PIP Appeal ? Better Chance because Has Already been on PIP

melissahicking2019

I have a quick question thats got me thinking.

My friend is going through tribunal/appeal for pip because CRAPITA directed their assessment against my friend and neglected  to mention relevant information at relevant times ect along with trying to say that my friend verbally told her that he is better now. (A long term schizophrenic) . Which he denies. He did however explain to her that he had stopped taking a certain medication and that he felt alot better for doing so... So anyway. Capita did what they do best....

Going back in time My friend was initially awarded PIP but we still had to appeal the 1st decision of 0 points for him to win is MR and given over 12 points. Actually he received 14 and 4 points.

Anyway for him to win that appeal we presented no medical evidence. I mean ZERO evidence.
The reason we had none was because his doctors where taking forever to sort it out..

We at 1st had to write a letter asking for the paperwork, then we had to wait for the area manager to reply to us, then we had to see the doctor , who then had to clear it with another manager. who then had to arrange for the paperwork to be copied and released after a security check ect. And all of this would only have been in motion after the initial 3 weeks of waiting to see the doctor.

Anyway as you can imagine we did not have the time to arrange any paperwork. So we where hoping that the DWP would contact his doctors ect and obtain it themselves. which they did not.

Anyway to our surprise he was awarded enhanced rate PIP for 3 years

After that 3 years we ended up back in the same position as before. with a date for assessment and no way of getting the paperwork in time.

So we sent a sick note to the assessment center asking them to wait until my friends ankle was better (he had sprained it) 
They Refused the request and told my friend that he must attend the appointment or he would loose his benefits.

This made him panic and so with a sprained ankle and on a crutch with serious schizophrenia and Genuine panic attacks , Depression and anxiety. further still on medications. Jumped on a bus and got himself lost in the city looking for the CAPITA center.

Fortunately he ended up in a Jobcenter and one of the staff walked the rest of the way with him to the correct center.

Where he was eventually met by the assessor whom neglected to mention any of his troubles finding the place in her assessment and simply stated that he attended the assessment on his own after catching a bus whilst on crutches and asked people for directions.

I was fuming. How dare they use it against him after he had been pressured into attending when they even had a SICK NOTE in thier possession...

Anyway ultimately he was refused PIP and so here we are at tribunal.

My question is...

Because he was on PIP before. Does it mean that the tribunal will take into consideration that fact

it is unlikely that his health could of gotten better from receiving PIP up until the Appeal. Because my friend is claiming for a Clawed hand that could not and did not get any better also. and dyslexia and mental health/ depression / panic attacks ect. All of which could not of gotten better just for an assessment.

Im sorry if this thread is a little sketchy but dinners burning....lol


thanks for advice.

twonker

Where he was eventually met by the assessor whom neglected to mention any of his troubles finding the place in her assessment and simply stated that he attended the assessment on his own after catching a bus whilst on crutches and asked people for directions.

I'm confused. Isn't it the case that what the assessor wrote was what actually happened? With the actions he took getting to the assessment centre will most certainly be used against him for many of the descriptors.

To answer your question, it matters not to anyone what your friend was awarded for a previous PIP claim. Each review/re-assessment is treated as a new claim.
Many claimants have seen their PIP award go down to nil after previously being awarded standard/enhanced PIP.

We also see many claimants that have previously had the highest rate for both care and mobility with an indefinite award of 20 years + for DLA when moving to PIP only to be told that they get 0 points.

Chloe_Scope

Hi @melissahicking2019, I'm sorry to hear about your friend's experience, they really have not made it easy! In answer to your question, the tribunal will look at the current situation when making a decision, rather than looking at past awards. I wish you both the very best of luck with it and please d keep us up to date with it all

gruber

This makes me wonder surely if you have a report from 2016 and there has been no change how can the new report be any different to the last one? Like the first report saying that they cannot walk more than 10 metres the new report can't say it is now 100 metres? Can they?

melissahicking2019

Well after everything my friend won his tribunal. Now we just have to wait for the final result from DWP. they may appeal the tribunal which worries me and my friend a great deal. after what we have all been through recently. if they appeal this decision, my friend is likely to fall back into the more serious type of depression again as he was at his tether end just going through this tribunal.

melissahicking2019

twonker said:

Where he was eventually met by the assessor whom neglected to mention any of his troubles finding the place in her assessment and simply stated that he attended the assessment on his own after catching a bus whilst on crutches and asked people for directions.

I'm confused. Isn't it the case that what the assessor wrote was what actually happened? With the actions he took getting to the assessment centre will most certainly be used against him for many of the descriptors.

To answer your question, it matters not to anyone what your friend was awarded for a previous PIP claim. Each review/re-assessment is treated as a new claim.
Many claimants have seen their PIP award go down to nil after previously being awarded standard/enhanced PIP.

We also see many claimants that have previously had the highest rate for both care and mobility with an indefinite award of 20 years + for DLA when moving to PIP only to be told that they get 0 points.

yes but the assessor failed to mention that my friend got lost and eventually was walked by another person from an office to the capita center after noticing my friends problem and frustrations.

Of course capita had to leave that part out didn't they.

and i walked my friend to the bus stop that day , so he did not manage the journey unattended or on his own. He also arrived late to the assessment, again not mentioned. 

And we had provided a sick note so my friend should not of been made to attend.

Again not mentioned in assessment.

We had not made arrangements for him attending that day because we got the sick note, But on the day when we rang they where adamant that he must attend or he would lose his benefits. 

again not mentioned in report.

I could not go with him as i had to pick the kids up and his brother was at work.

So my friend made the decision to go alone. even though he would have to suffer to do so.. My friend was more worried about loosing his benefits than anything else.

But like i say..

Capita did not let on to any of this and made it sound like a schizophrenic who has panic attacks who cant read made the journey on crutches with no problems.

Even though the circumstances where very different.

it just goes to show you how capita use every trick in the book to get peoples benefits taken off them..

poppy123456

They can't appeal without finding the error in law and to do this they must first ask for the statement of reasons and they have 1 month to request this. There's nothing more either of you can do until your friend hears from DWP and this can take 8 weeks. Please try to relax for now, you've done everything you can. They rarely appeal but sometimes request the statement of reasons.