MILLIONS with long-term health conditions or disabilities can get support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
The payments can be worth up to £156.90 a week, or over £8,000 across an entire year, so it’s worth seeing if your eligible.
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But there are some scenarios where your application could be dismissed.
You can make a new PIP claim by calling the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 0800 917 2222.
This is the Government department that handles benefit payments.
After the initial contact with the DWP, you’ll be sent a form to fill in and return, after which you might be invited for an assessment via a letter.
Once you’ve carried out an assessment, if needed, you will be sent a letter telling you if your claim has been successful.
Thomas Hamilton-Shaw, policy manager at disability equality charity Scope, said: “Life costs much more if you’re disabled, and Personal Independence Payments are meant to help address these costs.
“But disabled people have to endure difficult and stressful assessments, which get it wrong far too often.”
Here, we explain why your PIP application might be dismissed and explain how you can appeal.
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Not meeting the deadline for your claim
When you receive your form, you have one month to complete it, Scope says.
If you need more time, you can call the DWP and ask for an extension.
If you don’t, you risk your application being dismissed.
The form has questions about your care and mobility needs, including preparing and eating food, dressing and undressed and using the toilet.
PIP is assessed on how your conditions affects you day to day.
You can get help filling in your PIP form from charities like Citizens Advice.
Not providing enough evidence
The more information you can give the DWP the better, as it will better support your claim.
Scope say how you present the information is also important and providing a lot of evidence can help.
You need evidence that shows how your condition affects you, and if you don’t provide this, it is unlikely that your application will be successful.
Scope says its better to focus on day-to-day experiences, rather than a medical diagnosis.
This can include:
- Letters from a health professional
- A diary you have written
How to appeal a PIP decision
If you think a PIP decision was wrong, you can challenge it.
Anyone can challenge a decision about benefits this way, but it can take time.
If your application has been turned down, or you don’t think you’ve been offered enough cash, you can appeal the decision.
You first need to ask for a “mandatory reconsideration notice”.
This is where the DWP looks at the decision again.
If you are still unhappy with this outcome, you can then appeal to an independent tribunal.
You must send your appeal form in within one month of the date shown on the mandatory reconsideration notice.
Be warned that it usually takes up to six months for an appeal to be heard by the tribunal.
Before it gets to the tribunal, the DWP can make a revision to the original claim.
If you’re unhappy with the decision you get from the tribunal, you may be able to get the decision cancelled – known as “set aside”. You’ll be told how to do this at the time.
You may also be able to appeal to the Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) if you think the tribunal wasn’t able to give you proper reasons for its decision, or back up the decision with facts, or if it failed to apply the law properly.
You can get advice and support for appealing a decision for free from organisations like Citizens Advice and Benefits and Work.
What is PIP?
PIP is a benefit given to people suffering from a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.
This condition might make it hard for you to carry out certain everyday tasks or get around.
You can get the benefit even if you’re working, have savings or are getting most other benefits.
There are two parts to PIP – the daily living part and the mobility part.
You might be entitled to the daily living part of PIP if you need help with:
- eating, drinking or preparing food
- washing, bathing and using the toilet
- dressing and undressing
- reading and communicating
- managing your medicines or treatments
- making decisions about money
- socialising and being around other people
You might be entitled to the mobility part if you need help with:
- working out a route and following it
- physically moving around
- leaving your home
There are two different PIP rates for each part.
The lower weekly rate for the daily living part is £61.85 and the higher weekly rate is £92.40.
The lower weekly rate for the mobility part is £24.45 and the higher weekly rate is £64.50.
You can receive both parts at the same time.
Who is eligible?
PIP is available to people aged 16 or over but not yet at the state pension age.
You must have lived in England or Wales for at least two of the last three years, and be in one of these countries when you apply.
The process is different in Northern Ireland, and there are additional rules if you live abroad or if you’re not a British citizen.
In Scotland you will need to apply for Adult Disability Payment (ADP) instead.
Crucially, you must also have a health condition or disability where you either have had difficulties with daily living or getting around (or both) for three months, and you expect these difficulties to continue for at least nine months (unless you’re terminally ill with less than six months to live).
You can claim PIP at the same time as other benefits, except the armed forces independence payment.
If you receive constant attendance allowance you will receive less of the daily living part of PIP.
If you get war pensioners‘ mobility supplement you will not get the mobility part of PIP.
Here, we explain what happens during a PIP assessment.
Plus, we explain four reasons why your PIP payments could be stopped – including going to prison and into hospital.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected]
