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PIP Preparing food, Managing Treatments, Communicating and Mixing with others

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8 months 1 week ago #286823 by Casdix
Daughter has fibromyalgia and Hypermobility as well as autism, anxiety and depression.
Switched from DLA to PIP due to change of circumstances as previous award for autism and anxiety only.
Scored 10 for daily living and 20 for mobility.
Preparing food:
We said at F2F assessment and on form that she only cooks/prepares food on average 2 days out of 7. She is in pain and sleeps a lot most days. If I didn’t cook for her she would eat crisps or go hungry.
She has only scored 2 points for needs prompting.
Managing treatments:
She takes medication for pain and depression. She takes them herself but I have to help when dosages are adjusted. Also I have to keep a check on her supplies as she can’t work out when they will run out.
She scored 0 points.
Communicating:
I accompany her to all appointments as she can’t remember things and gets muddled. I accompanied her to her F2F and answered for her on occasion and rephrased questions she was struggling to understand. She scored 0 points. Assessor said she communicated well. Decision maker said she has a job in a school so must be able to communicate, but she’s been off work since March and when she was there had a risk assessment detailing things like queuing her in when giving instructions etc. we supplied this with original application.
Mixing with others:
She doesn’t engage with others without support from me or her fiancée of 10 yrs.
she scored 2 points for needs prompting.
MR was unsuccessful, so plan is to request a copy of assessment and apply to tribunal. Just want to check I’ve not misunderstood the descriptors.
Thank you

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8 months 1 week ago #286851 by BIS
Hi Casdix

You definitely want to get hold of the assessment report (PA4). You were always going to be at a disadvantage if you put in for a Mandatory Reconsideration and hadn't seen the report.

Preparing food - yes, fight them on this.

You say that she manages the medication except for when the dosages are adjusted. Does that happen very often? It would have to happen for the majority of the time or she won't score for it - they will assume that she can manage it. If she scores here it is a maximum of 1 point.

Communicating - You say that your daughter has been off sick since March - but that won't be enough for them to change their mind on her ability to communicate.. You will need to emphasise the difficulties she had at work, what they were, and what caused them (eg her autism, depression and anxiety). You might have already done this - but otherwise, even at appeal they will focus on the fact that she has a job.

Mixing with others - Do make sure that you have read the Guide to PIP claims and reviews for this question and Communicating (above) - so that you are giving the strongest answers you can for the two of them as there are clearly a lot of issues from her conditions/s that will impact her. Look closely at the report when you get it - to see why the assessor thought she could manage this.

At least at an appeal, you will have experts who have more understanding of your daughter's condition. Come back if you have any further questions on the process. Look at the Guide to PIP appeals for advice.

BIS

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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8 months 1 week ago #286862 by Gordon
C

Just to add to BIS's detailed reply.

I hope you will understand that I am playing "Devil's Advocate" on this.

The general tone of your post is that your daughter doesn't do the activities in question, rather than she cannot do them.

Obviously, what was written on the claim form may be different but I would go back over her testimony to see if you can be more specific as to the difficulties she has with the activities.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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