PIP refusal

So true Robert124. Like many other aspects of our medical care it's a "box ticking excercise!".

Excellent post and advice Behind the Mask. Delighted to hear you were successful and so sorry to hear how much the process took out of you - I know the feeling very well!

I'm on standard. No mobility. I have a reconsideration in right now as ESA just agreed I'm unfit for work and I'm hoping that, with my dismissal letters from work, will get them to add mobility. I cannot go anywhere alone. I only go out to walk the dog.  You have to write your answers so that they meet the criteria. Be concise and honest. I think I failed to get mobility because I didn't tell them how bad I am out of the house which I didn't do originally because I wasn't diagnosed with anything and my meltdowns are so violent I was scared of being sectioned. I had citizens advice help me the first time, a friend who has a 100% success record with clients pip applications helped me this time. She works for a charity that supports young adults, so I assume other charities will offer the same service. 

Remember they reject most applications but a huge percentage get it on reconsideration. So put in for one and get citizens advice to give you a hand. 

I have had various levels of PIP awards over quite a number of years when my diagnoses have been purely mental health related ones - severe anxiety and depression and some related comorbidities, and nervous breakdown.

Just recently it was brought to my attention that I could be autistic (I have no doubt that I am) and going back over my medical history I realised that autism as an umbrella term covered or explained many if not most of my "issues" as well as many lifelong traits and behaviours.

In my most recent application for PIP, filled in nearly 2 years ago before any ASD diagnosis, I received the basic award, but my mental health is currently very poor, so I went for mandatory reconsideration and gained 2 more points, but I still felt wrongly assessed, so now I am awaiting a Tribunal. (My anxiety has skyrocketed) 

The thing that is important is to make it clear how your life is impacted rather than any diagnosis. How often can you do something, how safely, how reliably etc. Can you do it only for less than half the time - that is for <50% of the year?

The person doing the assessment probably has no idea about autism so focus on the symptoms. Even my Mental Health Nurse and Psychiatrist admit to not fully understanding the implications of being autistic so the likelihood of a physical health nurse, or an occupational therapist, on the end of a phone, understanding is extremely unlikely.

Incidentally, I have kept paperwork relating to previous PIP awards. Consistently, they remark on my inability to make eye contact, and my fidgeting. (One of my stims is stroking textured fabric or my dog) Autistic pointers being observed but no one would look for autism in a middle-aged woman back then.

Anyway, just to underline, focus on how your life is impacted, your symptoms. The diagnosis is more or less irrelevant. Supporting evidence can come from friends and family as well as professionals.

Thank you so much I’m so sorry I missed your reply I will have a look now. 

I don’t think you need to worry - the nurse asked you after all if it was a good time so she must have been prepared for you to say no. As far as the length of the call is concerned it depends how thorough your application was and how many things remain to be clarified - I was awarded PIP without any phonecall.

I got a call from them today after submitting my forms about 8 weeks ago. 

The lady on the phone said she's a nurse and is calling regarding my PIP application. She asked if it was a good time - unfortunately it was really not, someone had just arrived at my door and I was in the middle of a work day - so I said unfortunately I wasn't able to talk and could she call me back. 

I asked how long it would take and she said approx 15 minutes - everything else I have read online says it is 1hr? Also other people have said it was a video call, not a telephone call? I am not great at talking on the phone...

I requested the call tomorrow morning after a particular time. Now I'm worried I've messed up by saying I can't talk, I was just so flustered and with other people in my house I couldn't speak freely...

Any advice welcome. 

I was awarded PIP this year, before the mental health team referred me for an ASD diagnosis. Although I have prior conditions, I had no real evidence, as I am only on waiting lists to see specialist consultants and my terrible doctors surgery didn't respond to the DWP request for information. In my case, the CAB's help consisted of a 15 minute phone call to tell me what I already knew.

The PIP application is a traumatic experience for me, as I only survive in life by actively starting each day with a glass half full outlook. PIP requires the exact opposite.

• You may consider employing a professional service to handle your PIP application. Many offer a no win, no fee arrangement. Personally, I find it outrageous that a growing industry is required to help people obtain what they are entitled to but my daughter who has used a service several times, say's it saves her so much angst and the net financial gain is well worth it.
• There is a website called Work and Benefits. They have an extensive and detailed guide to claiming PIP, based on legal rulings and written by trained professionals. You can view the guide online or pay annual subscription (about £20) which allows you to download all of their guides, sample documents etc.
• Set up a ChatGPT account. Enter each PIP activity/question that apply to you, one at a time and ask it to write a brief discription of the problems your health condition causes you with the activity. Copy and paste the answer, re-writing it in your own words. Works a treat and took alot of pain out of the process.

I wish you the very best of luck, you deserve it.

I have emailed citizens advice and they said they will help me I just need to call them to prove my eligibility for PIP. 

if you are turned down at the initial stage ask for a mandatory review and if you are still turned down go to Tribunal. Your chances of being successful improve at each stage - maybe 1 in 4 at MR and 3 in 4 at Tribunal although obviously this does not mean you are guaranteed to be successful. The government / DWP count on people accepting the first answer they are given and giving up. The assessors and the assessment companies are in effect paid to turn  down a high proportion of claims although the government and DWP will deny this.

i actually didn't claim benefits at one point in my life when i was too ill to claim and definitely would have qualified and only claimed benefits (successfully) when i had recovered and arguably no longer qualified.

I was completely honest as well and just tried to let them see my daily struggles. I really hope that you get a better outcome than I did. 

I am in the PIP system. I've sent in all my forms and letters and now waiting outcome. I have literally no clue on whether I've said the right things or not? I've just tried to be honest. I'm following this thread for more info. 

you can do pip tests online and see the points required and each point for the section.... if done honestly, then yes, autism actually never attains enough points for pip, you have to really lie and claim you need someone to wipe your *** and change your clothes to qualify for pip... and i dunno, that type of lying would be beneath alot of people with autism, and to others would feel like gambling a prison sentence especially if you had past experience with how the jobcenter handles people and how quick they turn on you if they suspect you are not eligable for a benefit your claiming.

I agree cos I’ve never been able to put into words how I feel and how I experience different things cos it’s all so hard to explain. 

There is one big problem with all these discretionary awards such as PIP.  The money does not go to the people who need it but to the people who make the best case for needing it.  Unfortunately the people who really need the money are not capable of making a good case.  

I went through the process three times. The third time it went to tribunal and still rejected.

I gave up. It's way too much stress. Yes I could have asked CAB but that time had passed.

Thank you so much for your advice I will book an appointment 

If you don't have other support, like social worker to help you fill it in or challenge the decision, book a CAB appointment. They know the right language to use.

And document EVERYTHING. Get loved ones who have had to help with this or that to write detailing what they do for you and why you struggle to do it for yourself.

It’s just so hard to explain exactly how much it does affect me cos I only got my official diagnosis in April this year I’ve had to struggle my whole life 47 years not knowing what I know now and I just want them to see that but I think I definitely need help to do it.