advice on PIP — Scope | Disability forum
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advice on PIP

bibby66
bibby66 Community member Posts: 1 Listener
edited May 2019 in PIP, DLA, and AA
Hi there, I’m new on here.
I’m a mum who’s 16 year old has autism.
My son currently receives HRC & HRM of the DLA. I won this award with the help of the NAS back in 2007 as I challenged the award back then.
My son has an EHCP with full time 121.
I received the PIP form in the post on Saturday. It looks quite daunting but not as long as the 49 page renewal form back in 2015, which took a week to fill in- in solidarity! Are there any one-line resources anyone knows of to help with the form?
Also, I think the medical check that comes as part of the process will be quite challenging for my son as he gets very anxious in new places.
Is this medical check necessary - should I call the DWP and tell them?
Many thanks
Bibby

Comments

  • Antonia_Alumni
    Antonia_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 1,780 Pioneering
    Hi @bibby66 welcome to the community :) Thank you for sharing this with us. There's some information from the Citizen Advice website on help filling out a PIP form.

    You can go with him, to support him or ask for a home visit, there's more information on this, here.

    I hope this helps, please keep us updated. :)
  • CockneyRebel
    CockneyRebel Community member Posts: 5,209 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @bibby66 and welcome

    You might find the following of some use when filling in the form. The F2F is not a medical but an assessment by a health care professional to determine how your sons condition affects some daily activities / mobility

    1 - Identify those activities you have any kind of issue with.

    2 - Identify whether the issue is that you can’t do the activity at all; can’t do it reliably, can’t do it repeatedly; can’t do it safely or in a reasonable time. If any one of these apply to an activity then you can’t do it at all and it’s okay to say so. However, as well as ticking the box saying you either can’t do it all need help or aids, remember to say which one(s) of the above apply.

    3 - Have a copy of the PIP points scoring system in front of you. The questions in the form don’t match the points scoring so it’s as well to be aware of this.

    4 - For every activity you think you score points you need to think of 2 or 3 recent examples of incidents when you tried to do that activity. Describe in detail the what, when, where, who witnessed, what happened next etc. Don’t skimp on detail. It’s often better to type it up in Word first rather than write in the form. If it won’t fit then add extra sheets, remembering to put your name, NINO and the question to which the answer relates on each sheet. Alternatively, reduce the font and cut and paste the Word answer into the form. Note that doing point 4 correctly is far more important than supporting medical evidence in most cases.

    5 - Use the extra information section to describe your conditions in detail; the specifics of the symptoms and especially how they interact. 

    Also, if applicable, use it to spell out that you want an ongoing award and explain why e.g. your condition is degenerative, you’ve done all the adapting you’re going to do etc. If you don’t specifically ask for an ongoing award you will almost always get a short one. 

    6 - Assuming your diagnoses are not in question and ditto the prognosis then ask yourself what gap in your evidence does medical evidence fill in terms of points scoring? If you can’t answer that then consider not sending it in. 10 reports all saying the same thing are no better than 1. Volume of evidence, especially medical evidence, doesn’t win you PIP and medical evidence is also not as helpful as your own anecdotes unless you are someone who lacks insight into their own condition e.g. someone with a learning disability or certain mental health conditions. Clarity and focus of evidence wins you PIP. 

    7 - Whilst PIP ask for the form back in 4 weeks they will grant a 2 week extension without question if you ask. However, there is no actual deadline for returning the form in the legislation so that deadline can be extended if reasonable. What could be more reasonable than having a medical condition which slows you down? Ask for an extension as a reasonable adjustment under EA 10 if applicable. 

    8 - By all means get an advice service to do this but if they don’t do most of the above then you’re better off doing it yourself. Welfare rights advisers do not have some magic form of words they use and  their knowledge of the law, guidance or case law only occasionally comes into play at the firm filling stage. No-one especially likes form filling but unless your impairment creates specific difficulties with form filling there’s no reason you can’t do it yourself. It’s all about the anecdotal evidence.


    Be all you can be, make  every day count. Namaste
  • Chloe_Scope
    Chloe_Scope Posts: 10,586 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @bibby66, how are you getting on with the PIP form, they can be very long can't they? Please do be in touch if you need anything at all. Here is a copy of the PIP descriptors of the different elements the assessor will look at. Just something to note, PIP isn't based on a diagnosis, more about how it impacts the individual on a daily basis. This just means the way you answer questions on a DLA form may need to be worded differently. Many members of the community have been through this process so please do not hesitate to be in touch :)

    Scope

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