No 4 point PIP descriptors results
| Submission ID: 1164897 |
| Date: 2025-04-10 13:03:05 |
| Nickname: Avery |
| Age: 22 |
| Main health condition: Physical health |
| Main conditions that affect daily living: Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Brittle Asthma Irlens Syndrome Autism |
| Rate of PIP daily living component: Enhanced |
| 4 point descriptor score: No |
| Possibility to score at least one 4-point daily living descriptor at the next review: Unlikely |
| Tasks you struggle with on a day-to-day basis: I am a wheelchair user and can't walk over 10m, and can't stand still for any period of time. I can't cook anymore, I struggle with reading and writing (combination of Irlens and hypermobility), I can't talk on the phone and often lose my voice (or it becomes painful to talk due to vocal chord dysfunction). I cannot do all the cleaning around the house and pay someone to help. |
| Expected income you will lose if the Green Paper cuts are imposed: If I lose my daily living PIP I will lose £434 per month after my review in 2029. I will also then lose LCWRA/ Health element, so would lose another £450 per month if I don't find a job I can do after I finish university in 2028. I will no longer be able to afford to keep my car (currently on Motability) as the money that currently pays for it will have to go towards basic bills and food. Without a car I can't leave my house, so if I am working or still in University I will have to quit. My rent would be paid for by housing element (currently £337 but it will be higher by this time), but I will be left with approx £400 a month from Universal Credit and £300 from PIP to pay all my bills and, if there is enough left over, food. My bills are £400 a month at the moment without food, and my diet is more expensive than most due to the gastrointestinal issues caused by my EDS. My PIP would have to cover food, toiletries and any other basic necessities I need to survive. I could no longer use it to maintain my wheelchair (privately paid for as the NHS doesn't have enough funding to provide what I need), I wouldn't be able to pay my cleaner (council can't afford to fund carers for me) so my house would become very dirty and unsafe as well as my cleaner losing a job. I wouldn't be able to afford anything except necessities, I couldn't afford any hobbies or ways to pass the time. |
| Expected problems if you tried moving into work, with support from a work coach: I have been through this previously before claiming LCWRA and expect similar problems. My local job centre is not wheelchair friendly which already makes it difficult. I can't do the usual jobs they will find for people, which is factory work or call centres. I can't work in shops or in fast food/ restaurants due to health and safety, as well as having no experience. I currently have no qualifications above GCSE, and have only worked on horse riding schools and private yards or farms, which I can no longer do. I am hoping to start a degree this year, but I will not be able to work in the field I am training in without a car as I cannot regularly use or rely on public transport, which is very lacklustre in my local area. I cannot get a bus or train to the job centre so would have to pay for taxis, which are also incredibly difficult to get as a wheelchair user. If I cannot leave the house and I cannot make phone calls I do not know which job I could physically do. If I am struggling to keep my house and my clothes clean I do not know how I will pass an interview, and I don't know how I could keep a job without reliable transport or a suitably maintained wheelchair. I want to work and can work with the correct support, but a work coach cannot provide the type of support I need to stay in education or employment. |
| Anything else to tell us: I am terrified of these proposed cuts. I am scared that I will not have the money or the support I need to survive, and I don't know what will happen to me if this goes ahead. I am scared that I will die. I worked for as long as I was able, and I'm only alive now because I had the social security system to fall back on when I was unwell, even if I only had £200 a month to live off when I first started claiming. I don't want to claim, and I'm embarrassed to be on benefits, but I have to claim to survive. I have no choice. Now that my conditions are better managed I feel more able to retrain and return to work, but I cannot do this if the support I need is taken away. My PIP doesn't cover everything I need anyway. And if the government were to set up properly funded schemes to replace what PIP pays for, it would be more expensive for the taxpayer than the curreny PIP bill anyway so it would be counterproductive. I am also angry. The current labour government promised there would be no cuts, and they promised there would be change, but they are doing exactly the same things as previous Tory governments, but more extreme. It is financially and morally wrong, and these cuts will kill. |
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