My car as to go back.

Yes I missed out by a matter of weeks, but I have decided not to contest it? Like you say the criteria is different than DLA and I don,t want the stress, my condition as not improved but I don,t feel I meet that stricter criteria?

I too was born 10 weeks to late to get the advantage of keeping DLA. What you are feeling is so common amongst our age group who are losing out in the transfer from DLA to PIP. I had been receiving DLA since 1995 (apart from a 7 year period when I missed appealing a bad decision in 2004. It was only in 2010/11 that I felt able to re-apply. In all of that time I was on High Mobility/Middle Care indefinite. Being on indefinite didn't stop them re-asessing me every 18 months/2 years though.

?I lost out on the chance to move from DLA to PIP because the DWP lost two letters that I sent them to start off the transfer process. Not only do you lose the chance to re-apply(too old) but also the DLA is shut down.

?To me that equated to a loss of over £250 a week.

I never appealed against that 'cock up' caused by the DWP. I then tried for Attendance Allowance but that was thrown out by the DWP this autumn. I never appealed against that either.

?Appealing is very stressful so like you I am left to try to cope without any acceptance from the DWP that I have care needs and mobility problems, although I have put in another Attendance Allowance claim last week but don't hold out much hope.

?It is wrong that at our age (I too am 68 - 69 next June) we are expected to cope with all of this so we give up for the sake of sanity and peace. 

I would mention that those who retain their DLA and have to be reviewed a doctor will come to your house and carry out a quick check and leave. My neighbour was 69 a year or so ago when they checked his DLA award. He was worried sick so he asked if I would sit in with him. Although I kept in the backround, the doctor was fantastic. The neighbour did not need to fill out any forms, sailed through the few questions asked, produced his repeat script and all was done.

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Hi - just a small correction but an important one, the time limit for appeal or MR is 28 days not 30.  This is 28 days from the date on your decision letter.  In addition, did you know that where someone over 65 is reassessed from DLA to PIP and there is no mobility award, the whole PIP  claim is then treated as a new claim for attendance allowance ?  Not sure how this works at the moment but I'm making some enquiries and will post a reply as soon as I know more - in the meantime, if anyone else knows please let us know

Thanks for that reminder, i did know so no idea why i put 30 days :x As for the PIP transfer, if they weren't 65 on the date stated which is begining of April 2013 surely those rules don't apply? What i mean by this is if it's taken say 2 years to invite them and they're now over 65 surely they'll be assessed for the mobility part too?

May I ask what your disability is ?  If you have mobility needs and you have failed to score any mobility points it's important that you know your rights.  The DWP will let you have a mandatory reconsideration over the phone where you are facing losing a motability car - this is because the car is usually repossessed within 28 days of the PIP decision (DLA stays in payment for 28 days after the PIP decision date and then reverts to the new award amount) and reconsiderations of this type are fast tracked to allow any revised decision to be made in time to stop the loss of the car.  I would strongly suggest that if you are within 28 days of your PIP award decision letter, you ring the DWP and discuss the decision with them. Are you sure you have a fair decision ? Can you walk more than 20 metres and if so, can you do so safely, without undue pain or discomfort, repeatedly as often as necessary throughout the day ?  These 'reliability' criteria are laid down in law but are being ignored by a lot of assessors who seem to think that if you can do something once, then you can do it - this is not the case.  They have a duty in law to make sure that you can do it according to the above criteria, and also that it does not take you more than twice the time it would normally take for a non disabled person to do it. If any of this applies to you then I would think seriously about asking for reconsideration.  

I have a number of problems, one being three damaged vertebrae in my lower back from a pit accident. I suffer from serious vertigo from a deafness complaint, the assessor said I walked more than 80 metres from my car, and that I could not be deaf because I did not wear an hearing aid, I have had a labrinthoctomy so an hearing aid would not help. I had a couple of heart attacks but that was a long time ago, and suffer from high blood pressure that is under control with medication. I think there is people a lot worse than me at my age Other complaints are mainly work related white finger, calpal tunnel, and problems in every joint, mainly knees , ankles and kneck.

Hi Pam,

?Yes I have become aware of this but as it wasn't possible for me to get that far (filling out the PIP2) I didn't benefit from it.

?I can't remember where I read this but certainly somewhere that if you fail the PIP transfer to PIP completely, then the PIP2 is used to automatically look at the possibility of awarding Attendance Allowance instead.

?Personally I find this extremely strange as the criteria for AA and the application form itself has much more in common with claiming the Care element of DLA than it does for the Care element of PIP. That being the case, and if this is happening in reality, why does the PIP claim form and criteria used differ so much from DLA? 

?The government argue that PIP looks at the descriptors to gain points which is totally different to Attendance Allowance.

?Really strange.

I think they've used this as a short cut, and in part to try to allay some of the criticism attached to PIP.   DLA will die out when the last claims terminate and I think this is an attempt to be seen to be 'helping' older claimants to claim AA.  Personally I think anyone who has reached the age of 65 when their DLA claim comes up for reassessment to PIP, should be left alone.  Since PIP was meant to target working age disabled people, this would be fairer, but then since when has ANY of this been fair ? Benefit savings trump everything.

Well for a start any distance walked outside the assessment centre should not be counted, so walking from the car park would be outside the assessment criteria.  Usually they use the distance between the waiting room and the assessment room - which is pre measured at 20 metres or more. In addition they have to consider the manner in which you walk, the time taken and any pain you experience. These are called the reliability criteria and are set in law. If you feel these were not considered properly then you should appeal.  

Secondly the assessor has simply assumed that you are not deaf because you do not wear a hearing aid, while ignoring the medical fact of your labrynthectomy as the reason an aid is inappropriate.  This is unacceptable and should be challenged - particularly if you have medical evidence to support this.

You should not simply accept this decision just because you feel that there are people worse off than you - PIP is designed to support those who need it, and you are no exception.  It might be worth contacting your MP for support and also citizens advice or any advocacy agency in your area, to see if they can offer support.

Hi Pam, I have heard of members of Tribunals using distances to question mobility.

?Distance from the train station to the Tribunal venue, Distance across the car park etc.

?Even I was questioned once about where my wife had parked the car and the distance from there to the assessment centre was included in the assessors report - 'because I must have walked it'. 

As you know I also try to look at how others are - and think myself very lucky that I am not that bad! 

Only those people who were 65 or over on 8 April 2013 in UK or 20 June 2016 in Northern Ireland will stay on DLA.  Anyone aged 16 to 64 on these dates will be reassessed for PIP. PIP's catchment target is working age disabled people - the 'points based' design and harsher assessment criteria is brought in line with that of the Work Capability Assessment.

Sorry, not quite 68 I will be 68 in December

 

Not true, I was 65 in June 2013, and was 68 in June 2016 - I'll be 69 in June 2017 and many more are of similar age and have not yet been invited for PIP. I certainly expect there will be those aged 70 by the time they are transferred. I was invited to go from DLA to PIP 6 months before my 68th birthday - it all went wrong at the end of the day losing the chance to claim PIP and having my indefinite DLA (HRM & MRC) cancelled as well.

Hi Pam - that bit amuses me - "PIP's catchment target is working age disabled people - the 'points based' design and harsher assessment criteria is brought in line with that of the Work Capability Assessment"

?Based on that are the DWP trying to say that no matter what age you are when you are assessed, the assessment should be geared to what you were like before you hit 65?

You could certainly be forgiven for viewing it like that Les !!