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dla to pip

Posted , 20 users are following.

mike09523
mike09523

Hi All,

I am reaching 66 in two months.. I have been on middle rate care and high rate mobility for 3 years now. My award was indefinite and I know that I could be contacted anytime now for reassessment and pip. My question is, how successful have others been once called in for dla to pip awards at this age group.

We keep hearing about working age groups being forced into work and losing their dla/pip benefits, how many retired and disabled people are suffering a simular fate?

If I lose my high mobility then like so many otbers here it will be several nails lining up to go in my coffin-what an absolute criminal way to treat innocent, lawabiding and vunerable citizens.

THEY WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO TREAT PRISONERS IN THE SAME WAY, they are innocent until proved guilty, we are guilty and have to prove we are innocent.

0 likes, 38 replies

38 Replies

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  • sarah87162
    sarah87162 mike09523

    Posted

    I am in a similar position to you I was 65 in November.

    Logically it is the younger people they are targetting because the older people will normally die first so the younger people are going to cost them more money if they gain an award. Hope that makes sense.

    My understanding is if you are over 65 when you are assessed  for PIP (which you are)  then if your application for PIP is unsuccessful it can be treated as an application for Care Allowance.

    However it is more beneficial (financially) to be on PIP.

    I would be very interested to hear of developments and likewise if they get round to assessing me before I die!! I will let you know the outcome.

    Sarah

     

    • les59996
      les59996 sarah87162

      Posted

      Hi I'm 67 (68 in June) Previously had DLA High Mobility/Middle Care.

      I wanted the PIP1 form to fill in as it gives you the chance to give a lot more info instead of the usual phone call. Told the DWP what I wanted by letter, sent a reminder after 2 weeks. This was in November/December. Recently received a letter telling me that the PIP application has been closed and that my DLA will stop. I'm too old to try for PIP again. No one has mentioned anything about them trying for Attendance Allowance instead?

      I never got past the starting gate so never had the chance of filling in the PIP2!!!

      Mind you it isn't a disaster as such as I had already made my mind up not to claim PIP for the simple reason that I just would not be able to contemplate multiple re-assessments every few years until I die.

    • sarah87162
      sarah87162 les59996

      Posted

      Thanks for reply.

      Not sure what you mean by PIP application been closed?

      Surely that does not mean no one else can apply for PIP any more?!!

      I read somewhere on internet about Attendance Allowance. I'lltry and find it again and let you know how to get to it. But if you have decided not to apply for PIP it would not apply to you anyway.

      Surely they realise that people of our age are not suddenly going to improve. That is just common sense which they seem to lack!!

      Sarah

      Sarah

    • les59996
      les59996 sarah87162

      Posted

      Hi, my posting may have confused you. The DWP have told me that as I did not telephone them within the time frame given to start off the PIP claim (I sent two letters to them instead asking for the PIP1 form - which seem to have been ignored!), they have now closed down my chance of being moved over from DLA.

      Given my age (67) I cannot make a fresh claim for PIP as I am over the age limit.

      As for Attendance Allowance, no one, including the DWP has mentioned it.

      However I am aware that the forthcoming budget could well include changes to Attendance Allowance. The government and the local authorities are very keen to see Attendance Allowance disappear with the Attendance Allowance money that would be paid out being handed to the local authorities Social Services to support the elderly.

      I would not like to find that after going through the form filling and medical assessment (as my wife had to do) scenarios that the benefit no longer exists. It would then I presume be up to the local authority Social Services to assess what my needs are and how best they could offer some support in anything other than in monetary terms. 

    • SteV3
      SteV3 sarah87162

      Posted

      All NEW applications for Attendance Allowance are being put on hold, pending removal and being plumbed back into local authorities.
    • les59996
      les59996 SteV3

      Posted

      Thanks Les, yes that is what I have been told too - No new applications for Attendance Allowance will be accepted until the matter of passing the money over to the local authorites has been approved - presumably in the Budget.

      It will certainly help to pay for more/longer visits by care workers visiting the elderly at home, more care workers, more Social Workers and contribute more to those in care homes to have a better quailty of life. It will stop the awards being made to all and everybody who just happen to be over 65 and have low to medium rate needs. Only those with high/severe grade needs will see the difference.

      However the icing on the cake from the government's point of view will be the removal of the right to nominate someone to be a carer in order to claim carers allowance and to remove the right to the disability premiums in Pension Credit which can be worth over another £100 a week on top of the Attendance Allowance award.  

      This will/should go some long way to solve the crisis that councils are currently facing with the provison of care for those in greatest need.

    • hypercat
      hypercat les59996

      Posted

      But if the councils save any money their budgets will be cut again so further cutbacks will be needed ad intinito!   It's a mugs game.  

      Also those with medium or even low needs can,  depending on their circumstances greatly need more help if for eg they live alone or in an isolated area. 

       

  • christine17282
    christine17282 mike09523

    Posted

    Hi Mike, I must say all this is very worrying. I had my face to face assessment last week at home. Previously I was on high rate mobility and middle for care. I am 66 and stupidly thought that because I had been originally awarded indefinite DLA that I would not have to go through further assessments how wrong was I. Although I have multiple illnesses with doctors reports and consultants letters plus loads of medical history I was still asked to perform like a circus seal!! This i did not do as I said it was too painful, these people are not medically trained so how can they override the medically trained decisions of your own doctor's? Totally wrong in my opinion

    Let us see what decision I get?

    • les59996
      les59996 christine17282

      Posted

      Hi, I can understand how you must be feeling. Unfortunately, much like ESA, the assessors working for the DWP are not there to assess your condition, but simply to see which of the many boxes your inabilities fit into. You could be at death's door, but unless you neatly fit into the right number of boxes and gain the right number of points, your health condition matters for nothing.

      One thing that put me off moving from DLA to PIP was the thought of the numerous, regular face to face re-assessments every few years for the rest of my life to continue to keep the PIP award. This ignores the fact that if any of those re-assessments reduces the award it normally means a fight at a Tribunal hearing with everything that that brings to the table.

      At 67 I just don't need that stress. 

       

  • david96346
    david96346 mike09523

    Posted

    I was awarded indefinite DLA way back in 1992, I had struggled for years with a lower back injury I suffered working at a drift mine, I also suffer from vertigo from industrial deafness, and I had an heart attack from the stress of being out of work, my Doctor adviced me to claim DLA. I got lower care, higher mobility. I decided to claim PIP I will be lost with out my mobility car, but I just got a letter back saying there is no recent evidence on my DLA files? I was awarded indefinite, I am sat at home taking it easy, I am on loads of medication, what new medical evidence do they want to see, I am approaching 68 years old, other than developing arthritis in every joint, and suffering from a swollen prostate, my bad back as not suddenly cured itself, I am at a loss what to do to submit recent evidence?
    • les59996
      les59996 david96346

      Posted

      For a start I am right in assuming that after you sent the PIP2 form back they wrote to telling you that there is no recent medical info on the old DLA file? For a start for those on indefinite awards it is highly likely to be the case so why would they bother looking at the old DLA file.

      ?Additionally for PIP old evidence (more than 24 months old) is not much good for assessing you as you are today - your health/needs etc could have changed from earlier times.

      ?You need up to date reports etc identifying the descriptors that you are relying on for PIP.

      ?This was a point I brought up earlier in the week. Those with indefinite DLA awards, those with long standing chronic conditions wouldn't normally have up to date medical evidence as there is no need to keep on seeing the GP or consultant.

      ?All I have gleened is that no matter what your health condition is it seems to be important that you see all of your medical professionals on a regular basis even if only to tell them that nothing has changed. Doing that will build up a wall of recent evidence. Ridiculous and time wasting I agree, but it seems that the DWP had not thought about these types of situations when they devised PIP to include those being transferred over from DLA with those types of conditions.

      ?Like you I was awarded High Mobility/Middle Care DLA from 1995 indefinitely.I too am 68 and when told to move to PIP late last year I fell foul of the rules in starting off the claim process. They closed down my option to transfer to PIP and at the same time closed down my DLA. I like you, have numerous, serious, chronic and life threatening conditions, but unlike you the DWP now refuse to see them as needing any support.

      ?As for arthritis, don't bank on it being accepted as being disabling. It took my dear wife nearly 6 years to convince the DWP that it affects her so much that she was entitled to Attendance Allowance she's 73 next month!

    • david96346
      david96346 les59996

      Posted

      Thank you for your reply, I am thinking there is a lot of unfairness in play here, if I had been born 32 weeks earlier I would have been able to stay on DLA ?And who is at fault that it as took 3 years to get around to us? Surely if you are 65 or over it would be fair to keep all those on indefinite DLA if they are 65,66, 67, 68 etc when they contact you. How can an old pensioner expect to raise enough money to buy and run a car? When I saw my Doctor all those years ago it was to ask if I could have an operation on my damaged back, he suggested and signed for me to go on DLA,and he was the Senior Doctor who assessed people for the DWP in our area.
    • les59996
      les59996 david96346

      Posted

      If I had been born 12 weeks earlier none of this carry on would have happened. I would still be receiving my DLA, Guaranteed Pension Credit, 100% Council Tax reduction and £49 a week towards the mortgage interest.

      ?As for a car I bailed out of my Motability vehicle early, just as PIP came in. I didn't want to be without a car as I expected to not get the enhanced rate for mobility. Thankfully I took out 3 year finance loan which was all paid for by DLA bar the last 3 payments.

      ?I too was advised by SSAFA and my psychiatric keyworker/CPN to claim DLA in 1995 as all believed that the government would provide financial help for as long as it was needed.

      ?How niave was I!

      ?I can't claim PIP as I am too old, and aftter claiming Attendance Allowance the assessor/decision maker has concluded that my health has improved so dramatically that I now have no needs. They must know more than I do.

      ?So after all of this plus the aggravation I have had with the DWP over the past 21 years I have given up. I now believe that there is only one person in the world that will be there for me - myself. I am certainly not going around any longer with the begging bowl looking for charitable handouts from the government or local authority.

  • jim04663
    jim04663 mike09523

    Posted

    If you were 65 or over when the legislation came into force in April 2013, currently you stay on DLA and don't have to claim PIP. I was 72 years of age at that time, I won't be asked to claim PIP. My wife born in July 1949, an ex nurse contracted hepatitis at work and has chronic arthritis. She never received a call from the DWP, just a letter saying she would be examined at home. THe first appointment the Health Care Professional (HCP) <sic> didn't turn up or phone us. I contacted the PIP office and was advised they would arrive the following day between 2.00pm to 4.00pm. Again, they never turned up. 5 days later we received a call from a Nurse to say she would visit about 10.00 am..

    She was very professional and asked relevant questions, and even allowed me to prompt my wife at times, as she has also had depressio since our son 27 was tragically drowned whilst working in France She didn't examine my wife, nor look around. As I showed her out, I said I've aleady prepared a mandatory consideration and appeal, to which she retorted " they won't be any need to do so",

    Your wife is a very sick lady. Three weeks later she was advised by post by DWP that she qualified for enhanced payment for both mobility and care. I should add, I'm a trained WRO so am familiar with both DWP and PIP.

    However, there are rumours which I've not heard a lot about that even those 65 or over in April 2013, will  have to claim PIP at some point. However don't be alarmed

    I have contacts in the DWP and HMCT who know nothing about this.

    Jim Allison (former Welfare Rights Lawyer & DLA Tribunal member)

    former Senior Moderator for Benefits & Work

     

  • bruce82418
    bruce82418 mike09523

    Posted

    I am 67 and have been receiving the higher rate of mobility since I was 16 and was awarded this for life, as my condition would never improve, I have now been invited to an assessment, and fear the worst as it appears to me that it’s about the money and not the person. I hope all goes well for you.
    • denise15811
      denise15811 bruce82418

      Posted

      Hi,

      I see you commented on an old post that's 2 years old but wanted to advice you a little about you up coming PIP assessment.

      So many people think that they don't need to send in evidence to support their claim but they very rarely contact any for evidence so hopefully you sent some in when you return the PIP form. If you didn't then i'd advice taking it with you to the assessment and hope they accept it because a lot of the time they will refuse on the day.

      During that assessment they will ask you questions about your condition and how it affects you daily. The questions will be based on all of the PIP descriptors. You should answer with as much detail as possible and avoid answering just a yes or no. They will be watching you from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave. (same for a home assessment, if it's this you're having) You can take someone with you to the assessment and they can go into the room with you but unless they're your appointee then they won't be able to answer any of the questions, they will only be able to prompt you.

      A few days after the assessment you can ring DWP and ask for a copy of the assessment report to be sent to you. This will give you some idea what the decision will be as mostly they go with that report.

      Good luck and hopefully a decision will go in your favour.

    • sarah87162
      sarah87162 denise15811

      Posted

      Thank you I am gathering loads of evidence together.

      My support worker, Chiropodist, Audiologist, Warden.

      In a way I feel I have too much evidence and do not want to bombard them with irrelevant stuff that they will not bother to read. They have extended my time to get the form back to them because I have an appointment with CAB who are going to fill it in for me. My support worker suggested I went to them and said that everyone she has advised to go to CAB has got their money. Hope I am not the odd one out!!

      Sarah

    • denise15811
      denise15811 sarah87162

      Posted

      Hi Sarah,

      My comment was meant for Bruce not yourself but it's fine.

      I wouldn't go as far as saying everyone that goes to CAB gets awarded. Some do and some don't. You can never have too much evidence.

      Good luck.

    • bruce82418
      bruce82418 denise15811

      Posted

      Many thanks for the infomation I will now include evidence of my conditions, it was not made clear when I phoned to make my claim that I would need to supply evidence to support my claim, no wonder it’s such a traumatic time for so many people.

      many thanks 

    • sarah87162
      sarah87162 bruce82418

      Posted

      I have started a new discussion in this category entitled GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING.

      They gave me an extension date of 20th April to get PIP from back to them  and still wrote to me and told me the form had to be in by 26th March otherwise my money may be stopped.!!

      OK I rang them and explained that I had an extension but imagine that happening to someone who is already experiencing a lot of stress and anxiety with the whole process.

      I have now asked for the extension date to be given to me in writing which they said they would do.

      Hope you all read this and have someone to support you and stand up for you.

      Best of luck to you all.

      Sarah

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