DLA to PIP
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi all I am 17 years old since I was 8 I've been on DLA and I was on the high rate. I have avascular necrosis of both hips I've been in and out of hospital a lot, I use crutches and a wheel chair depending how I feel, I am in pain constantly. I need 2 new hip replacements getting on next month. I used to be on the high care as my family need to help dress as I can't dress my lower part, I need hep in a shower as I can't wash my lower part, I can't pick anything up from the ground at all and they took me of the care rate, they gave me the lower mobility rate, I am fighting against it.
I rather have be fine and health than be on PIP.
It's shocking what PIP is doing to people taken them off and that.
Megan x
0 likes, 24 replies
Lillygirl megan_33232
Posted
Well done for fighting it & yes it is shocking that there making people fight so much for this benefit. I can see why people are not putting themselves through it.
megan_33232 Lillygirl
Posted
Thank-you appreciate it!. It's not fair for people who really do need it.
ivan17274 megan_33232
Posted
blimey Megan.my hat goes off to you.(that means I'm in awe of you).I've not heard of that particular thing you have,but you sound like you can cope with anything.your folks must be proud and chuffed with you.your right of course,its disgraceful what the masters of the universe (think they are)are doing to us folk.i take heart from people like you.keep it going mate.and don't let
the nasty little people grind you down.take care.god bless.
megan_33232 ivan17274
Posted
Hi there, it's hard to cope but in the end I get there
. I only have a mum my dad passed away but she does say that she is proud of me but I've not done anything to make her proud.
Thank-you .
GeorgiaS megan_33232
Posted
I'm glad you're fighting it Megan; good for you! I hope you win.
megan_33232 GeorgiaS
Posted
les59996 megan_33232
Posted
What you describe as the award made is nothing that surprises me.
I am not going to repeat what happened with my PIP claim (you can read about it on other threads), but suffice it to say that the reasoning behind PIP was to save government money - simple as.
As you may have also gathered from other threads on here, the appeal system seems to be geared towards making your life a living hell!
If you have the strength go ahead and fight - if not you won't be the first to throw the towel in and certainly won't be the last.
megan_33232 les59996
Posted
ivan17274 megan_33232
Posted
hi again mega Megan.im sorry I got muddled about your folks.im totally sure your mum is proud,as I'm sure when you put your head down each night you really feel proud you've got through another day.im sure you and mum know what I mean.anyway.take heart.one of the best feelings when you see the sky is the sight of a rainbow.just because it has to sometimes pour it down to see one shows the rain isn't so annoying after all.
megan_33232 ivan17274
Posted
Hi Ivan , it's ok it's been a while. Thank-you for your supportive comments really do appreciate it!.
anthony97723 megan_33232
Posted
Hi Megan
It is nice to have supportive messages from other posters and in principle I agree with them.
However, appealing against a DWP decision is quite a different and none of the supportive replies have come from DWP decision maker.
Les is correct when he states that the ultimate reason for the introduction of PIP was to 'save' money by taking it away from disabled claimants. Of course the Government would never be so candid as to state that, instead it uses the narrative that resources must be 'targeted' to those who need it most.
Therefore they have introduced a complex set of rules. If a claimant falls foul of any of them their benefit will be cut or stopped.
A successful PIP claim depends on fitting the descriptors and backing that up with a care plan and medical evidence. There is also the trap of 'aids' and you have probably fallen foul of that with the mobility element as a 'wheelchair' is considered an aid providing you can self propel more than 20m. To get that changed you would have to show the Tribunal that you can’t self propel or gain extra points due to psychological reasons.
With care needs it is becoming very difficult to get high care on the grounds of one condition. To achieve that you need to prove on the balance of probabilities that your pain is ‘severe’ for more than 50% of the time. Your task is even harder as the DWP will insist that you can control the pain with medication. This is a double edged sword as anyone not taking medication is considered not to be in pain!
I would always advise claimants to still explain their pain symptoms, but for your circumstances it best to also explain why you physically cannot bend down enough to dress or wash your lower body. This would be a reasonable argument as your condition avascular necrosis affects the blood supply to the hips and would restrict movement. If you could get medical evidence to support this your chances would greatly increase. A GP or consultant letter would be best.
Finally you state that you are due to have hip replacements soon. Once the operation is complete and a reasonable amount of time passes for healing you will be considered to be symptom free and thus not entitled to PIP.
You should appeal but if successful be warned you will probably receive a timed award of 3 years at most.
megan_33232 anthony97723
Posted
I have had medical letters from my doctors, GP, nurse and psychiatric nurse too.
I am in pain constantly even with medication. I've to get 2 new hip replacements not just one. It will still affect my mobility. I been fighting with my doctors to do my hip op early has I am in to much pain. Plus they think I might now have it in my elbow waiting to go for scans.
Now it's just a waiting game!
X
anthony97723 megan_33232
Posted
Megan I'm not saying you are not in pain, I'm only giving you the rationale of the DWP. Everyone is measured by these rules and there is no getting around them. They view pain only conditions as low scoring because of painkillers. If your pain control is poor they will expect to see medical evidence of that.
You might have letters from your consultant/GP but do they specifically state you are in severe pain for more than 50% of the time (including sitting down) and that pain control has failed? Simply having a letter of diagnosis is not enough.
Further the DWP will not accept your pre-operation prediction that your mobility will be restricted to 20m (the threshold for enhanced mobility). The success rate for hip replacements is something like 90% and they will go with that (balance of probabilities) unless you can get medical evidence to the contrary.
I have no agenda if I could I would give you the PIP benefit.
However, I would be giving misinformation if I didn’t point out the hurdles you need to overcome. Unless you address these points you almost certainly fail, passion counts for nothing when dealing with the cold hearted DWP.
So my advice would be to get your hands on medical evidence which specifically states the pain you are in despite your pain control and this pain affects you more than 50% of the time. Also look at your circumstances from the angle of physical disability which is not due to pain i.e. you can’t bend down even when pain free because your body is not capable of such a maneuver. . This adds a second string to your bow and swings the balance of probabilities back into your favor.
les59996 anthony97723
Posted
Your task is even harder as the DWP will insist that you can control the pain with medication. This is a double edged sword as anyone not taking medication is considered not to be in pain!
Excellent advice Anthony.
I agree entirely that with pain you have to have evidence that the medication prescribed isn't working and that there are no other forms of pain relief that can be given.
This falls to be the same with aids. Trying to argue that even with aids currently in use as well as other aids that the claimant may not have but are assumed to be available, that they would still have difficulties has to be backed up with evidence.
It's a very clever way of using the negative and the positive as arguments as to why an award should not be made by the DWP.
GeorgiaS anthony97723
Posted
GeorgiaS les59996
Posted
Whoever made up these rules are going to have to live with themselves.
It's likely that they may become disabled and victims to their own cruel rules. Or their friends or family.
GeorgiaS les59996
Posted
That's flippin' ridiculous!
But from all the accounts I've been hearing about people being awarded a higher amount than they had before and people winning appeals I'm sure they don't all think like that.
anthony97723 GeorgiaS
Posted
Hi Georgia
Getting a PIP award is hard but not impossible. The common mistake claimants make is they believe the rules will be changed just for them especially those in receipt of DLA. The DWP use a zero tolerance apporach to PIP in that if you don't fit you don't get.
The only way to win is fight them on their terms and sadly means many in receipt of higher care, higher mobility DLA will see their status downgraded or even stopped altogether.
les59996 GeorgiaS
Posted
I do doubt if anybody who was involved tn setting up PIP is going to feel remorse.
There was a political need to do something about DLA given the publicity and media coverage that most DLA claimants are swinging the lead.
On top of that Osbourne saw a chance to save money by going along with the idea of getting rid of DLA.
les59996 GeorgiaS
Posted
You only need to look at the statistics. For new PIP claimants approx 75% of all claims end in failure. For those moving from DLA to PIP the chances are better - only approx 25% fail to get any award.
Yes some do get higher awards, some however get lower awards.
Appeals are succeeding at the moment. The government are fully aware of that and have decided to do something about it. They are spending £millions on new Civil Servants to go to Tribunals to try to stop the number of appeals being awarded.
GeorgiaS les59996
Posted
GeorgiaS les59996
Posted
I'm sorry Les but there's a lot of good sh*t happening too!
les59996 GeorgiaS
Posted
Are they? You only have to read the many threads on here to see that that isn't always the case.
I'm disabled (seriously disabled in fact) in many many ways. How anybody wants to dress it up I can't walk more than the distance from my front door to the bottom of my drive without having to walk like a penguin through pain. I can't actually put my shoes on or socks or wash the lower part of my body without help. Yet I haven't had a 'good' result.
Anyhow the facts speak for themselves as regards the number of claimants that are given awards compared to what the numbers where under DLA.
GeorgiaS les59996
Posted
I get emails from the Work and Benefits websites and a lot of people are getting happy conclusions.
I think your case is one of the worst and it's horrible. I really hope things will change for you somehow. And I know there are many people in similar situations.
I'm trying not to be too afraid because I'm waiting for their decision about my claim, and I'm trying to be as optimistic as I can under the circumstances Les.