PIP and Migraines

Hi rubyred

I'm sorry this happened to you.

If you haven't already - you should ring the DWP and ask for a copy of the assessment report. It is called a PA4. It could take 7 to 10 days to arrive - so you want to do this immediately. This will give you more idea of why you were turned down.

There are people who work and receive PIP, so working should not automatically disqualify you from receiving a PIP award. However, it can be challenging - which is why you want to see what the assessor wrote down.

There is a guide to PIP claims and appeals and it contains the information about putting in for a Mandatory Reconsideration. You should also look at the Guide on how to challenge a medical report (your PA4).

I can't really give you any advice at this stage - because I don't know where you were hoping to gain points and didn't. Did you use our guide to write your original application? In order to be awarded PIP, you need to show that your condition/s affects you the majority of the time, eg 4 days out of 7. Did you make this clear? Normally, claimants complain that the assessor knows nothing about their assessment - but in your case, I can't help feeling that you may have been disadvantaged by it.

Did the assessor make a fair judgement or did they judge you based on their own personal experience? You may want to think about making a separate complaint because, in my view, the assessor should not have even told you that she has the same illness, and when you have seen the report, you may want to make a case that she made a biased judgement. Hopefully, you had the assessment recorded.

Assessors often penalise people who drive and they shouldn't. However, be aware that the DWP have been known to contact the DVLA and say that if a claimant is as sick as they say on their form then they should not be driving at all. So whatever you have said about your driving be clear that you don't drive when affected by your Vestibular Migraine symptoms.

BIS