The verdict is in....

I have pains constantly in my limbs and they are much much worse when i have walked like 20 metres, i cannot do this more this once a day nor more then three times a week. Im struggling so bad and constantly stopping for breaks yet i mentioned this in my assessment. What do i need to do on Monday? State i want to appeal... Do i resend a copy of the GP letter as well?

Are you under anyone else, a consultant of any kind, I do keep emphasising that its up to the claimants to prove there disability and to be honest your Dr is only a very small part of the application, you need to show that you have been suffering with this problem for quite a while and that you are on regular meds and that you see other medical proffesionals not just your GP he just isn't enough as far as I can see to get them to award you mobility

Im not under anyone. When i was a child i was under GOSH hospital but that stops when you reach your teens and then left on your own. I wont be able to drive now because of this... i require adaptions to any car for my to drive as i am 4ft3.

First of all you need to ring the DwPas soon as possible and ask them to send a copy of EVERYTHING they have used to make this decision - this will include the assessors' report, anything you sent them and also any medical evidence they may have obtained without your knowledge.  Secondly you should visit your GP and take a copy of your decision letter with you.  A reconsideration request will carry more weight if you can get fresh medical evidence to support what you are saying. Ask your GP if they will provide you with a more detailed report to say exactly why you can't walk more than 25 metres. 20 metres is the cut off point for the enhanced rate but you should qualify for standard rate if you can walk less than 50m.

it's very important to point out to the DWP that their own rules state you must be able to walk the distance repeatedly as often as necessary throughout the day. It sounds as though they have not considered the reliability criteria properly.  If you cannot walk 25 metres more than once a day then you really should qualify for the enhanced rate as the realistic distance you can walk repeatedly in a 24 hour period is only a few metres.  In addition,they have to give equal weight to any medical evidence you provide, as long as it is relevant to the descriptors - they can't simply ignore it in favour of the

assessors' report.  

Point all of this out in the letter and ask ask them to consider an award of enhanced mobility as you are not capable of walking any meaningful distance more than once a day.  You should probably be prepared to go to tribunal, as very few reconsideration requests are successful, but unfortunately you have to do this before you can go to appeal. As I have posted on here before, once you have submitted your case to the tribunal service they have to send the DWP a copy of your submission and if they know at that stage that you are likely to win, it may never get as far as a hearing.  This has happened to a couple of people I know - they  received a higher award and had the tribunal cancelled because the DWP knew their original decision was wrong.  

Sadly Natalie its not about being able to drive its about your ability to be able to walk and the criteria is 20 metres, OK you need to ask for an MR but your problem is as I said you have no other medical evidence to back up your claim, there are those on here that have sent in bucket loads of supporting evidence and still having to make appeals.

I know there will be others on here who will say I'm being harsh, I'm not I'm trying to help you see that it needs more than a GPs letter and family members to back it up.

Sorry - forgot to say that a recent tribunal decision stated that any distance you walk whilst in pain does not count, as if you are in pain you cannot complete it to an acceptable standard.  Point this out too.  If you are in pain the whole time you walk, or if doing it once leaves you so exhausted you cannot do it again for several hours, then you cannot do it at all.

I agree with most of this but I have to say I have done eversl applications where the only available supporting evidence is from the claimants' GP.  The most recent GP evidence resulted in a claimant having her decision overturned just before a tribunal hearing because the DWP accepted that the evidence was relevant to the reasons for appeal.  A GP will receive copies of consultant reports, X rays and test results so can be a valuable source of evidence - they may also have known you for a long time and can give good knowledge based evidence.  Also supporting evidence from family members can be helpful - again, provided it is relevant to what's being said and comes from the point of view of someone who is a care giver to the claimant.  I would however, agree with you that in this case the GP has already given a distance of 25m for the walking test which rules out the enhanced mobility but if the claimant can show she cannot walk this distance repeatedly as often as necessary throughout the day, she may still qualify for the enhanced rate on the reliability criteria.

sorry that should read 'I have done several applications'.

Hi Pam - good suggestion.

​Problem I see is how on earth would you get evidence to back that up?

​We all know that pain cannot be independently measured/assessed - it is just what the claimant describes.

​How would you have the assessor believe what you say - anybody could exaggerate the level of pain felt?

​If it was simply down to the claimant appearing to be honest, then that should not be happening - PIP is evidence based.

When I was preparing for PIP I believed that I could only walk less than 20 metres before I found it impossible to go any further. I then measured the said distance and it turned out to be nearly 25 metres!!

​Should you claim what you believe or what you actually measure?

I have to take issue with this.  The assessor is not simply there to stop benefit.  The assessor does not make the final decision - the DWP decision maker does, and I have handled quite a few applications where the decisions have been fair and even handed.  It is about how you present yourself at the assessment and our supporting evidence  and I cannot stress this enough - it is not about actually having the disability, it is how the disability affects the activities being assessed.  You need to convince the assessor that your disability has a significant impact on your day to day living

There is fault all around with the system, it is not just the DWP but some assessors also. At my assessment whilst waiting to go in I heard an assessor on the phone to reception (or whoever) telling them to cancel their booked assessments for the rest of the week as she had 'made her money' for that week and 'couldn't be arsed' doing anymore

My assessor admited to me that she had never heard of my condition - so how could she possibly know the affect it has on me and despite Dr and consultant letters she reported that because I slowly signed my name I have power in my grip and didn't have a problem with using my hands - she did not however report that my thumbs sub-luxate numerous times a day?

She also lied about how I was on that day and even made a joke about my illness???

Yet when I had my ESA assessment, the assessor worked with people with my condition, so understood how it affects me and I was placed into the support group straight away.

I had to fight for PIP because 1, the assessor was incompetent and lied and 2, the DWP went by her report alone and ignored all of the evidence I submitted - so in my case the assessor did make the final decision.

Every body has different experiences with these things, and whilst some assessors do a good, proper job - some don't