Hi
I currently recieve the higher rate of the mobility component of DLA due to having Osteoarthritis in my left knee and I am worried about losing my motability car when I get reassessed for PIP.I suffer with severe pain when walking and on occasions it is so bad that I cannot walk at all. I also suffer with sciatica on my right side due to over compensating for my left knee.
Has anyone with a similar condition been sucessful with their claim for enhanced rate mobility?
Kind regards
John
Hi John,
The chance of losing a car on the Motability Scheme when you apply for PIP is just a ratio of 1 in 3. Which is not a great chance, however this is what normally happens, if you ask for them to look at your claim again, the chances increase drastically.
There are other factors you need to consider and how it will affect Motability customers, which is a mystery survey circulating current PIP Claimants stating about a £20-£30 a week cut in PIP payments. This is very new, and we do not know much about it so far.
Have you received a letter to apply for PIP yet, I know some people have on DLA "indefinite" claims?
I am in the same situation as yourself I'm on DLA Care and Mobility High Rates, and gave up the Mobility Allowance for a vehicle, I would be house bound if I didn't have a car.
Regards,
Les.
Hi John id like to say your be fine but me and my Husband who were both given DLA many years go and got the "indefinite" type which now means nothing at all. Been waiting for my letter now to come through the post since end of October 2015 so on burrowed time so to speak.
Im not nor is my husband especting to get the PIP, ;probably wont even bother as i have M.E. with no medications as nothing helps so a very weak case,,Hubby has rhematoid arthritis he may just get through, who knows. Expect the worse but you may be lucky and just get a reduction and not cut off completley. I have a grand daughter who gets it because of learning problems but no mobilty difficulty problems at all. God knows how they come to these decisions but some seem to have more chance of keeping it not on physical grounds but mental. Most cases i know that have kept it have some sort of mental problem, they dont seem to care much about physical im sure if our son who has persistent very painfull back problems or my other grand daughter who has the progressive type of MS didnt get it, we wont. But that doesnt mean to say you wont and i wish you all the best.
They simply have gone OTT with it all, started off with fraudsters being chucked off and rightly so but then they turned on genuine cases. They observe how far it is from the waiting room to the interview room, its usually more then the 15 yards so already you have a weak case cos you managed to walk this. My advice to you is to say you cant go to them, ask them to visit you. They cant refuse i dont think.
They lied about my son, said he turned up alone and drove to another town when in fact he got a friend to drive him there as he just couldnt. They lie on their reports, its dreadfull and yet no one seems to care about this. But then you have to remember they are getting their wages out of folk like us. Talk about the bibles words man will dominate man to his injury, how true this is!
Hi Les so your still waiting then to hear, i re read one of your oldest posts and im feeling pretty confident you should be ok. You shouldnt even be being asked to try and get PIP, in my opinion some should be just switched over without having to see these peopleA doctors and hospitals reports should be enough. its all so unfair and so unjust. Most of us who got it indefinatley are far worse many years later not better!
Hi Susan there's 2 les one les63 and the other one its les99,
Hi Sue, I'm the other Les.
I too am/was in a similar situation. Aged 67, told to apply for PIP a few months back. I was on High Mobility/Middle Care.
The DWP messed up the transfer and closed my transfer down. Now too old to put in another PIP claim. Thankfully I handed back my Motability car back in July 2013 after only 18 months or so and bought my own knowing that this ay happen.
Hi Les, oh im so sorry,If they messed it up then why were they allowed to close it down, so unfair it really is.
Sue
Lol right so which one are you 63 or 99! Recieved your pm thanks and replied.
Sue
Hi Susan,
Yes, I'm still waiting to hear for the PIP Award Application Form, the problem is even though I'm on DLA "indefinite" it is a totally different Allowance, Benefit or Payment - so basically your making a brand new claim on a new allowance named PIP.
There have been a few cases I've seen go straight from DLA High both Rates to PIP Enhanced both Rates on "indefinite", but this changes to 10 years which I am assuming is the maximum period for PIP Claims.
Doctors records, Neurologist Consultants and even the President of British Neurology I am under - all sounds good, even on paper, but we all have one obstacle, the "DWP", which is basically untouchable to an extent. In most Acts the DWP is Exempt this includes the Statute Barred which all companies involving money including banks must abide by, yet the DWP is EXEMPT - as one would expect. There is a way around it, but it is not worth paying for.
I know my way around many things in the HMRC and the DWP, you learn - and what you read in the papers is just trash, the same goes on TV - the real news is in front of everyone with a computer, but collating that information and processing it, leads to many questions or mathematical equations. They are always saying about whistleblowers on TV, and they don't know who they are, it does not take a genius to work out who they are and where the source is from.
Going slightly off-topic but then so is alot of what is fed to us on a daily basis.
Regards,
Les.
I did not ask for a home visit but was told that they would come to my home for an assessment. Wasn't too bad really but one never knows with these things. I have osteoarthritis in my hips, rheumatoid arthritis every where else I also have rotator cuff in both shoulders, carpal tunnel in both hands. On top of this I had a heart attack last May followed by gall stones which will be operated on once I come off the blood thinners. I have vertigo, high blood pressure, panic attacks and am deaf in one ear!!' Not looking for sympathy just showing that I am not a well person. All this is backed up by medical records but I still have to go through an assessment. I am 67 this year and cannot get out of the house without my mobility car which my husband drives. This change to Pip really is not doing me any good and I am now worrying on top of everything else. A better system is needed!!
Oh forgot to mention I also have fibromyalgia and have a history of TIA's to add to my little list above. Cant walk far, cant bathe on my own cant cook a meal, hold a book to read or dress without hubby's assistence, but hey ho they think I am fine.!!
Hi Les
Thanks for your reply and for the information about the survey.
I haven't recieved the dreaded brown envelope inviting me to apply for PIP yet. I hope it goes well for you when you get migrated over.
Kind regards
John
Hi Christine
Thanks for you reply. The stress of the assessment on top of everything else you have to live with on a daily basis must be terrible. I really hope it goes well for you. How soon is the home assessment? will you feed back to how you get on with it please.
Kind regards
John
Hello john, my lady arrived at 09.05 and left at 10.00.She asked me for any relevant paperwork which they had copies of but I also had a new letter from my GP stating that I could not walk more than 20 yards without being in acute pain, could not go out on my own because of the vertigo, could not do household chores and that I also had chronic heart disease. She took this letter with her as she said it was important
Anyone going for an assessment should apart from medical records get a personal letter from their doctor. She asked to see all my medication and an up to date prescription. Basically she wanted to know how my illnesses affected my every day life
She asked if I could do a few exercises, which I could not apart from touching each finger tip on one hand. She asked about hobbies and did I go out, she asked if I had visitors, like family. That was basically it really, so now it is the worrying waiting game.
Hi John
As explained by other posters your condition Osteoarthritis is not the key to receiving PIP it is how the condition affects you. So it is possible for one suffer to be awarded PIP whilst another is not.
What is key is how far you can physically walk. Less than 20 metres and you have the Enhanced rate of PIP. Sounds easy but you have to prove that is the case. This includes the face to face assessment where the assessor will decide in her opinion if your unability to walk less than 20 metres is true. Therefore when asked to stand and walk you should show exactly how much pain you are in!
Also take on board Susan and Christines advice. Get a back up letter from GP if possible.
There are extra points avaiable for mental health reasons so it is possible to walk further than 20 metres but less than 50 and still get enhanced PIP if you suffer with servere mental health issues.
Again getting these points is not easy and I know from Tribunal hearings that they are usually only given if the claimant admits to being violent!
But in any case if you have mental health issues then include any evidence in your application.
Christine i hope you get it, you deserve too. I wont as ive got M.E. i have no paperwork, am on no medication, under no specialist. When i get my letter in the brown envelope thats it for me im afraid.
Sue
Hi Christine,
This will probably interest you regarding PIP
Here's a well known fact about PIP - I thought I would share. Any Claimant that has Fibromyalgia, which affects mostly women is an automatic claim for PIP Award Applications.
It came to light after a case involving a woman who applied for PIP when she had Fibromyalgia, however when the vulnerable woman attended her assessment she was told by the female assessor this "Fibromyalgia, is just a name given to women by doctors when they do not know whats wrong with you, so this claim is void".
A woman that worked for the DWP seen what the woman had posted on a forum on how she lost her PIP Claim, and was disgusted. They did actually trace the woman that did the woman's assessment, and she was dismissed from her job!
The reason why this happened was because the assessor read up on Fibromyalgia, from the Governments A-Z Handbook. I even checked this myself, the handbook as just 2 entries referenced on two pages stating that the condition was jusf a pain in the back. But if you cross-reference the data with the BMA (British Medical Association) then you find a huge difference, to be exact it is a 17 page document for Fibromyalgia.
Regards,
Les.
Thanks Les wow theres hope for us yet then, i wonder if that includes me who has a form of firbromyalgia with the M.E. Thing is im not on any medication for this, doctor told me she could give me something to help cope mentaly but nothing for the pain. I refused, maybe i should have said yes and be taking it regardless!
Hi Susan,
If I was you (and that is even possible these days!! not that I would want to be a woman, after seeing over the years what my wife goes through, and my 15 year old daughter has only just started!). ...And, they say men have the easy life, well it is if you're not tied down with a dam disorder that you never even heard of, until I had an accident in my early 20's!
I would take a trip to your doctor and ask for a referral to a Rheumatologist that specialise in Fibromyalgia and instruct your doctor to give you the correct tablets, not just pain killers. Then you'll have an official report that you suffer from Fibromyalgia and how it affects you day to day living.
Gabapentin is usually given for nerve pain, I have been on them it before, not large doses but enough to take the edge off the pain. Plus you have Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E) which is probably your core disorder which affects the nerve system. You should have a good case for PIP, depending on how you find tasks on a daily basis.
You certainly, have a case there Susan, and it is not like you can fake either condition. I would get to your doctors for a referral ASAP.
Did you actually state you had Myalgic encephalomyelitis and Fibromyalgia when you applied for PIP? I just wondered because they do not allow you to add ailments once a PIP Award Claim has been sent in.
Regards,
Les.
I totally agree with you les, my rheumatologist deals with fibro as well
I have injections but they are not working anymore so I see my consultant at the end of the month who is going to prescribe something stronger! Remember I have both forms of arthritis as well so sometimes my pain is unbearable. But you know I find that those of us in real pain and of a certain age just grit their teeth, don't moan and get on with it. Maybe we should moan more? Sorry but it's not in my nature, are we to stoical sometimes.