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Success stories

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  • Kittyc
    Kittyc Community member Posts: 49 Courageous
    edited August 2020
    That is interesting and I got thrown off one pip specialised advice fb page for being too positive and jokey.  I now don't post anything on any PIP fb page.   I would recommend anyone to go for specialist help, my welfare advisor was amazing and was chuffed to bits when I rang with the results.  As you say it is like the wild west with everyone having a view and as you say you could write anything down on fb.    It is really nice to read genuine success stories as I am pretty sure there are lots.  My assessor was beyond helpful and kind and actually knew about the problems a hearing loss person suffers.  I thought it had gone so badly but the report was spot on, really bad reading but spot on how bad I can't hear lol :)  I thought I was doing great on the phone assessment as I had all my assisted technology but apparently not lol :)  xx  I also think having access to work helped in my favour as well x
  • Miss_Annmarie
    Miss_Annmarie Community member Posts: 20 Courageous
    I would like to tell you my story, mainly to encourage you not to give up.

    Back in the late 80's i was diagnosed with abnormal wear and tear in my neck and shoulder Spondylosis i had quite a promising rugby career where i played for Cumbria and was due you join the army and continue playing for them as i played already for the Army Cadets, Obviously this was all gone. Back then i was told that i would gradually get worse and the only thing they could do is give me pain medication, but to try and hold off as long as i could as pain med's only work for a certain period of time before your body gets used to them.

    Over the years i have managed my condition by only doing certain types of work, and leaving jobs when my condition prevented me from doing so, in all that time i was never out of work, even whilst i was a single parent for many years.. in 2010 i was sent to prison, which is a different story, however when i was released in 2018, i was put on job seekers allowance, and whilst on this i was awarded a disability and severe disability payment, however i am a proud person so i picked myself up and got myself a job after some hard job searching, in December i had to leave the job due to my criminal convictions, even though i disclosed them at interview, someone higher up decided not, when i went back to the job centre to do a quick reclaim they said i couldn't because my area had changed to universal credit in the 5 weeks that i was working, so effectively i was £100 a week worse off than when on job seekers, i asked if there was any other help i could get being disabled and she said there was nothing, universal credit was only for short term unemployment, i knew but didn't want to admit that i might never work again because i was in so much pain whilst i was working i was scared to get another job

    This had a tremendous effect on my and my depression that i suffered from for years, and  spiraled out of control, and in Jan 2019 my doctor told me it was about time that i admitted that i was unable to work and she signed me off with the depression and the joint pains which by now had spread from my neck to all of my spine and my hips! I asked if i could see a specialist to get a diagnosis on my back and hips and she said there was no need, as the DWP would know how bad i was when they saw she was signing me off for 3 months at a time (How Naive)

    I went to the job centre, explained and handed in my Sick note, the forms were filled out and i waited, during this time i had researched and found out if i could never work again i could get an extra payment, i also reluctantly applied for PIP, to me it was a sign that i was done.

    I got the PIP awarded for basic care, but was was told by the UC that in their opinion i was fit for work, this was due to the fact that i could go shopping and walk around the store for 10-20 min slowly and get a bit of shopping, also i didn't have mental health issues because i was smartly dressed? and a few other minor things, i asked for a mandatory reconsideration as they didn't take into account the pain i suffer... The response for that was "we don't take pain into consideration when assessing someones ability to work"

    at this time i thought i needed help, i went to the CAB, who were fantastic, they recommended i re apply for pip as i qualified for the mobility portion and filled out the paperwork for the appeal for universal credit, last December i was awarded the Lower rate mobility on top of the care component, and yesterday i won my appeal, i attended by telephone conference but they judge and Doctor had already decided that i should be awarded the decision that i was no longer fit for work just on the DWP evidence, The CAB had said that all i needed was in their evidence package...

    I know this is long, but i just wanted to show to people, that if you get the correct help, and you deserve it, then you will win out in the end, and if you are going for your appeal and that fails, it is not the end of the road,  you can challenge the appeal as well.. this was the advice that CAB gave me,,, but the earlier you can get help because you don't want to mess things up by saying the wrong thing.... 

    So Please take heart and don't give up, and Mr Weasley says "The Truth will out"



  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    Thank you for sharing your story @Miss_Annmarie :) I'm sure our members will find it uplifting. 
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  • Comicmadtitan
    Comicmadtitan Community member Posts: 67 Courageous
    Thank you so much for sharing that @Miss_Annmarie! That was a much needed boost and I'm so happy that you received your award and continued the battle. Also as a huge Harry Potter, I appreciate the quote haha 
  • tommymcfc22
    tommymcfc22 Community member Posts: 23 Connected
    Hi all I won my pip by appeal on 11/8/20 and today I received a letter from dwp asking if I've been in prison on holiday or in hospital is this normal and does it mean I'll be paid soon ? All advice welcome thankyou
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi all I won my pip by appeal on 11/8/20 and today I received a letter from dwp asking if I've been in prison on holiday or in hospital is this normal and does it mean I'll be paid soon ? All advice welcome thankyou

    Usually they pay backdated money soon after that.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Miss_Annmarie
    Miss_Annmarie Community member Posts: 20 Courageous
    I was talking to a friend today who said UC don’t have to back pay money owed, is this true? 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    edited August 2020
    I was talking to a friend today who said UC don’t have to back pay money owed, is this true? 

    That totally depend what backdated money you're talking about. I see by your comment that you won a Tribunal recently for the limited capability for work part of UC. What was the actual decision of that Tribunal? Was it LCW or LCWRA?
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Miss_Annmarie
    Miss_Annmarie Community member Posts: 20 Courageous
    The extra £314 pounds a month you get for being in the category of limited capability for work related activity.. I applied for it in jan 2019, I know there is a 3 month wait, but I should have been getting it since then
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    The extra £314 pounds a month you get for being in the category of limited capability for work related activity.. I applied for it in jan 2019, I know there is a 3 month wait, but I should have been getting it since then

    The LCWRA element is £341.92 per month extra but that's only if you were awarded the LCWRA element, if it was just the LCW element then there's no extra money. How much you're owed will depend on what date your assessment periods are and what date you sent your first fit note.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Chalky
    Chalky Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    Hi 
    had my son’s MR assessment telephone call today even though we requested paper assessment only due to his mental health issues and sent supporting evidence of the effect it would have on him 
    got to say that some of questions seemed of A negative nature and not supportive as advertised and caused him distress after the call -has anyone experienced similar?
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    Chalky said:
    Hi 
    had my son’s MR assessment telephone call today even though we requested paper assessment only due to his mental health issues and sent supporting evidence of the effect it would have on him 
    got to say that some of questions seemed of A negative nature and not supportive as advertised and caused him distress after the call -has anyone experienced similar?

    HI,

    MR assessment? MR is a Mandatory Reconsideration. There isn't usually an MR assessment or do you mean the usual assessment for the claim?

    Paper based assessments are rare, even though you requested one, if there isn't enough of information to complete this then a telephone assessment is needed, which is why he needed this.

    There isn't usually any negative questions. They are questions to get a picture of how his conditions affect him. Without those questions they wouldn't know any details. Although they may have seemed negative, they definitely weren't.

    I'm sorry it caused him some distress, hopefully he's feeling a little better now it's all over and done with.

    If you live in the UK wait a week and ring DWP to request a copy of the assessment report to be sent to him. This will give him some idea what the decision is likely to be because they mostly go with the report.

    There's no timescales for any decision, it depends on backlog in your area.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Miss_Annmarie
    Miss_Annmarie Community member Posts: 20 Courageous
    Chalky said:
    Hi 
    had my son’s MR assessment telephone call today even though we requested paper assessment only due to his mental health issues and sent supporting evidence of the effect it would have on him 
    got to say that some of questions seemed of A negative nature and not supportive as advertised and caused him distress after the call -has anyone experienced similar?
    My first sick note was on the 9th Jan 2019, so from what you are saying i may have to put in 18 challenges as i should have been getting the extra amount for 18 months now, its no wonder people are made so much worse when they are on UC... my stress levels are through the roof, i thought i had won my fight and that was it, i have emailed my lady at CB, im hoping she can help with this... i dont know how much fight i have left in me :(
  • Miss_Annmarie
    Miss_Annmarie Community member Posts: 20 Courageous
    I was talking to a friend today who said UC don’t have to back pay money owed, is this true? 

    That totally depend what backdated money you're talking about. I see by your comment that you won a Tribunal recently for the limited capability for work part of UC. What was the actual decision of that Tribunal? Was it LCW or LCWRA?
    It was LCWRA, just saw this now sorry
  • cupcake88
    cupcake88 Posts: 1,273 Pioneering
    Hi there thought I’ll share my story with you as many others on the forum would tell you I was extremely nervous and anxious I was so sure I would have to appeal I applied back in feB had my assessment in July . I got higher daily living and lower mobility first time round .

    All off my health issues are down to mental illness I found the telephone assessment very hard and stress my partner was with me . I received my back Pay like over a week ago now . I wish you all the best of luck . 
  • haveacigar
    haveacigar Community member Posts: 16 Courageous
    My 1st time PIP timeline:

    17th June: Telephone claim started
    24th July: Capita telephone assessment (had to ask for postponement due to a very painful shingles outbreak 2 days before)
    17th August: Rescheduled Capita telephone assessment 
    21st August: Text from DFC (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland) to say report received from Capita
    28th August: £1184.65 PIP payment received in my bank account

     Absolutely delighted with that but not yet received award letter to advise component rate and length of award. Possibly low care + high mobility?
  • Cher_Alumni
    Cher_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,741 Disability Gamechanger
    Great news @haveacigar - thanks for sharing :)
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  • haveacigar
    haveacigar Community member Posts: 16 Courageous
    My 1st time PIP timeline:

    17th June: Telephone claim started
    24th July: Capita telephone assessment (had to ask for postponement due to a very painful shingles outbreak 2 days before)
    17th August: Rescheduled Capita telephone assessment 
    21st August: Text from DFC (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland) to say report received from Capita
    28th August: £1184.65 PIP payment received in my bank account

     Absolutely delighted with that but not yet received award letter to advise component rate and length of award. Possibly low care + high mobility?
     Just received the award letter today and it is indeed standard rate for daily living needs and enhanced rate for mobility needs for 4 years until 16th August 2024. That will take me to my 68th birthday (DV), if no reassessment before then. This has perked me up considerably and will really help my wife and I to deal better with both of our poor health problems.
     I offer my best wishes to everyone on here on their PIP journey.
  • river123
    river123 Community member Posts: 107 Courageous
    @haveacigar aw so please for you.. brilliant news! 
  • Miss_Annmarie
    Miss_Annmarie Community member Posts: 20 Courageous
    so guys i shared previously in this thread, and got concerned that i might have to fight for the back payment of the LCWRA element of universal credit, 10 days after i received my decision from the courts, all my commitments were removed from my journal, i received a letter in my journal saying that i was owed £5400 from the LCWRA element, 10 min later i got a notification from my bank saying the money was cleared in my account.... so keep fighting guys, if i can do it you can.... just over a week later and my mental health has greatly improved, i have paid off all the money i owe and and feeling good about my future for the first time in years...  Thank you so much for your support..

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