PIP success
“Much to my surprise my PIP claim has been approved and I will get the Enhanced Daily Living Component and the standard Mobility Component. The help I received from this site was invaluable and I don't think I would have been successful without it.”
Dear Reader,
PIP is in a mess. We all know it and only the DWP try to deny it.
But the surest signs that panic is beginning to set in is the fact that Capita have now more than doubled the pay they are offering to assessors in their attempt to get on top of the backlog. Capita health professionals now have a ‘new incentive scheme’ which means they can earn up to £900 a day. Not bad for physiotherapists more accustomed to earning £40 an hour.
In addition, the DWP have rewritten their guidance to assessors in the hope of persuading them to carry out fewer face-to-face medicals and assess more people just on paper evidence, backed up by a telephone call to the claimant to get additional information where necessary. Currently 98% of PIP assessments are face-to-face, but the DWP is aiming for this figure to drop to around 75%. This means a big increase in the number of PIP claimants who will be getting a call out of the blue from an Atos or Capita health professional.
We’ll be updating our guide to claiming PIP with more information about how decisions will be made about who gets a face-to-face medical and also with suggestions about how to deal with a phone call from a PIP health professional, by the end of the week.
In some cases the changes will mean claimants with substantial impairments getting an award of PIP without having to attend a medical, which can only be a good thing.
But in other cases the guidance makes it clear that assessors can refuse to make any award of PIP based simply on the claim pack completed by the claimant, with telephone clarification of specific issues if required.
It makes it even more vital that PIP ‘How your disability affects you’ forms are completed in as much detail as possible and that you get medical evidence if you can.
Unfortunately, Citizens Advice have discovered that half of all GP surgeries are now charging for evidence for ESA appeals and there’s no reason to suppose things are any different when it comes to PIP.
In this edition we also have news of more truth-bending by the DWP, unsubstantiated rumours of changes to the PIP criteria, a dramatic rise in ESA sanctions, plans to cut the income of new ESA and JSA claimants and the truth about what Professor Harrington thought about Atos and the DWP.
Plus we have news of new DWP ESA documents available in the members area.
Oh, and we reveal how many of our readers would recommend us to others.
20% OFF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FOR CLAIMANTS AND FOR PROFESSIONALS - ENDS MIDNIGHT FRIDAY
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: 9742
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.
WHAT’S NEW ON THE SITE
For some years now we’ve published a collection of around 20 documents which allegedly contain the information loaded onto LiMA about different conditions – LiMA being the software that Atos uses to carry out work capability assessments.
However, as a result of a recent freedom of information request we have now obtained another 26 documents allegedly used in LiMA, covering conditions such as epilepsy, hypertension, low back pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, stroke and lupus. These have all been published in the ESA members area of the site, in the ESA DWP guides section (you’ll need to be a logged in member to access this page). They can help to give you some idea of how Atos believe your condition should affect you.
From the same page you can also download a 15 page document relating to how the DWP works with claimants with drug or alcohol dependency. It covers both ESA and JSA claimants, particularly in relation to treatment programmes and to the work programme. If you work with this client group, it’s definitely worth downloading.
95% WOULD RECOMMEND BENEFITS AND WORK TO OTHERS
Many thanks to the more than 6,000 people who completed our survey which went out instead of a newsletter at the end of last week. We really appreciate your feedback and we are working our way through all of your many thousands of comments.
We were delighted that when asked ‘Would you recommend our site to other claimants or professionals’, no fewer than 95.3% of you said ’Yes’ you would. Fewer than 1% said ‘No’, with the rest being undecided.
We were also very interested to learn that, when asked which benefits you are receiving or trying to get, 58% said ESA but 7% said you are still getting incapacity benefit. If those figures are representative of the country as a whole, then by our calculations over 10% of IB claimants have still not been transferred to ESA. Considering that migration was supposed to be completed by April of this year, that’s another impressive failure by IDS.
ESA NEWS
There’s been a dramatic rise in ESA sanctions – up by over 300% in a year. They rose from 1,102 in December 2012 to 4,789 in December 2013. The vast majority of ESA sanctions are for alleged failure to participate in work-related activities.
ESA sanctions are still dwarfed by JSA sanctions, but with more and more ESA claimants being forced onto the work programme - where staff appear to have little interest in claimants health issues - the number is likely to go on climbing.
Please make sure you read our tips for avoiding and fighting sanctions, which includes advice on suing the DWP and work programme providers.
Our sanctions advice has provoked some discussion on Rightsnet, where one welfare rights worker is attempting to take similar cases to an employment tribunal, for which legal help is more readily available.
Still on the subject of ESA, it’s not just claimants who have problems with Atos. Professor Malcolm Harrington, who carried out the first three independent reviews of the work capability assessment, told the work and pensions committee last month that he 'did not trust Atos', that the DWP team set up to implement his recommendations was 'disbanded' and that the system was 'wrong at every stage'.
Harrington called for a “more humane and more individual-focused” assessment system.
It’s just a shame he didn’t say all of this whilst he was actually in the job and in a position to make a difference.
Trying to get evidence from a health professional not employed by Atos is becoming increasingly expensive, however. Citizens Advice have published the results of a survey that shows that half of GPs surgeries that provide evidence for ESA appeals charge for doing so. We’d be very interested to hear about your experiences of trying to get medical evidence in the comments section of this article.
Finally, ESA claimants will lose on average £50 and JSA claimants £40 if the government goes ahead with plans to increase the number of waiting days from 3 to 7 before individuals can make a claim.
The Social Security Advisory Committee has launched a consultation on the proposals as experts warn that they will push more people into the clutches of payday lenders.
PIP AND DLA NEWS
Last week, Benefits and Work heard from a number of people who were very distressed at a claim circulating on the internet that the PIP assessment criteria have been made much more severe and that some people who have had an award may have to repay it. The information allegedly came from a source within Atos.
If you haven’t already seen it, we published our response to this story, which we don’t believe was accurate and which has not since been substantiated in any way.
The DWP meanwhile, has yet again been caught out twisting the facts to justify the introduction of PIP. The official statistics watchdog has found that the DWP repeatedly made false claims about the numbers of people living on disability benefits.
In addition, ministers at the DWP repeatedly and misleadingly claimed that the majority of people on disability living allowance (DLA) were given benefits for life without any supporting medical evidence.
OTHER BENEFITS NEWS
The grandparents and carers of a very severely disabled boy of 14 who needs round-the-clock care have lost their bedroom tax appeal. They have to pay the bedroom tax because they have a ‘spare’ bedroom which is used by overnight carers twice a week, in order to give the Rutherfords a little respite.
The case was brought by CPAG and we understand that they intend to fight on.
Finally, universal credit, has had to be reorganised so fundamentally that the Major Projects Authority has judged that it is now an entirely new project. Given that the DWP have so far signed up fewer than 1% of the more than one million claimants that should have been on UC by April 2014, it’s surprising it counts as a major project at all.
FACEBOOK AND TWITTER NEWS
Both our social media accounts have reached major milestones since the last newsletter.
We’ve now passed the 10,000 mark for Facebook ‘likes’ and our Facebook page is really taking on a character of its own, with a community of individuals supporting each other and discussing issues reported on the main site and elsewhere. Many thanks, as always, to Studio Pookini for running the page for us as volunteers.
Meanwhile we have now got over 6,000 followers on twitter, which continues to be an excellent source of breaking news for us. Many thanks to Sangeeta, the only socially savvy member of the office team, for being the only one who knows how to tweet.
MORE NEWS ON THE SITE
The real cost-of-living-crisis: Five million British children 'sentenced to life of poverty thanks to welfare reforms'
The DWP must explain how it will adjust Atos WCAs for mental health claimants
MPs meet their match at St James’ Park
Ministers urged to publish more accurate figures on benefit fraud that show it is 0.7% of claims
20% OFF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FOR CLAIMANTS AND FOR PROFESSIONALS - ENDS MIDNIGHT FRIDAY
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: 9742
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.
GOOD NEWS FROM THE FORUM
As always,we're very grateful to everyone who posts their good news in the forum.
PIP success
“I've had a decision letter and it's great news. Standard rate for daily care and enhanced rate for mobility. Both ongoing and to be reviewed in 2025…I'm happy with the outcome and the Capita assessment...I hope this result gives some encouragement to those still going through the process.”
ESA Support Group
“…well decision letter finally came today - DWP did go with ATOS recommendation for the support group - thanks so much for everyone's support here and all the info provided! Couldn't have managed without it.”
PIP award
“Thank you so very much for all the help and advice I received from your guides. I applied for PIP. My assessment was in March . I finally had a result on Tuesday this week. More surprisingly all the back dated money was in my account yesterday. Enhanced care and standard mobility. Thanks so much”
DLA awarded on renewal
“…a massive thank you to this website for all the help and support given to help complete these complex and often misleading forms…I filled the form out and gathered all my necessary supporting documents and sent it off… within a few weeks I had a letter to say I had the same DLA award but for an indefinite period.”
PIP success
“Just to let you all know that today I've received a letter saying I have been awarded enhanced daily living and mobility! I cannot thank enough Benefits and Work because you all have been such a great support for me. I am so lucky to found you and cannot imagine what would I do without your great information and guidance. Thank you so much! I wish everyone who is applying PIP good luck! Its a very hard and stressful process but Benefits and Work moderators are absolutely brilliant!”
Support Group success
“Have just been told via the phone, that I've been placed in the support group for three years. Cannot thank benefits and work enough for all their support and invaluable guides, you all do a sterling job, and I would like to thank you so much. Hope this gives encouragement to others who are playing 'the waiting game' that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.”
ESA support group
“Good news! As a result of being put into the ESA Support Group, my local Council informed me that Housing Benefit would now pay all my rent and Council Tax Support would pay all my Council Tax”
Support Group without medical
“Having used your site I was placed in support group without medical, although it took 42 weeks to get a response!”
DLA renewal award
“My DLA was due to expire in July 2014 - I was invited to renew. Imagine my absolute surprise to receive a new award of Higher rate care & Higher rate mobility for 5 years!! No medical or other enquiries. Thank you so much Benefits and Work, I'm sure the success was due to following your guide to the letter.”
IB to ESA support group
“After receiving a form to change from IB to ESA…I have at last received a letter putting me in the support group of ESA without a medical. Without help from Benefits and Work I do not think this would have happened…I couldn't be happier, it is such a weight off my mind.”
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Good luck,
Steve Donnison, Sangeeta Enright and Karen Sharpe
The Office Team
Benefits and Work Publishing Ltd
Company registration No. 5962666
