PIP award lower than should be

Hi Gracie89

Welcome to the forum.

You might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is; www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/faq/forum.

The first thing you need to do is contact DWP and ask for copy of the assessors report called a PA4.

When you have the assessors report, you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and you will now be able to argue against them.

I usually use a highlighter to highlight any inaccuracies, once you have gone through the report you then set out why you are applying for a MR and go through each descriptor one at a time why you disagree with the assessor and try and match it with any supporting documents you may have sent in.

Understand that the assessor is offering an opinion when they say 'in my opinion' you can do the PIP activities, tackling these head-on is unlikely to be successful, you need to show that the basis of that opinion is founded on incorrect information, so try and refer to your evidence to undermine what they have said, remember they are just an opinion which is not based on fact.

Also, try and stick to issues that lead to your scoring points, I often hear members referring to the assessors spelling, as an example, whilst it may show a lack of professionalism, raising it as an issue isn't going to help you get an award.

Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation.

Lastly, make sure that you understand the criteria that you are being assessed against you can put the best case forward that is possible but you won't score points if you do not meet the PIP Descriptors.

There is always a risk of ending up with nothing which is why you need to get a copy of the assessors report.

To do an in time mandatory reconsideration, you have to put the request in within one month, you can go outside this deadline if you have a good reason, as you have stated the maximum deadline is 13 months, I have put in a MR at 11.5 months, the claimant had severe mental health issues.

The way to contact DWP and say you want it on record the decision is wrong is to apply for a mandatory reconsideration.

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide; benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/pip

For the CRMR1 form to initiate your MR; www.gov.uk/government/publications/chall...ork-and-pensions-dwp.

When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

Gary

Hi Gracie89

It is always worth applying for the assessors report (PA4).

If you are unsure which way to go, have you tried B&W's self-tester, it cannot tell you for certain but it will give you a good indication based on you as only you know how your condition(s) affect you on a day to day basis.

If you are outside the one month time limit, you can apply for a MR with good reasons, I do loads of these, I always use the excuse waiting for a copy of the assessors report and then waiting to see a welfare rights adviser.

If your mum helps you day to day then she could write you a support letter stating what support she gives you and WHY she gives you support, the why part is the important part.

Gary