I have just received a letter from PIP saying that they have reviewed my case and that I am not entitled to any PIP.
I’m am so upset, I just don’t know what to do. I was 100% truthful on my form, I had my renewal only a month or so ago, with a visit from an assessor or whatever they are called and the decision came back that I was still entitled to what I had been receiving, but on this letter I have received today they are saying that they have decided that I am able to do the things based on my medical records and observations of the visitor. How, when my medical history shows everything that is wrong with me?
Of course, the letter arrives on a Saturday when they aren’t open. I was due my next payment this Tuesday coming and I was going to pay bills with it and the stress has already started triggering.
Has anyone else received a letter like this? What do I do? I feel like I’m just going to be sat in a state of perpetual stress now.
I am not completely clear what has happened. After your assessment you said the “decision came back…” But this letter today is saying something different. Was the earlier decision a letter or just someone’s verbal opinion? Not that it makes any difference to the way forward but I was just unclear.
The next step is to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. My fingers are rubbish today and it is taking me ages to type so rather than me type all the blurb about this I will just refer you to:
After you have read all the stuff if you feel that you need help to proceed then CAB or Welfare Rights are good places to get face to face help.
Thanks Jane. I’m sorry I wasn’t very clear, I’m a little bit shakey and all over the place.
I had my PIP renewal assessment in March/April this year, I can’t remember the exact date but it wasn’t long ago, the assessor came to my home, I received my letter about 2 weeks after this, much to my relief, saying that I would be keeping my PIP as is, (just) receiving the standard in both Daily Living and Mobility.
Then this letter has arrived this morning saying that they had decided to look at my award again to make sure I was receiving the correct amount of money, and that having considered all evidence, they had decided I am not entitled to PIP.
I don’t understand why it has been reviewed so soon after my renewal, it also says that ‘The Secretary of State has decided to review your award on 05/11/2014.’ I’m so confused and just want to curl up in a ball and cry
You should as Jane suggested, ask for a mandatory reconsideration. This has to happen before you can appeal against a decision. You have one calendar month to request this. In addition to the CAB website, try having a look at the benefits and work website: http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk that will have a lot of useful information for you.
I can’t begin to explain this because it’s outside my experience. It sounds as though it’s some sort of random check - but you have the right to appeal any decision about PIP if you think it is unfair - or just plain wrong. the mandatory reconsideration is the first step.
If the lack of this money is going to put you at risk of debt you should also discuss this with CAB because they can help you negotiate with your creditors.
The important thing is not to curl up in a ball. You have to be active in getting this put right. The first thing is to read up as much as you can about PIP and the 12 areas that form the basis of the decision. Be clear in your mind where you score points. Then find out how to complete the mandatory reconsideration. Spend today and tomorrow getting all your ducks in a row so that you can take action on Monday.
I would offer a little caution about Internet searches. I directed you to the CAB site and Sue mentioned the excellent benefits and work. Both these two are up to date and 100% accurate, some of the sites I looked at earlier today were out of date and talked about appeals without doing a mandatory reconsideration first. I suspect Google was pulling up some old pages.
Good luck - action will put this right, don’t let stress and worry rob you of a good result
This is something I’m personally trying to bring to the forefront of the MS Society as a volunteer. It’s such a vital part of our lives that we receive the correct benefits we are entitled to (People can be on PIP and working full time!) in a timely fashion.
It is of course worth checking with DWP that there isn’t a simple administration mistake.
If that is not the case, you have joined the many people with MS fighting the system. I personally am awaiting a tribunal because I’ve been found entitled to nothing.
It’s important to try and get professional help at the earliest opportunity. Your local CAB is a great starting point.
Keep your head up. The government in place is trying to make tens of billions worth of welfare savings and the knock on effect is people with rightful entitlements suffering.
It sounds as if the letter may have nothing to do with the recent renewal, and it’s pure coincidence that they have crossed.
If the review was ordered as long ago as last Autumn (presumably not just for you personally, but as part of a random check, as Jane suggests), but they have only just completed it, it presumably does not take into account the findings of your latest renewal, as that would have been too recent to feature in their deliberations. So I’m guessing they’re just so behind with the reviews that people have already been re-assessed, and qualified again, before the review of their original assessment has been completed.
If they are claiming your original assessment was wrong, but you’ve since been re-assessed and qualified again anyway, it may be water under the bridge. Presumably they would have to review your new assessment, and if they process that as promptly as they processed the original one, you could expect not to hear anything before the New Year.
I don’t mean you can just leave it and do nothing - as others have said, you have to contact them and get to the bottom of it. But I strongly suspect they’ve reviewed an award that’s been overtaken by events anyway - you’ve since been awarded it again!
Thank you everyone. I’m not so sure if the letters have crossed over, this letter was dated 4th June so was done recently. I am calling them in a little bit so will update the thread later once I find out what is going on.
Actually, nope, no updates. Called DWP/PIP and they told me that the letter hasn’t been scanned onto the system nor has any reasoning, they did receive a letter from my Neurologist but couldn’t tell me what was in it. They have put me down for a callback to discuss it but that could be 5 working days.
I then called the hospital to speak to my Neurologist/her secretary and find out what the letter was that she has sent and why it would make them say I am not entitled, but my neurologist is away until wednesday afternoon and the letter she wrote is not on my files so no-one else can tell me.
It’s all fun and games, a nice long week of stress, I had them note down that I will be wanting a reconsideration but who knows how that is going to go based on all of this so far.
I hope it’s an error on their part this condition is bad enough without having the uncertainty of finances hanging over us. It’s a pity the Government don’t put as much energy into chasing the tax cheats.
Here’s hoping it is a mistake, but I won’t get my hopes up just yet. I just don’t see why my Neurologist would send a letter that would make them stop my PIP, but we’ll see. At the earliest, I should at least find out what was in the letter on Wednesday when Neuro is back at the hospital.
So I received the callback from DWP this morning, the woman that I spoke to was really helpful and very understanding, she told me that she used to work in the DLA dept and so has a good knowledge of stuff like the illnesses people have and what can go wrong in the assessment/review process.
She looked on my records and found that the letter stated as part of the ‘not entitled’ decision was a letter from my Neurologist, that I sent them back in November. This letter stated that ‘lesions were present on my MRI and having looked at that evidence, my symptom history and the delays visible on my evoked potential tests, that a diagnosis of MS was probable’ I’m still confused at this point.
She also told me that even though I had my renewal assessment just recently, that there was no award letter listed on my records after this point, even though I received an award letter only a few weeks after my assessment, so this is strange. It also states on there that I called them to advise them of a change in circumstances. I didn’t, because my circumstances haven’t changed, unless you count them getting much worse than when I first applied.
We went through the process of answering the point based entitlement question or whatever they are called, and I answered them honestly and just like I did on my form and during my assessment, most of which the letter states that they have decided that I am, in fact, able to do.
She is sending me the ATOS report from my recent assessment because I requested it, I want to look through that whole report and make sure that there are no fabrications or contradictions on there so that I can provide evidence against them within the 28 days if needed.
Now it is just a waiting game and I get to stew until the actually make a decision, luckily though, the woman I spoke to, who works there, was confused by the whole thing as much as me and she at one point said ‘I think this is a mist…’ clearly cutting off before she got herself in hot water. I feel a little bit better now though and I’m hopeful that it will be sorted soon enough.
Rather than trust in the DWP to put things right, I would suggest that you try to get them to tell you in writing what is going on with your award. You should try to get things in writing because someone almost saying there’s been a mistake on the phone can never be used as any kind of evidence. In your position, I would write asking them to clarify whatever has happened recently to make this decision. You kind of need to ask for a reconsideration of their decision, but not being clear about what it is they’ve done makes it difficult to give reasons for a reconsideration. Probably you should attempt to get some CAB assistance, but if there’s likely to be a delay in getting CAB help, write to the DWP yourself to get some clarification on what they’ve done and why. If they have made a mistake, just your letter may be enough for them to put things right. I hope so.
As things stand, I’m not even sure what decision you should be appealing - or whether you need to appeal at all. The latest award letter apparently not being in the file tends to bear out my suspicion it played no part in the decision to revoke your entitlement, and the timing is just coincidence.
Although the letter itself is recent, it looks as if the enquiry dates back some time, and might even be irrelevant, as you’ve since been re-assessed.
You don’t want to accidentally appeal an award that was successful, if they’re actually referring to the previous one!
Omg! Ive been on dla and was asked to claim pip cldnt belive i only got 6 pionts so tht stands 4 nothing it came through on a wkend and b4 i new all my other benefits or help wth housing and council tax changed It made me has low has low to think how cld me and my teen live on such a low income my food shop cames to £150 awk rent £134 council tax ? Water bill sewarge bill ? Electric gas phn tv liscense and vigin media. Ow my how r we soppose to survive. i thought i going out of my mind wth worrie. very upset cos such a drop of benefits in such a short space of time i just cant belive it how can i hv dla 4 my disability and yet pip think i dont hv a disabilty to qualifie 4 benefit frm thm . I hv wos things wrong wth me now thn i had whn claiming dla i dont understand wot does one do.
Stay strong Tracy! The PIP form has complex and misleading descriptors.
Did you get help from the Citizen’s Advice or other charity expert to complete the form?
Get help with your Mandatory Reconsideration - perhaps say you needed help with the from but could not get it in time.
Take this PIP self-assessment test and check your scores.
When choosing think - on my worst days - and am I like this more than 50 per cent of the time. This is key more than 50% or can I do this task: repeatedly and in a safe and timely manner?