Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Attendance Allowance (AA) are two benefits designed to provide financial support to individuals with disabilities or long-term health conditions. While both benefits share some similarities..

As a firm specialising in Personal Independence Payment (PIP), we understand that being diagnosed with cancer can be a challenging time for individuals and their loved ones. One of the concerns that clients may have is whether or not they are eligible for PIP.

There are two aspects to this, what the rules say about combining studying and receiving PIP, and then there are the practicalities and implications of combining the two.

Personal independence payment is a points-based disability benefit. By ‘points-based’ we mean that you will need to score a certain number of points to get an award. So how do you score points, and how many do you need?

This topic relates to two very different benefits, personal independence payment, a disability benefit paid to someone who is severely affected by a disability or illness, and carer’s allowance (CA) which can be paid to someone who provides them with care..

The mobility component of personal independence payment is not affected by going into a care home, regardless of how long you stay. After the first 28 days in a care home, your award of the daily living component is likely to be affected, but it depends..

We are often asked by clients “How can I improve my chances of success at getting the correct award of PIP? “.  In general, there is no single answer that can be applied as each claimant’s situation is unique to their own application.

People ask this question but we are not aware of any grants that are automatically triggered by having a PIP award. Having an award will however help to unlock money from a variety of sources. It is not something that we involve ourselves in directly but there is much to be said for investigating the huge number of charities, large and small.

When assessing how much you can get from personal independence payment (PIP), it initially comes down to the two components of personal independence payment (PIP). We have the daily living component and the component, there are two rates of each component, the standard rate, and the enhanced rate. While you must satisfy the same number of points on each component, the amount of money you stand to receive is quite different.

We are talking here about getting a car using the Motability scheme, while having an award of the standard rate of the mobility component of personal independence payment (PIP). You probably know that Motability is a charity, not part of the Government or the DWP. The scheme allows for a qualifying award of PIP to be paid directly to Motability, and you may have to make additional payments to top up the personal independence payment (PIP) award, depending on the chosen vehicle.

The ability to work has in itself no direct relevance to entitlement to disability benefits such as personal independence payment and disability living allowance. However, we would talk to you about the nature of your work and test what you were telling us about the activities that make up the PIP test by looking at how you manage tasks at work that, on the face of it, require similar physical or mental/cognitive abilities.

We are regularly approached by clients who ask if they can challenge decisions when they are well out of time to ask for a reconsideration or put in an appeal. The ‘absolute time limit’ for taking these steps is 13 months, twelve months on top of the basic one-month limit.

How do I best answer the questions on a PIP form? Get help if you possibly can. Why? Because you need to know where the DWP is coming from and how they think. You need to know what is relevant to the claim and what isn’t. But don’t the guidance notes tell you all you need to know?

The DWP will always assess you when you make a claim for PIP. Depending on what supporting evidence you are able to send in with the claim, the assessors they sub-contract to in your area (CAPITA or MAXIMUS) could advise the Department that they know enough about..

Thousands of PIP claimants with mental health difficulties will have had their claims decided wrongly because they will have scored too few points for Activity 9 – Engaging with others face-to-face. This section of the form is headed ‘Mixing with other people’.

It‌ ‌took‌ ‌the‌ ‌best‌ ‌part‌ ‌of‌ ‌2‌ ‌years‌ ‌but‌ ‌Mary‌ ‌eventually‌ ‌got‌ ‌the‌ ‌right‌ ‌award.‌ ‌At‌ ‌the‌ ‌claim‌ ‌
stage,‌ ‌she‌ ‌had‌ ‌8‌ ‌points‌ ‌and‌ ‌4‌ ‌for‌ ‌mobility.‌ ‌The‌ ‌tribunal‌ ‌in‌ ‌Southampton‌ ‌allowed‌ ‌her‌ ‌
appeal‌ ..

You might find yourself having to do a PIP reconsideration request without professional help and this piece is intended to guide you.

You may have been awarded the standard rate of the daily living and/or mobility
components of personal independence payment (PIP) and be wondering whether
you should have qualified for the enhanced rate instead.

If you have an award of less than the enhanced rate of both components of a PIP Claim, then you might wonder if a change in your circumstances should be reported to theDepartment. Many awards of PIP are made for three years but they can be 4, 5, 10years or ‘ongoing’, without an end date.

Personal independence payment is one of the most useful benefits out there. Getting it does not depend on having paid enough in National Insurance contributions. It is not mean-tested, meaning that you will not be asked how much you are earning..

I am often asked whether having a particular medical condition means that they are
entitled to personal independence payment (PIP). It is a very understandable
question, but unfortunately, I see it as the wrong question. There are medical
benefits, but PIP is not what one of them.

I had a call from Jonathan’s dad in August 2017 and we agreed a reduced fee for two appeals, ESA and PIP. ESA had found him fit for work, scoring zero points. PIP refused benefit too with him scoring 2 for daily living and 4 for mobility; not very promising on day one. Essentially, Jonathan suffered from depression, anxiety and OCD.

It is certainly possible to be eligible to claim PIP (personal independence payment pip) if suffering from a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety but it very much depends on how the mental illness affects you. No two people are affected in the same way but let us look at some of the possibilities.

It was the client’s dad who called me from Liverpool in July 2018 about M whose DLA was going to end because she was having to claim PIP instead. She had higher rate DLA mobility and middle rate care and M and I did the claim form together a month later. I sent her the usual detailed advice on where she should score points and what award she should expect.

The steps involved in making a claim;
1. Get hold of a claim form
2. Complete the form and send it in
3. The assessment stage
4. Receiving the decision on your claim
All being well, the decision is right and you have the award you should have.

Confusion sometimes arises because of the names of benefits, especially when we have the care component of disability living allowance (DLA) and carers allowance. There are still plenty of adults who have yet to be moved from DLA to personal independence payment (PIP), and there are two other groups of claimants who won’t be moved onto PIP as part of this ‘migration’.

North London living L came to me in September 2019 with a PIP appeal assistance request regarding a PIP decision made 15 months before.
She had scored 8 points for daily living and 4 for mobility, so just enough for an award of standard rate of the daily living component. Her problems are a mix of physical and mental health and after we talked about how these affected her in the context of the PIP criteria, my advice was that she should have had awards of the enhanced rate of both components.

I wondered what I had let myself in for. Lee had been awarded zero points and lived alone, so must be managing in some form. He offered to set up a standing order towards the cost of his PIP appeal, but it was hard to see how he would manage this. Lee suffers with a combination of anxiety, depression, psychosis, PTSD and back pain.

The impact of Fibromyalgia on a PIP Claim is not the easiest thing to get accepted by the DWP. Not that Tracey’s problems ended there; she is also affected by rheumatoid arthritis, hearing loss, depression, a heart problem and anxiety, all of which featured in her appeal. After going through the PIP test..

The symptoms of fibromyalgia often make it difficult to explain why points under the personal independence payment test should be scored. Clients talk about muscle pain where the main site moves around the body, as well as profound and debilitating fatigue, ‘fibro fog’ and memory/concentration problems.

When the date for their face-to-face assessment comes through, we prepare during a phone call that supplements the information sheet they had with the advice letter and score sheet; this preparation focusses on their individual claim. The contents of this article form part of that preparation.

When Richard was 15, his Headteacher wrote a report for the DWP saying that he was “physically mobile, but not safe unless in a sheltered environment” and “no real awareness of danger concerned with traffic and needs a support person with him.” The Head closed saying, “He will continue to need a high level of support in whatever environment he moves on to.”

Don’t arrive late. Some venues are in huge buildings which can be used for various types of court and other kinds of tribunals. Today’s venue also deals with immigration, whereas the venue in Manchester has dozens of courts and tribunal rooms, so allow time to find yours. The tribunal clerk will come and see you before you go in, to explain that the tribunal is entirely independent..

Because your appeal is going to be decided by a tribunal, rather than a court, evidence can take many forms; it is for the tribunal to decide what weight to give it, but I cannot think offhand of something that you cannot use. If you have some unusual evidence, try not to take the tribunal (or DWP) by surprise; it will irritate the tribunal and very likely result in your hearing not going ahead that day.

Having been through the assessment report, you are ready to write a submission for the tribunal. You want them to think about what you are saying in your appeal before you go into the hearing. Tribunals often use my submissions as a plan for the hearing and there is no reason why they cannot do the same with yours. The object is to make it easy for the tribunal to work with your submission.

You will need the DWP’s reconsideration notice before you can put in the appeal. If you are having trouble with getting hold of one of these, talk to us as this is outside the scope of this article. You have a choice of how to put in the appeal; you can fill in a paper form, the SSCS1, or, providing you live in England or Wales, you can put in the appeal online.

K’s dad called me in January 2018 to explain that his daughter had scored zero points on her PIP claim. Her ADHD, learning difficulty and dyslexia clearly did not impress the assessor. After going through the PIP test, I advised that awards of the enhanced rate of daily living should have been made and the standard rate of the mobility component. I had K scoring 10 to 12 for daily living and 8 points for mobility.

The Department did not think so; a score of zero points did not look promising. Steve did a reasonable job with his claim form in August 2018. The medical evidence he sent in with his reconsideration request was not that helpful. He suffers with degenerative disc disease, sciatic pain and reduced sensation in some areas, linked to the nerve problem that begins in his spine.

Personal independence payment (PIP) is the disability benefit for people of working age. Since 2018, it is the only disability benefit that such people can apply for, and the Government continue to move claimants from the benefit it has replaced, disability living allowance (DLA). Both benefits acknowledge long-term illnesses or disabilities, so that although a broken leg, for example, may severely limit what that person can do, it will hopefully heal completely and their ability to function will return to normal, so they would not have a claim.

Diana telephoned on 6th June to explain that she had a hearing date in Preston on 19th June for her PIP appeal. With just 9 working days between then and the hearing, I did consider whether the right advice would be to request a postponement but concluded that there would be enough time. Work began that day going through the PIP test together to establish how she should have scored additional points, and my advice was that she should have had awards of the enhanced rate of both components.

Diana and her husband live in Suffolk and came to us for help with the move from DLA to PIP. Her award at DLA was higher rate mobility and the highest rate of the care component and this was an indefinite award where she was last assessed by the Department in 2002. She suffers with COPD, emphysema, bronchitis, eczema, a bilateral hearing loss and has two fractures to her spine. Diana signed her PIP claim form, posted it to us and we completed it together in April of this year.

Ms S contacted is on 13 May 2019 about her PIP appeal which had been adjourned by a central London tribunal. ~The Department had scored her zero points but she explained that she had mix of physical and mental health problems. There was originally a diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder but this was replaced by one of bipolar disorder and eventually the psychiatrist attributed her problems to Cushing’s disease. There was a recent decision to place Mrs S in the ESA support group, which at least was helpful.

Personal independence payment (PIP) is the disability benefit for working age people, replacing disability living allowance (DLA). There are still many people who have yet to move from DLA to PIP, and some of these would be better off moving voluntarily, rather than waiting to be moved by the DWP. This is because some people would get a better award with PIP than they could ever get with DLA. There are exceptions to the basic rule that 64 is the maximum age for beginning a claim for PIP, and people who have recently had an award of the mobility component of DLA have protection.

The client’s daughter explained that a hearing date had already been set for her dad’s PIP appeal, in 10 days’ time on the other side of the country. She also explained that he had scored zero points and that he would not be attending the hearing. Always up for a challenge, a file was opened and it was agreed that their appeal bundle would be posted to us.

Zero points in the ESA test was the right score for Mr Jones, but he should not have been found fit for work. He initially went to Citizens Advice for help with its ESA appeal and the letter sent to him after their first meeting was passed to us. They confirmed that they would not be able to attend an appeal hearing with him, but would help him to prepare his case and would present it in writing.

Personal independence payment (PIP) is the disability benefit for those of working age. It is replacing disability living allowance (DLA), in that new claimants can only claim PIP and the Department continues to move people to the ‘new’ benefit. In May 2012, there were over 3.2 million DLA claims and the move began in April 2014.

Paul came for help with his PIP appeal on his fifth claim. With each of his first four claims, he had scored 6 points the daily living and 4 for mobility, giving him no award. Things had gone from bad to worse with the current claim as the department had awarded zero points. After going through the PIP test with him, our assessment..

You probably appreciate that PIP is a points-based benefit; score the necessary number of points and you get the benefit. It is definitely worth becoming familiar with the test – the only issue is what points you should score, which means identifying the wording that fits and describes how you are affected. The test sets out the statements that have points attached to them, and those statements are known as descriptors. If the wording in the descriptor fits you, you score the points attached to them.

You probably appreciate that PIP is a points-based benefit; score the necessary number of points and you get the benefit. It is definitely worth becoming familiar with the test – the only issue is what points you should score, which means identifying the wording that fits and describes how you are affected. The test sets out the statements that have points attached to them, and those statements are known as descriptors. If the wording in the descriptor fits you, you score the points attached to them.

Mary desperately wanted an award of the enhanced rate of the mobility component, so that she could use the Motability Scheme to get an adapted car. Unfortunately, the DWP awarded only four points for mobility, so no award at all, but she scored 8 points for daily living, giving her standard rate. We went through the PIP test with Mary to see what she should have had and advised that the right award was of the enhanced rate of both components.

I have not come across a client with symptoms quite like Martin’s. Stress quickly makes his anxiety worse and it exacerbates his gastric problems so that our phone calls had been punctuated by retching and vomiting. He also suffered with heart disease and paranoid schizophrenia.

My plans to fly to Inverness for my first hearing there were wrecked when an afternoon tribunal hearing in Cardiff overran and made it impossible to get to Bristol Airport in time. There was nothing else for it but to drive as I was not going to let the client down.

The Tribunal Service helped by listing Jon’s two appeals on the same day as it avoided travelling to sunny Birmingham a second time. Years ago, if a client had appeals for both ESA and PIP, they were listed before the same tribunal but a policy decision stopped that. It was awkward doing it that way since the panel for a PIP appeal includes a ‘disability qualified panel member’ whereas for ESA, it is just the tribunal judge and a medical member.

We helped John from Coventry with his move from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP. As usual, the work was done by phone after he sent the signed form to us. His DLA award was lower rate mobility component and lowest rate care component.

Can it ever a good idea to have your appeal heard by a tribunal without attending? We don’t think so. We have represented clients at face-to-face hearings where the client has been unable or unwilling to attend, but family members came in place of the clients.

We helped Cathy with her claim for PIP and we always confirm our advice on entitlement in writing. That advice to a client is usually that there are two outcomes; what she is really entitled to, being what we would expect a tribunal to award on appeal, as opposed to the points we expect the assessor and decision maker to award.

J came to me in August 2017 regarding an overpayment of £23,684. It was accepted that J had been overpaid in that sum, but the appeal was on the basis that the overpayment of ESA was not recoverable.

The Department accepted that Sally had no functional ability in her left arm, to the extent that she had no movement or ability to grip on that left side. In spite of this, the awarded her just 6 points for the daily living component and these included no points for Washing and bathing.

Jeff scored 6 points in the ESA test, and so was found fit for work. I appreciate that there are considerable differences between the ESA and PIP tests, but it should have told the Department something that Jeff had awards of the standard rate of the daily living component of PIP, and the enhanced rate of mobility, because of physical rather than mental health.