Anyone who has applied for Personal Independent Payment (PIP) will tell you it is a nightmare and that it is the worst process you can go through especially when you are already in pain and exhausted. They will also tell you that they were made to feel that their conditions were made up, all in their head or that you can do everything unaided without any physical or mental assessment.
You really have to fight with DWP (Department of Work & Pensions) for PIP!
Over the next few weeks, months, I will be write about each element of the PIP assessment, all of the daily living and mobility components.
Why do I think I am an expert on PIP?
After leaving the ambulance service as a Paramedic, I started a normal hours job as a Personal Independent Payment Disability Assessor; so I know what training you get as a healthcare professional to do the job, whether you are a paramedic, physio, nurse... it is all the same and does not take into account your area of medical expertise. What the reality of writing an honest report, what it is like to assess someone, what information you get about the claimate prior to the assessment and what happens after you have submitted your report to DWP. It was the worst job, I have had the misfortune to do!
I have also been through the whole PIP process myself, from personal experience it was horrific, the authors of my report lied on it, showed no knowledge of my medical conditions or medications and how it all impacts me on a daily basis. The bit that made me laugh on my reports was I could work over 200 metres unaided; the reality I can walk around my ground floor flat without my Meccano knee brace on as I have the walls, but I can’t walk to my friends across the street from me without it, or I would end up on the floor!
I have been through the Mandatory Reconsolidation Notice (MRN) process, which you do when you first disagree with your DWP PIP report findings; and want them to relook at your application. It is rubbish really as you have to tell them why over the telephone and you aren’t about to add the medical evidence from for example the NHS or NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence); this process just feels like lip service and they don’t really listen to you. You get another report, which in my case was more lies without any kind of assessment.
I have also been through the appeal process; which I won without going to court! I found this easier to get my viewpoint over and add the supporting medical based evidence into, even though it took me days and days, to go through the reports, to write about my conditions in relation to the areas I was challenging and find the supporting medical evidence. Before even writing what I wanted to disagree with; it was exhausting but worth it in the end.
If you believe you are entitled to Personal Independent Payment due to your health conditions, whether physical or mental; you need to stay strong and take on the DWP battles in order to win your war with them!