DLA to PIP Appeal success
“I have just appeared before a tribunal after being reassessed at 0pts for both mobility & carers allowance for my transfer to PIP from DLA 6 months ago. The courts decision was enhanced rate mobility & standard rate care, this by the way was what I was on for DLA, the award is for 3 years - fantastic news! . . . I would like to thank Benefits & Work for your informative guides and to the Forum Admins who give amazing advice during the stressful times, it is much appreciated.”
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Dear Reader,
It isn’t easy to go on fighting.
Sometimes the odds seem so stacked against you that admitting defeat seems the only rational thing to do.
So we want to salute all those people who somehow manage not to give up.
Not even when a despicably poor PIP assessment by Atos or Capita is rubber stamped by an equally dreadful DWP decision maker, leaving them with zero points.
Because figures released by Penny Mordaunt last week show that no fewer than one in four claimants who win their PIP appeal do so after being awarded no points at all at their original assessment.
Not one single point.
And that’s in addition to the 15% of PIP mandatory reconsiderations where the claimant won an award after getting zero points originally.
Figures like this should be an immediate call to action. They should prompt a complete overhaul - if not the utter abandonment - of the PIP assessment system.
Because our readers know what enormous stress and misery a zero points decision involves. And how exhausting it is for people to have to fight against such odds, frequently at a great cost to their already poor health.
But, of course, these statistics will have no effect whatsoever on the way that PIP is administered.
Instead, the figures that are likely to have an effect are the ones also released last week, which show that PIP is failing to make anything like the 20% savings that the DWP predicted it would.
The government was aiming to spend £13.6bn on disability benefits in 2018-19. The forecast is that it will actually spend £18bn.
It is these figures, we suspect, which will prompt major changes in the way PIP is administered.
But clearly not in a way that is favourable to claimants.
GENERAL ELECTION
Back in January 2015 we wrote an article entitled ‘Could claimants choose the next government?’.
In it, we published tables which showed that working age claimants held the balance of power in enough marginal seats to potentially decide who governed Britain.
But an air of deep disaffection and distrust hung over the last election. Many people told us that it would make no difference who they voted for, because one party was a bad as any other as far as claimants were concerned.
In fact, UKIP was the only party that seemed to be viewed by its followers with any real enthusiasm. Support for Labour tended to be grudging at best.
This time, the response to our very brief article ‘General election: is there anyone for claimants to vote for?’ has been very different.
UKIP is virtually unmentioned. On the other hand, there is actually some positive regard for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, along with some utter despair.
But most of all, there is a very clear horror about the effect that five more years of majority Conservative government might have on the lives of sick and disabled claimants.
Few people seem to think it makes no difference who wins in 2017.
Sadly, the truth is that, unlike 2015 when the race seemed very close, the chance of the Labour party winning this election is probably tiny.
Yet, like the PIP claimants who go from zero to enhanced rates for both components, there are people who are prepared to fight for that chance, however small it might be.
Good luck,
Steve Donnison
Success – we won the appeal
“Hi I am not sure how to do this but I need to say a big thank you to all at Benefits and Work.
By reading and using your examples and guides I have just won my appeal today for ESA and now placed in the support group. Judge and doctor were lovely people and put us at ease. Judge said he recommended not to be assessed again as will be a pension age in 3.5 years. Went from 0 points to 15 on mobility alone but he said that there would have been more points awarded but did not feel the need for those and now placed in the support group. Your guides gave us the confidence to feel confident of this outcome so again thank you so much!!!”
BOOST YOUR PIP AND ESA CHANCES - 20% OFF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP – OFFER ENDS MIDNIGHT FRIDAY, 12 MAY
DLA to PIP success
“I received my decision last Friday and was awarded enhanced care and mobility for an ongoing period. Thank-you to everyone at Benefits and Work for your excellent guides and dedication to this site.”
Give yourself the best possible chance of getting the right ESA, PIP or DLA decision, whether you’re making a claim, renewing an existing award or asking for a reconsideration or appeal.
Subscribe now and get instant access to all our guides.
If you’re not already a member, join the Benefits and Work community before midnight on Friday and you can get 20% off the cost of your annual subscription.
Just type the following code into the coupon box when you pay: 84634
Claimants and carers get an annual subscription for £15.96, down from £19.95. Professionals get an annual subscription for £77.60, down from £97.00.
Offer ends midnight Friday, 12 May
GOOD NEWS FROM THE FORUM
As always, many thanks to everyone who takes the trouble to post in the forum or email us with news of your success. We know it’s many readers favourite, and most encouraging, bit of the newsletter.
DLA to PIP Result
“Hi. Would just like to say a big thank you to this site. Having subscribed & read through the guides I filled form in & then attended the assessment three weeks ago which I found very stressful. And worked myself up that they would turn me down due to them trying to withhold benefits for genuine people with Disabilities. Brown envelope arrived on Saturday & I have been awarded the Standard Rate of PIP for another two years same as my old DLA claim. which I had been on since 2008. Having got a long term medical condition, better then not getting any award whatsoever.
Without the guides i would not have been so thorough filling the forms in & gathering the evidence.
Thank you for providing guidelines through your excellent guide and site..”
Thank you All
“Hi Everyone. Just a quick note to say that my friend, Annie, was awarded standard care and mobility for PIP, many thanks to all of you kind people..”
Thank you
“I would like to thank you for all the help and support I have received via this brilliant website...words cannot explain the relief it's has provided for me and my son. 16 year old just transfered to Pip...no medical....he had a paperbased review and was awarded enhanced care and mobility until 2023. I would like to once again thank you for your support, guidance, determination and excellent support.”
PIP – have faith
“Hi all. Invited to apply for PIP 28/2/2017. Previously DLA middle rate care and Higher rate mobility
Form returned to DWP 15/3/2017. Today received " the brown envelope " Telling me I had been granted Enhanced care (14 points) and Enhanced mobility ( 12 points ) ongoing. No F2F. No Atos. Thank you so much for your excellent guides and wonderful forum which I have followed for the last two years.”
Mandatory Reconsideration Result
“Thanks to the info contained in the Members Guides, my wife was awarded the Enhanced Rate for Mobility, after initially only being awarded the Standard rate when moving from DLA to PIP.
We asked for the Mandatory Reconsideration on 11 March and after drafting a letter ourselves and getting additional medical evidence, we received a reply on 3 May to say we had been successful. Thanks again, great advice on your website.”
Yet another shock!
“I got my AR1 in the post on 1 April, & returned it on 7 April. On Saturday I got the old brown (dated 24 April) from DWP saying that I'd got my [PIP] award until 2020, & with no assessment! Thanks so much to B&W for everything”
PIP success
“A great big thank you to Benefits and Work, I was awarded both components of PIP at the High rate. This was down to the great guides on this website. I will continue to subscribe to this great and helpful site. Keep up the great work everyone”
DLA to PIP success
“I had the dreaded letter but filled all the forms in as per help from B&W then held my breath.
Got called in for a face to face and was terrified . Few weeks later came the Brown envelope which was not as bad as I expected …. I had gone from middle care and full mobility indefinite to middle care and lower mobility for 6 years but I decided to ask for reconsideration as I felt they had got part of the daily care wrong they had given me 10 points but I asked for 15. I sent the reconsideration request by recorded delivery but they just filed it until I rang and asked what was happening. I only got 2 of the 5 extra points I asked for but this was enough to go up to higher care. Overall a happy result and without B&W it would not have happened. Thanks for your service”
PIP results at last
“Pip results. After 5 stressful months and two f2f appointments. I've found out I've got both the higher awards. It's been a complete nightmare. I even had to get my local mp involved. Capita in the end payed me £75 compensation as well for the complete cockup they had made with me having to have 2 f2f medicals. So any one else that has same trouble complain to capita and your mp. Also thanku [mods] for the advice on here.”
Success!
“I had DLA mobility higher rate indefinitely and went for my PIP medical in December.
Having had 2 mandatory reassessments because DWP said I didn't send and further evidence (Which I did) I have been given enhanced mobility and standard care. Have to say that they took their time with the second assessment and had to argue that they reconsider on the rules of pre March 16, since the first mandatory reassessment went in in January! Thanks to your site and sheer bloody minded persistence on the phone, I got the result I wanted. Thank You”
PIP award
“I used your excellent guide to PIP to apply for a transfer to PIP from DLA.
Today I received the dreaded brown envelope, seven weeks after my PIP assessment. It's a good outcome for me, as I will receive the same money as I did for DLA, till March 2020”
PIP success
“Just a quick note to tell you how happy I was to join this group and to let you know that, with the help and advice on this site, I 'passed' my first PIP assessment. I recently received my letter telling me I will receive the higher rate until 2027! Wow, I'll be 66! Your help and advice articles were invaluable and I felt I was much better informed and prepared for the assessment…Even tho' the assessor was quite blunt and didn't smile once I just felt really prepared for the appointment and was able to tell her ALL about how Transverse Myelitis affects my activities of daily living. However, because of her brusqueness, I was doubtful when I left the assessment and waited anxiously for my letter, resigned to the fact that I might have to appeal. However, the dreaded letter duly arrived within about 10 days and as I said earlier, I was awarded the higher rates!”
DLA to PIP success
“I just want to say a big thank you to the team at B & W. The dreaded brown envelope eventually arrived and my partner has been awarded 17 points for the daily living component and 14 points for mobility with reassessment in 10 years. Needless to say we are so relieved and following the advice on your website proved invaluable. We couldn't have done it without you. I should say though, that despite the horror stories we have read we could not fault the lady who did my partners assessment. She was compassionate, took her time and made us feel that we mattered. Once again a great big thank you to everyone at B & W.”
PIP appeal won
“Hello after a long haul I have won my appeal for pip at tribunal ( on a paper hearing)!!!!
… This site has been a massive help and is a mine of information, thankyou”
PIP success
“I have just received my PIP decision ... great news i have been awarded standard rate mobility and low rate carer allowance...phew ...thank you for the invaluable advice.”
DLA to PIP success – eventually
“Thank you to B&W for the helpful advice documents. I would reinforce what others have written, if at first you don't succeed do not give up be persistent. I went from DLA Higher rate for care and Mobility to PIP 0 and 4 pints, this after having a joke of a Face to Face interview. On requesting reconsideration I have been awarded Standard Care for 11 points and Enhanced Mobility for 12 points... I would also reinforce the advice provided by B&W, include precise and as much information on the difficulties you have, irrespective of whether you are repeating the same or similar comments on each page of your application form.”
BOOST YOUR PIP AND ESA CHANCES - 20% OFF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP – OFFER ENDS MIDNIGHT FRIDAY, 12 MAY
Give yourself the best possible chance of getting the right ESA, PIP or DLA decision, whether you’re making a claim, renewing an existing award or asking for a reconsideration or appeal.
Subscribe now and get instant access to all our guides.
If you’re not already a member, join the Benefits and Work community before midnight on Friday and you can get 20% off the cost of your annual subscription.
Just type the following code into the coupon box when you pay: 84634
Claimants and carers get an annual subscription for £15.96, down from £19.95. Professionals get an annual subscription for £77.60, down from £97.00.
Offer ends midnight Friday, 12 May
Good luck,
The Office Team
Benefits and Work Publishing Ltd
Company registration No. 5962666
