P.I.P

It's not as you make it just answer everything as a very bad day

Do you not have any days that are different?

I'd really like to see you get off your high horse and top challenging people on this site Les! I'm so fed up of your negatively!!!

Well said SLD35 !!!  les59996 can I please offer you some feedback?  Your posts do seem quite negative and accusatory. I was told by my Occupational Health advisor that to get the message over it is really important to highlight your worst days.  If you read your own posts they can come accross as if you think everyone is trying to get something they don't deserve. People come on here for support and help and advice, I don't think that negativity is really helpful. You may have had a lot of experience but everyone is different, not only their symptoms but their approach to things, their level of confidence and how they put things over are all different. More understanding and compassion and less telling people what to do I think. 

Marshall, it is really important to let them know what your worst days are like.  I told my assessor that my Fibromyalgia does not ever give me releif. My 'best days' are like a non sufferers worst days.  How can they compare every best and worst day without knowing what it feels like. So yes tell them what your worst day is like, it is not making things up or being decieptful it is trying to get someone without pain to feel your pain.  Good luck

Lynn good luck with your husband's assessment. I have Fibro and had my assessment about 5 weeks ago. I am waiting for my desicion.  During my assessment I told her how I feel on my worst days and that my 'best day' is like a non sufferer's worst day.  I did get upset during my assessment as I suddenly realised how little I now do for myself.  Sometimes it's not until you actually say the words out loud that the realisation hits you.  Tell your husband to explain how every day is filled with pain, everything you do results in pain, sitting, standing and walking all result in pain.  The assessor can't understand unless they feel it so it is important to tell them everything. This is not deceiptful this is your only opportunity to get the help you need. Good Luck !!

I was given this advice by my OT too Beanieles. My days fluctuate in terms of manageability but I was told it was important to focus on the worst days because when I have the really bad days, which far outweigh the good, I can barely manage to do anything for myself, and this is why I'm claiming PIP. I'm currently awaiting a mandatory reconsideration as my initial award was for standard mobility only but I seriously need som help with my daily living needs. I'm hoping they will reconsider without the need for appeal. Very pleased for you Sfarrel! 😀

My days fluctuate in terms of manageability but I was told it was important to focus on the worst days because when I have the really bad days, which far outweigh the good.

Thanks Mary, I am glad that you recognise that you have variable days.

Most people do. But to only talk about or claim what the difficulties are on a bad day isn't actually telling the DWP about the variability. It could be said that you are allowing the DWP to believe that all of your days are as bad with NO variability.

Yes I know that most people think that if you give out any positive signals the DWP/assessor will jump on them and use them as evidence to refuse the claim.

You should allow the DWP to make the decision that on the majority of days your days are bad. You should not try to influence that by holding back on any positives - strike a balance and tell it as it is and not what you think you should say to maybe get a better award through holding back information.

Unfortunately Les, the DWP WILL jump on any positives you might say, which then often result in a zero points award! The Decision Maker decided in his decision that the majority of my days are not bad but if he had read my PIP questionnaire and supporting evidence properly, he and the assessor would have seen the true nature of how my condition affects me.

Fluctuating days make life very difficult to manage, particularly when one lives alone and has no one to help.  We all know that they will avoid giving people this benefit if they possibly can. And we also know that they are more than happy to twist things we say. My assessor said I meet up with friends, which I don't; she said I read magazines, which I don't. She mistakenly wrote that she assessed me at a centre thirty miles from my home, which was completely incorrect as I can't travel far and on request from me, I was seen at a centre ten minutes from my home! Her error would invalidate my claim that I can't travel far! She also wrote conflicting information, in that I was brought to the Centre by a friend and in another part of the report she said I came by myself and can therefore undertake an unfamiliar journey alone, which I can't.

I have pointed out all these discrepancies in my mandatory reconsideration paperwork so hope it will be properly noted as the assessor's report was inaccurate throughout and despite being very reassuring and nice to me during the assessment, wrote a very surprisingly inaccurate report, which did not accurately reflect the areas in which I need help!

It's all just such a worry going through all this