'd put down that I declined and I said that would be fine so long as it wouldn't scupper my chances for my application decision. Well it obviously did because today's letter states that he couldn't assess my movement as I'd declined the musculoskeletal examination! No mention of the physiotherapist not wanting to do it because of my discomfort!

The decision maker even states that my 'mental health examination' showed that I had a normal manner, was not withdrawn and was not anxious or agitated'. So my hands trembling went unnoticed then, even when I was trying to take a drink of water from my bottle that I have to have on hand because of my dry mouth courtesy of the Sjogren's.He also reckoned I had adequate concentration and general memory, (memory of a goldfish not withstanding I hasten to add), and there was no evidence of cognitive impairment! Oh if he only knew! He has also decided that I can plan and follow the route of a journey UNAIDED! Untrue and wrong on so many levels but they're obviously basing this on my being able to drive myself to my medical appointments, (GP about a mile away), or to my daughter's or nieces homes, (about 15 minutes away).

As for my medication, he says that I'm prescribed only moderate pain relief and then there's a full stop BUT what I told the HP, (physio), was that I can ONLY take the medication I'm on because I cannot take anything addictive having been addicted to 3 of my previous prescription analgesics over the years, (one was even a controlled drug!), and I have no desire to go through that ever again when having to come off of them which I'd had to do for a colonoscopy a few years ago. I did tell the HP that the combination of drugs I take supposedly to give pain relief, barely even takes the edge off the pain.

There are so many more discrepancies in the decision makers findings that aren't what I'd said in my PIP application forms but I can't take up all the electronic ether listing them all.

I'm so sorry for ranting about this but it's really got me fired up......and angry......and upset. When I told my son he said they must be joking Mum. Oh, if only it were a joke, but it's going to effectively have me becoming a hermit dependant on my husband and others when transport is needed. I can't do public transport because it's too painful with all the jiggling about, not to mention having to stand at a bus stop or station. Won't help my self-esteem one iota ether and with the chronic fatigue along with the fibromyalgia, depression's only ever just around the corner.......again.

Not sure where I can go from here, but eagerly await the copy of the HP's report before we can ask for that Mandatory Reconsideration business and can only hope that truth will out.

What I don't understand though, is that having had 2 face to face assessments 3 years apart re the ESA for which I'm in the Support Group, I don't understand why on earth the decision maker doesn't have access to those reports too as it's all done under the DWP? When I went for my second face to face assessment last year, the nurse doing the 'interview' announced that she could not understand why I'd been asked to come along for one of these assessments again having read the report from my first one 3 years before. We were literally in there for 10 minutes. So, why can't the DWP get all this information together? It's not as if it's a data protection thing because it's all being done for the same agency i.e. the DWP. I'm totally confuddled and my normal daily headache is now pounding and it's all sooooooo stressful.

Once again, apologies for the rant but it's helped to get it off my double frontage.

But I truly am pleased for you Karen just as I am for anybody who really deserves this help and gets it. If you spoke to any members of my family or close friends, you'd hear them say that I'm also one of those deserving folk......pity the DWP can't hear them.

Thank you so much for telling me that about my name Gordon. I'm new to posting on this forum and thought it would be my username showing in posts. Took me a while, but through the fibro fog I've managed to edit the name bit and may yet change it to my username if that's ok?

I definitely think I will be doing a post to ask for your advice, but not tonight as I've had a stressful day almost going into meltdown about that letter. I've already downloaded 2 helpful information leaflets to hopefully help me to get them to change their decision and that will take me a day or two to read through and understand.

I've been a member on your site for a few years though and have found all the information available very helpful for my ESA stuff and this PIP. I honestly thought that I'd given them all the information they'd need to make a decision without even seeing me. How wrong can you be eh.

Thanks again for your guidance about the name and the suggestion to do a new post for help.