PIP review coming up

General health and lifestyle
1

HI, can anyone help me, please. MY review for pip is due in June, I believe the new form they send now is 12 pages long and asks to tick if your condition is easier, the same or worse. I have also been advised not to just tick the boxes but also to send in medical evidence. Question 1... I believe the evidence should be no more than 2yrs old? is this correct. The evidence I have is much older than 2 yrs and was submitted when I went from dla to pip 3 yrs ago. Some of the evidence I sent back then was not up to date evidence but confirmed all the conditions that I suffer with. I suffer from mental and physical conditions and also severe agoraphobia so very rarely go to any appoints. A new problem I have now is that my gp of many yrs has recently retired, she knew me extremely well, she used to do home visits as i couldnt  go to the surgery and she dealt with all my conditions. MY new gp doesn't know me at all and i really cant talk to her like i could my old gp, i only ever have a home visit now when i get a chest infection, i won't go into my conditions but suffer from eating disorder,severe copd asthma  fibromyalgia, two types of arthritis osteoporosis severe anxiety, depression and have recently been diagnosed with ischemic heart disease which i haven't informed the dwp yet. I thought with my review coming up i would add this at the same time. I am worrying about sending evidence in with my review form as i only have evidence that i have already given apart from the new diagnoses of ischemic heart disease allot of the evidence submitted was from when  first diagnosed, some conditions were diagnosed 10 yrs ago, do I  still send in that same evidence? I do have new evidence of my heart disease and have a new letter from my gp saying what my conditions are but, not how they affect me. she doesn't know  me personally and have only seen her a handful of times since my gp retired but, would my old gp have put this info into the pc at the surgery? basically, im worrying that my evidance is to old now. I don't see  other consultants anymore, they all discharged me due to failing to attend appointments due to the severe agoraphobia. reason that my old gp dealt with everything.

I can get my medical records but, its not going to tell them anythng differant than the evidence i have already given them when being transferred from dla to pip.I had  a home assesment by atos and was awarded the enhanced rate of care and mobility. any views on my evidence will be very much appreciated. Do i send what i have already sent or just the new evidence with my new diagnosis? i really want to avoid having to get my daughter who is my  carer filling in all that dreaded long form again. she doesn't suffer with anxiety or depression but even she struggled filling it in finding it difficult to explain into words how my conditions affected me on a daily bases, she wrote a lot of detail down and by the end of it all she was stressed out to. If it came to me having to fill in another form like the first one, could she copy down what she wrote in my first report rather than having to reword it completely different?

thank you in advance

 

2

Hi,

The PIP review form is much shorter than the first PIP2 form you filled in and if i remember correctly it's a lot less than 12 pages. It's just a tick box form. Even though it's a shorter form you still need to put down as much info as possible, even if your condition has stayed the same. You say you have a new diagnosis but PIP isn't about a diagnosis, it's how those conditions affect you daily. Has that diagnosis made your condition worse or has it stayed the same?

Regardless of whether you tick the stay the same box or the worse box the chances of you having another assessment is very high, most people do even for their review.

When you have the form it will tell you in the letter that they don't want to see the evidence they seen before. My advice to you is to ignore that and send everything you have, doesn't matter how old it is. You can back the old evidence up with a letter from someone that knows you well or even a diary written by yourself, for as long as you want. Some do 1 week while others do 1 month, it's up to you. A diary would certainly help. An up to date print out of all your current medication too.

On that form you'll need to ask for a home assessment but you'll need a letter from your GP confirming the reasons why this is needed because they can refuse without this. I've even known them refuse with a letter from a GP. Your GP may charge you for this letter so please be aware.

The process for a review is exactly the same as the first time you applied. The only difference is the length of the form. You will be able to ask for a copy of the assessment report a few days after the assessment. This will give you some idea what the decision is likely to be as they mostly go with that report.

Good luck when the time comes.

3

thank you so much for your advice. would it be acceptable do you think, rather than having to reword all the difficulties i have, to copy from my original form as to how my conditions affect me daily and what help i receive from my carer on a daily bases, or should she rewrite it all. its going to say the same anyway as the way my conditions affect me and help i get remains the same

4

No problem. It's your choice what you do but i've never heard of anyone doing that before. If it was my review then i wouldn't copy word for word my last form i sent. Your choice tho. Good luck and hopefully a decision will go in your favour.

5

thank you again, I should of made it a little clearer, i didnt mean actual word for word but sentances from my previous claim so its easier for my carer to write more or less the same as she wrote before, making it a little easier for her. Reading back on my old form, i would still answer the questions in pretty much the same way as no change.

sometimes  i tend to over think and really get panicky and very anxious when having to go through this all over again. its a constant worry. I know im not alone in these feeling as others have to go through it also.

I wish everyone good luck with there new claims and reviews.