Pip stopped before current claim ends

Claire

If you have received no award and your PIP claim has been closed then you only have two ways forward; you can either challenge the Decision not to award or make a completely new claim for PIP.

If you want to challenge the Decision then the first stage is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process and template letters that you can use to make the request with.

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

You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report if you have not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.

Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;

"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"

than their opinions

"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.

You mention that you have problems sitting and standing, PIP does not test this directly, so you would need to show that these problems to the activities that PIP does test, for example; this may make it more difficult for you get dressed or undressed or perhaps it affects your ability to wash.

For the effects of your chemotherapy to be considered there would need to be a reasonable expectation that you they would still be suffering from those effects (undiminished), for nine months from the date of that you applied for PIP, if this was not considered reasonable, then the effects may not have been included in the review.

Gordon

Claire

You can take new evidence on the day, but usually not more than a page, if you do make 5 copies of it and hand them to the Clerk of the Court as soon as you arrive.

Just to make you aware, the Tribunal can only consider your limitations as they were when you were assessed, so you need to distinguish between how you are now and how you were then.

The diagnosis should not be an issue as it is the effects of the condition that should be looked at rather than the condition itself.

Good luck

Gordon