PIP - Appeal

Merc

Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

The first thing you need to understand is that the criteria for a PIP Enhanced award for Mobility is significantly stricter that for DLA HRM, DLA typically looks at a distance of 50m for PIP it is only 20m, I am assuming that you do not expect to score points for the Going Out Descriptor, if you do then it would increase the distance you can walk.

Did you score any points at all? If you did then the issue will be showing that the distance you can walk is less than suggested, if you did not score any points then you may need to show that it is restricted in the first place.

Any distance you can walk must be done reliably, this means

• Safely – in a fashion that is unlikely to cause harm to themselves or to another person.
• To a necessary and appropriate standard – given the nature of the activity.
• Repeatedly – as often as is reasonably required.
• In a timely manner – in a reasonable time period.

So if you have severe discomfort, this term is not defined in the PIP legislation but is used in the DWP documentation as a hangover from DLA, then only the distance you can walk without severe discomfort.

If you are prone to stumbling or falling when walking and this cannot be prevented by an aid or appliance then you only the distance you can walk without this happening should be considered.

If you can walk a distance but then cannot repeat the distance within a reasonable period of time then you should only be considered to be able to walk a distance that you can repeat.

If it takes you more than twice time as the slowest that an able person could walk then you should not considered as able to walk that distance.

Any walking that you do in connection with your work will be taken in to account, for example I assume you drive to work, how far do you park your car to where you work? How much walking would you reasonably do as part of your job, how far are the toilets from the place where you normally work?

Your job in regard to the appeal is to show that you meet the criteria for an Enhanced award, you can do this by making a submission in writing to the Tribunal explaining why you think this is the case, this can include a re-working of anything you have previously submitted and new information and evidence, providing it is still relevant to the date of the Decision you are appealing, any change since then will not be considered by the panel.

Have a look at our PIP Claim guide for more details of the criteria, there is also a document in our DLA section that should still be relevant to PIP that covers explaining the distance you can walk. See

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

and

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/dla/#dlaappeals

you might also want to have a look at the following

Disability Rights UK Factsheet - Appeals and reconsiderations

Preparing for a Tribunal

Good practice for those appealing

If you have any specific questions then please reply to this post and we will do our best to help.

Gordon