PIP Decision

Jodie

There is always a risk when challenging a Decision as those looking at your award can make any Decision that was available to the original DWP Decision Maker, that said, it does not happen often, but you should look at your Daily Living award to make sure that it is secure before proceeding.

Another factor to look at is whether you can score the extra points you need for a Mobility award, your Decision Notice should detail what points you scored if any. Points from both the Going Out and Moving Around Descriptors count towards a Mobility award, I would recommend that you mark yourself harshly. If you do not think you can bridge the gap, then you should think very carefully before challenging the current Decision.

Have a look at our PIP Claim guides for details of the mobility Descriptors and our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process involved in challenging a Decision. See

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip

Whilst there are similarities between the PIP Moving Around Descriptor and the ESA Mobility Descriptor there are also considerable differences, so as a general comment a failed PIP mobility test will count against you in regard to ESA, however, this presumes that the PIP assessment report is used in the first place and this is mostly certainly not the case, also we have also seen one awarded and not the other, so it can be down to the assessor on the day.

If you have any questions on the above then please reply to this post and we will do our best to help. If you can continue to post on your other topic in regard to your ESA claim that will help us not to confuse the advice that we give.

Gordon

Jodie

I just want to make sure that your fully understand the implications in regard to this particular Descriptor! I want to stress that I am not trying to "push" you in any direction, just trying to make sure you are fully informed

As you can see from the document our view of the way these Descriptors should operate is at odds with current guidance issued by the DWP. We have had a significant number of members marked down to 4 points when they expect to score higher, to date I am not aware of anybody who has successfully convinced a Decision Maker that their view is flawed.

There have been a limited number of PIP appeals to date and the change in the guidance is still relatively new so we are currently unable to give a view of how PIP Tribunals are viewing this approach and ultimately it may require an appeal to the Upper Tier Tribunal before it is resolved.

So, I think it likely that any challenge in this area will require you to go to appeal if you are to have any chance of a revised Decision, you should factor this into your considerations.

Gordon