Possible change in circumstances.

General health and lifestyle
1

Hi all,

I have been on this site for nearly a year now, i have posted before that i am a dwarf at 4ft4 and age 27.

I have always had difficulties in life but i have learnt to get on with it.

I use to recieve DLA for myself and my mother use to recieve the same for caring for me.

I now get PIP standard for living only.

I have always suffered with back pain, lower back pain and it only gets worse.

I have to stand on chair to cook, reach cupboards, wash up and to use the fridge and a step for the toilet.

I now struggle even more to get up and down the stairs, to put footwear on, to wash as i cannot reach my back and lower half of my body unless i have assistance.

The change in my circumstances now is that it is much harder for me now to get up and down the stairs, to get out and about in public..... Im now in excuriating pain with my back. I have stretch marks all on my inner thighs and behind my knees and they are painful..... Even worse on my thighs as my legs chaf.

Please can someone advise what i should do next please.

Thank you..

Natalie 

2

Hi Natalie, sorry to hear you're struggling.

You can put in a new claim for a change of circumstances but as you probably know you risk losing the award you have, although hopefully you won't lose it and it might be increased.

Get as much supporting documentation that you can, Drs, occupational health? Etc to support your claim.

Good luck x

3

Hi,

Southernbelle is right by reporting the changes you do risk losing all of what you have now, or your award can stay the same. I remember when you got the award, it doesn't seem that long ago? Forgive me if i'm wrong? The things to consider are how long is your current award for? and do you have more evidence to prove that the descriptors apply to you? By reporting changes DWP will assess you like it's your first claim, so they'll send you another PIP2 form. Another f2f will also be highly likely. With a review the process is slightly different where they send you a much shortened version of the PIP2 form. Only you can decide what to do. I know if it was me  (i have been in the situation in the past), i would leave well alone. Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

 

4

Hi Natalie, I think the advice you have been given is right, you can can go for a reassessments and hope that you receive the higher level of benefit or you can wait till your next assessment.

The only one who can decide this is you, I know its been said that your GP is adequate to give you back up in your claim but I was adviced when I applied for mine that the more information and medical report's I put in, including, xrays, MRIs, CT scans, Rheumatologist, Gastroentologist, OT, PT, Orthotics etc until they had anything and then the reasons why the illnesses effected me on a daily basis, so it wasn't just what I had, it was the written backup and my physical situation.

Maybe you need to be referred for other examinations and tests to give them physical evidence as well.

5

Hi Natalie,

When I was on DLA, I was receiving the Mobility Component High Rate, and the Middle Rate Care Rate. This went on for years, and I didn't not expect to try and get the High Rate Care.

The conditions I suffer from become progressively worse over time, and I still did not apply to see if my entitlement could change. I just assumed I was becoming worse and did not even think about reapplying for DLA at higher rates.

Bear in mind, I rely heavily on my wife and children (all left school, I may add!!), to push me around for many hospital appointments, doctors appointments and my LifeLine 'red' button service. On top of all this I have had many adaptions done to the property over the years.

+ Driveway widened and extended (*DFG)

+ Bathroon & Toilet converted in to one room (*DFG)

+ Bath and shower fitted (*DFG)

+ Clos-o-mat fitted (Bidet / Toilet £3,100 supplied via DFG)

+ Service Contract for the Clos-o-mat is £15.00 per month.

+ Sliding doors fitted in many rooms (for easy access (*DFG)

+ Telecare 'Emergency Service' Installed (Adult Social Services)

+ Patient Care Plan (Setup by my GP)

+ Hospital Bed (with wired remote control for adjusting the bed - Setup via my GP asking District Nurses)

+ Electric Bath Lift Chair (highers or lowers me in to the bath) (*OT)

+ Electric Riser / Recliner Dual Motor Arm Chair (*OT applied for a charity grant)

*DFG = Disabled Funding Grant

*OT = Occupational Therapist - Contact Adult Social Services first).

Prescribed Medication Daily

Over 50 tablets taken daily, and through the night at 7 different times of the day.

Other Prescribed Medication

6 Botox Injections given every 10 weeks in Neurology Outpatients.

I am unable to feed myself, I have to be careful what I eat which is a real nuisance. I cannot dress myself, well I can to a fashion, but that takes me an hour on a good day.

My wife helps me most of the day, and at night times because I get muscle cramps and spasms.

It was at this point I decided to apply for the High Rate Care Component. It took awhile while everything was checked including medications, some of which are 'A' Class drugs. When I finally got a letter from the DWP that took my case on, I was shocked to read that he wished I had applied a long time ago, because he could only backdate the payment from the Application form.

There was many changes over the years, but I didn't think I was even disabled enough to even receive the High Rate Care.

One thing I have learnt is I am disabled and still become worse as the years pass by, what I have can only be controlled by medication, but never cured. I wish there was a cure for my condition, I would opt for it. I hate being on benefits, being physically unable to do virtually anything without help - mentally, I forget a lot of things, but that is down to all the medication I'm on.

But reading you OP, you should try for higher rates, pain is what many of us have to live with everyday of our lives.

If you want any help on anything let me know via PM - I have helped many people on these forums. I received many thanks in helping them winning their cases.

Regards,

Les.

6

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear about all of your issues but i'm glad you got the higher rate. However, Natalie is talking about PIP, it's totally different to DLA and criteria is also completely different. Reporting changes is extremely risky and Natalie doesn't have a great deal of evidence either and this will go against her. She's had the PIP award which wasn't that long ago. All these things make reporting changes this early after an award very risky indeed. People have reported changes for PIP and it's slapped them in the face and they've lost everything they had to begin with. I certainly wouldn't advice anyone to report worsening of condition. People claiming PIP are reviewed regular, mostly with repeated f2f assessments. PIP is a lot harder to get an award than DLA ever was.

Are you still claiming DLA? Or were you past the age criteria in 2013? If not then you'll soon be asked to apply for this yourself.

7

I agree Denise, I am slightly puzzled though that his DLA when changed to PIP was backdated, I didn't realise that was the case, when I applied for change of circumstances I went from low rate care on DLA to high on care and Mobility, should I have had mine backdated as well??

8

No you wouldn't have got backdated money because you were claiming DLA before. No one gets back dated money when transfering from DLA to PIP if the award is higher. This is because PIP is totally different in every way to DLA. Hope this helps.

9

I also think that Les is confused here because his whole post talks about DLA and change in circumstances and not PIP. Most than likely these changes happened years ago, which is why i stated in my poast to him that PIp isn't totally different to DLA.

10

No I thought not but stev says his was, mine only went from date of award letter not from application date, did I miss out as it took quite a while to sort from original phone application and paper work all in a week later, then I got offer letter about 11 weeks later but not back dated at all

11

This should have readd "PIP is totally different to DLA"

12

No it's impossible for him to have had backdated money when transfering from DLA to PIP because no one's money is backdated. Please have another read of his post because no where in there does it talk about PIP. Stev (Les) is talking about DLA and change of circumstances.

13

Hi stev it seems I misunderstood, I thought you had transferred to PIP from DLA your claim for change of circumstances was a while ago then or your over 64

14

It seems like it was a while ago because those staying on DLA because of age can't report changes anymore, if they do then it's Attendance Allowance they need to apply for. I'll explain a little more so you can understand better. If back in the day a person reported changes when they were recieving DLA and they then got a higher award there money would be back dated to when they reported those changes. It's exactly the same when reporting changes when someone is recieving PIP, if they got a higher award they would be back dated to when they fist reported those changes. Same at review for PIP. I got a higher mobility award last year and was back dated to the date on the review letter. With transfering from DLA to PIP because they're 2 completely different benefits there's no back dating for anyone if they recieve a higher award. Hope this helps more

15

Yea I do realise that as I also changed from DLA to PIP and looked into it at the time and was also told that there no back dating from one to the other, its obviously like you say a while ago and therefore not relevant to Natalies application to benefits change in circumstances, now it wouldn't have merited back dating

16

Hi Alexandria & Denise,

I think I went off topic on this thread, I read the word "DLA" in the initial post and assumed the rest was the same.

My sincere apologises to both of you for misleading information on "PIP" and "DLA". My fault for not reading it correctly...

I am one of the ones that has many ailments, hence all the medication I am taking per day. On some ocassions I tend to fall asleep even writing posts probably the Tramadol, which causes drowsiness amongst a few of the others.

Yes, I applied for a DLA change when my Occupational Therapist mentioned it, and my own GP. I cannot even remember which year it was, to be honest. I got a feeling it was between when I was diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and when I was dying from gangrene intestines in 2012. I cannot even remember when PIP was brought in.

At some point in the future I will be moved to PIP following my wife filling in the application form, then it will be either no 'f-2-f" or a "f-2-f", neither of which really bother me.

I have seen people locally lose their entire PIP Award because it was "zero'ed", others lost their vehicles. I am not surprised by some claimants losing their cars though. There was one local woman that walked her dog, and drove a Motability car - the same woman now carries bags of groceries home from the bus stop!

There's me wishing I could just stand for at least 30 seconds without being in extreme pain and out of breath.

Years ago I used to ride my bicycle to work, then do 5 days of 16 hour shifts, and still be healthy and fit at weekends to go to town, etc.

An accident that took just a split second changed my life completely, Ended up taking over 18 months to diagnose what was wrong with me, because I was the only 7th known case in the UK at the time.

The diagnosis was eventually Focal Segmental Dystonia, then progressively taking over my whole body, hence re-diagnosed to Generalised Dystonia. But the diagnosis does not just finish there it causes many other ailments on top. 

Regards,

Les.