Applying for PIP support

I get PIP, but the application was initially turned down.  The mandatory review was a waste of time – they just repeat the same thing.  It went to tribunal where it is judged by doctors and a Judge.  They are not looking to save money and turn you down, it is the only time your case will be fairly judged.

The assessors make a lot of unwarranted assumptions. 

You need to describe how it affects your life in fine detail.  Talk to any friends or family members about what is “different” about you.  If you can get hold of a copy of the form before you apply for one then you can go at your own pace and not be limited to 4 weeks.  It takes a lot of thinking out.

Take someone with you to the assessment.  Some will say ‘you got here on your own so your fine’.

You need a diagnosis before they will consider it, but it is not judged on what you are diagnosed with, but on its effect on life.

If you have a therapist or other professional that will describe what problems are then that helps.  Just prepare yourself for a lot of upset.

I didn’t get the mobility even though I cannot use public transport because that is not on their list.

aye tribunals will always be a win and a go to super power for people, even in work as the board of tribunals are often chaired by people whod take your side anyway. like work tribunals will be chaired by people that just hate big business so will always go against your boss lol which makes tribunals always a win for the little guy against big business or institution.

Their process is a joke really. Here in NI, it's a company called CAPITA who do the initial assessments. They are not qualified psycologists or doctors, just basically medical receptionists. They have no idea what a person's life is day to day, especially when it's all done over the phone here. They are the ones that tell decision makers to refuse claims. I'm currently waiting on Mandatory Reconsideration, and should get a decision by March 15th. If they refuse again, it will go to tribunal and I've already won twice in the past, and awarded standard rate on both components for 3 years each time

ah yeah im bad at navigating places i have never been to... but its not a issue as the places i go to are the only places i go to by routine anyway. work, shops, i dont go anywhere else. so i know all my places by habbit of regular places.

although my motorbike actually came with a sat nav fitted as standard, which is pretty neat for a motorbike.

anyway it seems like you got it anyway if you got standard rate, as i said mobility is always hard and i think that is the bit what always fails people.... as i said people who had legs lost who tried to help themselves suddenly lost their pip due to changing their lives and improving their own mobility... its pretty bad that really, but the system is very rigid and unable to use common sense on these issues.

I was getting standard rate on both components, as my Asperger's affects me in communication and understanding certain things, which qualified for lowest points for standard rate. Mobility side, I was awarded minimum points as I've been known to get lost when I'm driving in areas I don't know and need satnav a lot. The people who make the decision obviously don't know how ASD affects people. I'm now awaiting my decision after Mandatory Reconsideration

NAS91600 said:

Hi Folks, I am an 29 year old male who has Aspergers. I've had PIP in the past, but I was taken off of it in 2019, and due to family circumstances, including a death in the family, I never chased it. I've recived the forms and I'm getting help from CAB to fill them in. I don't have a lot in the way of evidence but I do have a diagnosis, I have IBS and Anxiety/Depression. 

Should I bother and write how it affects me? Because I don't have a ton of evidence. 

So be verbose and I mean be very verbose.

Depressions, suicidal thoughts, serious anxiety, tell them everything.

IBS: you have problems with toilet issues, always have to be near a toilet, can't go anywhere without a toilet, you pooed yourself on more than one occasion.

Autism: you don't understand people, you take everything literally, you are bad with your finances, etc.

You get the point hopefully.  Every little iota of problem in your life you put on paper.  This form isn't what you can do, it's what you can't do and don't be afriad to say you never leave the house because of all your problems.  They will throw you off it for the most minor thing and make you jump through hoops to get it.  You have to play the game.

Don't ever mention you go out or walk anywhere, because that seems to equal there is nothing wrong with you.  Never mention you can communicate with others, for the same reason.  Basically you are the most disabled person ever on paper and on the interview.

Oh and expect to appeal the decision and tribunal it, because that is there way.

nah they understand autism its just that it doesnt raise enough need for pip.

thats why they have questions with points... where the points you get are for saying you cant go to the toilet unassisted or cant cross a road without help or cant do anything.... and most people with autism can actually do all of these things without assistance... so it doesnt qualify for pip support because it doesnt  have these impacts on your life that restrict your life in these ways and require this select help.

theres even people who had their legs amputated, they could get pip when they was struggling, but as soon as they could manage to walk on their own with prosthetics and was helping themselves their pip got taken away as they suddenly could do things themselves without help... so even worse cases are not infact entitled to pip by the standards set out in the questions.

I have Asperger's and currently waiting on my PIP being renewed. They refused to renew from 13th January, as they did twice before. They thing Autism just goes away and don't like paying out for it. Looking like another tribunal to get what I'm entitled to

I've just been up there, because of where I live, they can't do it online, I have to do it over the phone (which is not helpful at all) or on paper.

So it looks like the latter is my only option 

i believe you do it online these days like most things.

if you google it youd likely find a government website for it which has alot of description and writing along with buttons to make claims and links to claim calculators of all sorts including what you can claim, anyway thered likely be a application button on the govs site for it somewhere.

I've been considering PIP myself. I was in DLA up until I was 16 when they informed me I couldn't claim it unless I followed up with PIP.

Just recently I've been plagued with a plethora of medical ailments, Blepharitis, Contact Dermatitis, Eczema to name a few, and the funding of treatment is eating through my budget.

Whilst I know this doesn't make a difference to a claim, what I can safely say is that I was diagnosed, or statemented if you will, by Maudsley Hospital, one of the best in this country.

I have troubles reading properly, I have a great deal of anxiety when it comes to socialising, having to attend social events, along with the ability to understand effectively without somebody needing to clarify it for me.

Does anyone know how to get a hold of the PIP claimant forms at all? I've looked everywhere and haven't had much luck

i dunno, why was you taken off it in 2019?
whatever the reason for that may still effect it now, thats one thing to tackle first really.

if you can perhaps look back on that and get it overturned somehow maybe you can have pip backdated to 2019 which would be much better if possible?

Yes, I used to have DLA and that was not fun to apply for either. At least one got to keep that for "life" though, fat lot of use that phrase was.

I can't help at least hoping that most people, even MPs, don't realise quite how vile the system around PIP is. It's reading the guidance for assessors which is the most offensive, showing how they twist what could be an acceptable system so the gaps are as gaping as possible. They want to weed out all but "the most in need" but the second most in need can go jump, even if they don't have any legs to jump with.

Thanks for the link, I'll bookmark it for when I have any bandwidth for anything other than my actual application!

This strategy of making applying for benefits as difficult and off-putting as possible is called Gatekeeping and it's been going on for a very long time including under the last Labour government. In the unlikely situation that you have an MP who is opposed to Gatekeeping and willing to fight it, I don't think they would be particularly empowered to do much. Not that you shouldn't give it a go, but if you would like to get involved with fighting the inhumane treatment of disabled people, it might be more effective to join other disabled folk who are taking collective action. DPAC are one group who come to mind:

https://dpac.uk.net/

I haven't heard back from them yet. But those kinds of tricks are why it's a good idea to keep all your own copies of the evidence in case you have to appeal points like that.

I know exactly what you mean. This is why I put it off for so many years. Getting the help from the charity helped, just in the sense that they gave me something to work with so I wasn't going from scratch. Having to focus meant that I wasn't engaging emotionally so I got myself through it unscathed, but because I was emotionally detached I don't think I was making good decisions, and then at other times I used it as an opportunity to rant, which my case worker ended up cutting again. Yeah... I got through it without breaking down or anything but it was a pretty miserable and stressful experience. I know exactly what you mean. I'll DM you the name of the charity.

Anyone else who wants to know, I'll accept all friend requests so just work away.

Jamphrey said:

When you write about how it affects you imagine yourself of your very worst days, of course to be actually filling out the form at all you need to be kind of functional, so don't describe yourself as you are writing it, cast your mind back to your worst days in relation to the activity in the question and base your answer on what was happening for you on those days.

I get what you're saying, but for me doing PIP makes me way more depressed and stressed than I am when I am not doing PIP as it forces me to focus on all the things I can't do! But then I am primarily applying for a physical disability, much of my anxiety and depression stems from that, so while my mental health can be bad in normal life, PIP makes it so much worse. Of course I have no idea how much anxiety and depression I would have if I were physically healthy as I have never had to try and survive as an autist in the adult world. School was bad enough!

Hi, I would like to know this agency, I sent you a friend request as I can't DM you unless we are friends I think. Surreal and complex test is right! And incredibly depressing and immorally designed to have such huge gaps that most people fall between them.

Once mine is done I intend to complain to my MP about it, showing him the deliberate attempts to avoid actually helping people. I wanted to do it last time, but not only was I utterly exhausted by the process but I got my award just a few weeks into the pandemic. Even if I'd been able to tackle it, which I wasn't, all the MPs were busy with covid and brexit.

Did you find they actually paid any attention to the photos? We sent photos of my deformed hands and feet, but they said the photos were too poor quality to show anything even though they were not. But by the time they had probably photocopied them they must have been!

Without a diagnosis PIP will not take you seriously. I get it for my physical disability and they ignored all I said in the form about my anxiety, even though I had a GP diagnosis of it. I would advise you try and get at least a diagnosis from your GP if you can manage to get an appointment! Treatment too if possible, though PIP will try the line that treatment might help you enough that you don't have long term problems, but my assessor made a big point of saying I was not having treatment for mine.

I'm hoping they will not ignore those aspects this time round as I now have my autism diagnosis and have been seeing a counsellor for months now, privately.