I have provided some links below that might be of help and if you need help with the appeal form then I suggest getting help from any one of the nearest offices of the Citizens Advice Bureau office (see https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ab...advice/advice/), local council benefits advice unit or community law centre since getting help from one of the above effectively doubles the appeal success rate.

Links:

http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/ap...econsideration

http://www.dls.org.uk/Pages/Advice/F...0Decisions.pdf

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...XFCmDBk5oeV_sw

Good luck!

Following the post directly above, I now have links that relate to documents regarding appealing on both physical and mental health grounds:

http://www.lampdirect.org.uk/sites/d...%20ESA2012.pdf (mental health)

http://wikisend.com/download/519246/...-factsheet.pdf (physical health)

I am filling out my PiP form right now and doing a diary to enclose.
How many days would you do this for to show how much things are needing help for?
I was considering 5 days, but should I lengthen it to 7?

I would suggest taking some time to have a look through the advice and guides here: https://www.google.co.uk/#q=help+filling+in+pip+form

If it were me in such a situation, I'd be inclined to err on the side of caution (a bit more like a worst case scenario) but at the same time ensure that any claim is entirely defensible and realistic and can be backed up with real life examples of the adverse effect of the illness. I hope that helps although I appreciate others might differ in the advice that is offered.

I think you should be cautious about doing a diary. Anything that doesn't apply for more than 50% of the time won't count and won't get you any points. People often trip themselves up with diaries.

The most important thing to make clear is anything you can't do safely, repeatedly, to a reasonable standard and in a reasonable timescale counts as not being able to do it. You can't rely on decision makers working this out for themselves, so need to make that clear on the form.

Ok, I shall not include a diary. I thought it might aid me, rather than hinder. Thank you

Why not seek professional help to fill the form out, from places like your local council who employ welfare right workers who help to fill these kind of forms out or the CAB

because they gave me 3 weeks before Christmas to sort it, and now I am down to 1 week after doing this diary.
Plus there is no help around here anymore thanks to cutbacks. I had to fill my other PiP form in alone as well.

I suggest looking at the assorted PIP guides suggested in this thread and online as a final check though to make sure that you have made the best possible case for yourself.

Best advice I can give
get as much medical supporting evidence as possible.
Its just like ESA that's why there's been so many horror stories of people with serious medical problems being told they don't qualify for anything.

Its not what the illness is but how the illness affects you and how that ties in with the descriptors they now use. Getting as much medical evidence to support how the condition affects you is really important. Also don't be afraid to go into as much personal detail as possible (even if this is embarrassing)

It looks like i got my ESA not sure what group i'm in yet though as just discovered over a thousand pounds in my bank from dwp.

Are you already getting PIP? If it's a PIP review, you really need to look back at what descriptors they awarded you points for last time, and make sure you give full info on the questions about those descriptors.

That's good news. When did you start getting ESA? The extra amount will be backdated to 13 weeks (3 months) after your claim started.

If you divide the amount you got by the number of weeks the extra will have been backdated for, you should be able to work out if the extra is £29.05pw (work-related activity component) or £36.20pw (support group component).

If it comes to £51.95pw, it's support group plus the enhanced disability premium, which everyone on income-related ESA should get if they're in the support group.

I started getting it in March i think it works out at £51 ish p/w.

Yes it is a review.
Things have not changed regarding their award but I fit more of the descriptors now so technically I "should" get enhanced for both. But what I see as should and what the dwp does is another matter.
I do have enough evidence to give in so I am crossing anything in this clapped out body of mine that will cross right now

Just a update i recieved my descision letter yesterday, i have been put into the support group.

I went for an assessment earlier this year and I was convinced I would be told Iw as fit for work. A couple of weeks after my assessment I discovered £3,600 in my account and then I was told I was in the support group so I now receive £232 a fortnight, which is a great help and I'm so relieved. I know many people struggle with being assessed correctly, especially for an illness that isn't visible.

Well believe you and me you are a very rare case. These assessment centres are a lying bunch of incompetent F******s! They have targets and bonuses to reach - so how can the assessment every be fair.
My assessment was a work of fiction. The so called very rude and harsh foreign speaking doctor should have been arrested for fraud, she was a disgrace to her profession - even smirking at me. She lied on nearly every single descriptor!
You have to virtually crawl into the assessment centre whilst shitting and pissing yourself to gain a few points on one of the descriptors. How this organisation is legally allowed to carry on is beyond me!
I scored absolute zero on every single lie they told.
I am now have a tribunal lodged and have enough truthful evidence to feel that justice will be done.

Somewhat of an exaggeration
However if you have sufficient relevant and current evidence you should have no problem
Letters from consultants, GPs, OTs, physios, psychiatrists, CPNs, counsellors are all vital

As miffed as I was about scoring zero points at my assessment (I later won the tribunal), I am at least very grateful to have been assessed by a polite and friendly doctor and that the other centre staff were pleasant too.

I recently had to fill in another PIP form even though they said I'd get it until 2016. I basically put everything is the same and it's nothing I'll ever be able to change. So looks like I'll get called in.

I have to say, I'm inclined to agree.

Some appeals are almost a formality: eg, where the assessor has come to the conclusion that because someone can walk 60' from the entrance to the waiting room, sit there, then walk 30' to the assessment room, they are therefore able to walk 200 metres reliably, repeatedly etc. They are a shoo-in, because the test applied cannot prove that the standard has been met. (Sadly, the DWP don't realise this and almost invariably uphold the original decision at mandatory reconsideration, thus wasting everyone's time and money and creating loads of unnecessary distress and hardship.)

I've been present when someone has clearly shown very limited movement in their knee, only for the assessor to claim that they had full range of movement, when someone's depression has been dismissed as "situational" because he was homeless (by a physiotherapist, with no training in mental health) and when it was assumed that a client could understand complex written information because he was able to read aloud a recipe. Ffs, I could read aloud Wittgenstein in German, but I don't understand it in any language!

Me and my colleagues have now won 7 appeals where clients were assessed by the same "healthcare professional", whose medical training was as a paramedic. He assured one client that her heart problem would be fully resolved by an operation she was waiting for (it wasn't) and told another that anxiety could not prevent someone going out alone, and didn't award any points.

I have the utmost respect for paramedics, who do a fantastic job and have huge responsibility as they have to make basic diagnoses and administer meds without a doctor's guidance. However, they are not trained to predict accurately surgical outcomes or skilled in assessing the impact of crippling mental health problems.

Quote:
Originally Posted by toofast
Well believe you and me you are a very rare case. These assessment centres are a lying bunch of incompetent F******s! They have targets and bonuses to reach - so how can the assessment every be fair.
My assessment was a work of fiction. The so called very rude and harsh foreign speaking doctor should have been arrested for fraud, she was a disgrace to her profession - even smirking at me. She lied on nearly every single descriptor!
You have to virtually crawl into the assessment centre whilst shitting and pissing yourself to gain a few points on one of the descriptors. How this organisation is legally allowed to carry on is beyond me!
I scored absolute zero on every single lie they told.
I am now have a tribunal lodged and have enough truthful evidence to feel that justice will be done.
Somewhat of an exaggeration
However if you have sufficient relevant and current evidence you should have no problem
Letters from consultants, GPs, OTs, physios, psychiatrists, CPNs, counsellors are all vital



-------------------------------------


I can categorically tell you that my experience of those so called medical assessment centres was in no way, shape or form an exaggeration.
It was jaw dropping appalling!
It seems Maximus employ quite a few foreign 'doctors' - for what ever reason, only one can guess.
The doctor who saw me was Romanian, I had difficulty understanding her - she was utterly rude and acerbic throughout the interrogation. Even when I told her that I could not perform something this was met with 'oh come on!', seriously.
She noted in her report that I have difficulty rising from a chair, yet she later reported that I could squat unaided to my knees!!!

Round our way they are still approving some PIP applications without an assessment where there is good supporting evidence. I don't know if they'll do it with review cases though.

I think the whole review thing sticks, personally. It's crazy to make an award for a fixed period, but then look at it again halfway through.

It's the assessments that are a disgrace. They are not impartial but orchestrated to take people who are in need of ESA and PIP off these vital support payments, leaving them with the the option to starve, take their own lifes, or claim JSA!

Being a reasonably intelligent man and having just been through the JSA process, I can state that it is horridly confusing - so many forms, so many procedures, so many terms etc, and it's so incredibly easy to be sanctioned for making a genuine error.

Job Coaches will purposely make UJM snooping sound mandatory when it's not, often putting the fear of sanctions into the loop just to add to the 'fear' and confusion. They (Job Coaches) will change sign-on times every fortnight - why? Again to sanction.
Fortunately I will be signing off very shortly. But i really do pity those you are found fit for work and no other option than to claim JSA.

The best advice I can give you is see your local Welfare Rights outlet, they are absolutely excellent!

I am old enough to remember the days then Job Centre staff were actually really proactive in finding people work. You would walk into a high street JC, take a look at the board of jobs and if none were suitable then you could approach a nice member of staff who would see what has come in on that day. They would sit by you whilst they let you use the phone to arrange for an interview....happy days.

Even as little as 5-6 years ago, the staff were reasonably helpful and there wasn't a them and us attitude that there now is in the job centres.

Ian Duncan Smith has a lot to answer for.