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PIP advise please

I'm so pleased you got good news! PIP can be a nightmare to deal with. Mine was stopped on the 11th of January, of course my mandatory reconsideration was failed...been waiting ever since for a tribunal date 🙄 i've not even heard back from them regarding the mobility element I should have been entitled to the first time I was assessed and awarded that they said they were going to review. I really should chase them up but I haven't worked up the courage yet, having to go to court is going to be terrifying.

Please seek advice from somewhere. If you have a benefits specialist locally at an advice agency though they are few and far between these days with funding thin on the ground. If not then citizens advice who may, or may not, have a specialist there will be able to help. At the end of the day it's not like the courts you see on TV or anything and you will have a panel of 3 people who just want to understand your application, condition and how it affects you. Most people that I have spoken to have been very surprised about how kind, caring and understanding the panel is. At least one of them will be a disability expert
 
There's certain ways to deal with PIP and DLA applications as no one is awarded for having a condition or disability alone (unless it's terminal with less than 6 months to live sadly). It's all about how that illness affects your life. Most people make the mistake of talking about how they are that day, and if they are having a good day then they are doing themselves a disservice. I would look up the points system/criteria for PIP as that will help to complete the form as you know what counts and what doesn't, you can figure out what level for each point you meet and can word your answer to make it 100% clear for them
Thanks for the help, I think that’s my problem with the waffling on forms and not really thinking about how much my life is messed up with the epilepsy. I have to go to Jobcentre meetings as I’m in the work group (basically go, show them my meds and neurologist letters and they tell me they’ll see me in three months! Waste of time!) and even they tell me to apply for PIP, even had a seizure at the Jobcentre this year and scared them! They’ve been really helpful, ‘talk about your worst days, make sure you appeal when they say no!’ So even the staff know the failings in the system! :doh:
I'm so pleased you got good news! PIP can be a nightmare to deal with. Mine was stopped on the 11th of January, of course my mandatory reconsideration was failed...been waiting ever since for a tribunal date 🙄 i've not even heard back from them regarding the mobility element I should have been entitled to the first time I was assessed and awarded that they said they were going to review. I really should chase them up but I haven't worked up the courage yet, having to go to court is going to be terrifying.
Good luck with court, I’d be blooming terrified too! Hope it goes well when you do go x
 
Thanks for the help, I think that’s my problem with the waffling on forms and not really thinking about how much my life is messed up with the epilepsy. I have to go to Jobcentre meetings as I’m in the work group (basically go, show them my meds and neurologist letters and they tell me they’ll see me in three months! Waste of time!) and even they tell me to apply for PIP, even had a seizure at the Jobcentre this year and scared them! They’ve been really helpful, ‘talk about your worst days, make sure you appeal when they say no!’ So even the staff know the failings in the system! :doh:

Good luck with court, I’d be blooming terrified too! Hope it goes well when you do go x

When pip was first introduced there was a very high percentage of successful appeals. I believe it was over 80% which showed the failings very clearly. Even the staff doing the assessments know the failings as they are basically ticking boxes. My sister in law used to do them and she had a mix of the ridiculous (ie someone once applied because the tip of their 3rd or 4th finger was amputated but they worked as a furniture restorer and it didn't affect their ability to do anything) and clearly cases that needed awarding and trying to get the right information to tick the boxes. She even told me that she couldn't take anything before or after the assessment into account, so if someone claimed they were housebound but she arrived early and while sat in the car she saw them run down the street loaded up with shopping she wouldn't be able to take into account her observation.

We are lucky in Leicester, we have citizens advice who have put some funding in to support with pip applications because most places that were doing it lost funding and couldn't afford to carry on. Where I work we have a benefits specialist who can help with tribunals as well but the help is thin on the ground and there's always more demand for support than we can manage
 
Please seek advice from somewhere. If you have a benefits specialist locally at an advice agency though they are few and far between these days with funding thin on the ground. If not then citizens advice who may, or may not, have a specialist there will be able to help. At the end of the day it's not like the courts you see on TV or anything and you will have a panel of 3 people who just want to understand your application, condition and how it affects you. Most people that I have spoken to have been very surprised about how kind, caring and understanding the panel is. At least one of them will be a disability expert

I'll see whats available round here, thankyou. I think we have a citizens advice in the village but it kind of opens and closes at random. That's reassuring to know the court is just a few people, and that they'll be nice. The benefit assessors have always seemed shifty and two faced..not conducive to having a proper conversation about things without feeling judged!
 
I'll see whats available round here, thankyou. I think we have a citizens advice in the village but it kind of opens and closes at random. That's reassuring to know the court is just a few people, and that they'll be nice. The benefit assessors have always seemed shifty and two faced..not conducive to having a proper conversation about things without feeling judged!

The benefit assessor I had for my interview a couple of years ago was an ex psychiatric nurse. She put words in to my mouth :(

Good luck with the court case, you need to fight for what you deserve xx
 
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