Mobility (my carer’s mistake)

Hello everyone!

Hope you are all managing.

I’m new(ish) here.

My carer & I had found all the guidance and experiences-shared here to be very helpful guiding us to complete my PIP application (I previously had a DS1500 completed for me at the beginning of 2022 when I had a terminal cancer diagnosis and so had no involvement really in that first PIP, which was awarded enhanced Daily Living and Enhanced Mobility).

That first PIP was/is due to run until 1st Feb 2025, and so in preparation for this, the DWP wrote to me about 3 months ago asking me to complete a new PIP.

I’m not terminal now and so the replacement for DS1500 was not applicable and so my hubby and I completed the PIP documentation as best we could… I have complex medical commodities (stage IV cancer, cardiac/pulmonary/ocular sarcoidosis and Addison’s disease, ICD for syncope, etc). My cancer is stable and still being monitored as are my other medical conditions.

It’s the effect of the medical conditions (and particularly the impact of the immunotherapy) that has “changed my life” and “worsened considerably my quality of life, my need for help and my mobility”.

And that’s where I now need some advice from you, if possible please - as never having completed the forms previously we found doing them for the first time hard going - with so many commodities - as do many people!

But we did - and sent them off to the DWP.

We heard back yesterday in a letter that the DWP decision was to award ‘enhanced for daily living’ (same as now), but ‘standard for mobility’ (currently have enhanced).

I think the genuine mistake WE MADE was when we said on the form ‘20-50m walking ability’ but gave examples that illustrated I cannot walk even 20m on majority of days.

That was our mistake… I acknowledge that.

I was awarded 10 points now rather than the 12 needed for ‘enhanced’.

This was a genuine mistake. Our mistake.

I imagine we have to telephone them to apologise and explain that we made a mistake.

Do you have any experience of this happening and whether they accept a mistake has been made OR is there something else we should do to correct our mistake?

My immunotherapy has shattered my life (but kept me alive, thankfully) BUT the ‘gift’ that immunotherapy has given me is Addison’s Disease and the side effects are variable energy levels and completely unpredictable ‘energy crisis’ (I have collapsed 3 times without warning in the last month) and cannot walk upstairs everyday (13 steps) nor walk further than the car in the drive (which is about 10m).

Why we optimistically said 20m is beyond me. But as I say - our mistake.

We did include examples highlighting my limited walking - but the error concerning the ‘20m or more’ when we should have recorded ‘20m or less’ is a simple mistake to make but, as we learned now, with huge consequences.

Advice please: do we telephone (hubby will have it as I am deaf) or do we write in? I’m not sure there is any additional ‘evidence’ I can supply as it boils down to our mistake on the form.

But any advice would be most welcome!

Thanks you.