A question I get asked all the time as someone with chronic health issues is ‘is it worth making a claim for PIP?’. Let me flip that question around – do YOU have a disability that impacts your daily life? If you nodded, then my answer is a resounding “YES”.
Let’s start by making something clear, PIP isn’t based on what conditions you have. It’s all about how much your disability impacts your day-to-day and how often it makes you have to do things differently to everyone else. With that in mind, I do have some tips for making the claims process run a little more smoothly in your applications:
What is PIP and how does claiming work?
Personal Independence Payment (PIP for short) is a benefit from the government for people with a long-term disability or mental health condition. I’m a resident in England, so the information I’m sharing is only relevant to this area.
The claims process is not a quick one. It begins with a phone call to the Department for Work and Pensions, in which the person applying can share some basic information and order their claim form to begin the process. If you are unable to speak for yourself, you can nominate someone to act on your behalf as an ‘appointee’ at this stage.
Once you’ve received your claim pack, you will then have around 28 days to complete it. Be aware, these packs are very large and will take a substantial amount of time to fill in. Each question asks you about an aspect of either your daily life or mobility – depending on how you answer, depends on how many points you’ll score throughout the claim.
When you’ve successfully filled in your claim pack as well as attached your evidence and submitted it – it will then need to be sent back to the DWP for assessment. Usually, you will receive a text to confirm they’ve received it after a few weeks.
From here, it can take anything from a few weeks to a few months to hear about the next stage, which usually will be a physical assessment. A trained medical professional will arrange to meet with you either in-person at an assessment centre or via telephone to discuss how you cope on a day-to-day basis. The questions they ask will be similar to the claims pack, however, they may be more in depth. They may also ask you to perform basic exercises, like lifting your arms above your head. If you can’t complete these, you can tell them.
After the assessment, you’ll usually receive the outcome of your claim within 6 weeks. This will list how many points you’ve scored and what payment rate you’re entitled to as a result. If you feel your award is unfair or inaccurate, you can request a mandatory reconsideration at this stage. This gives you a chance to explain why you think it’s wrong and will be assessed by an alternative assessor.
If you still don’t feel the outcome is correct, then you can start an appeal. The DWP will fund your claim being taken to court and assessed by an independent judge. Be aware, the waitlist is long and this can mean a 6+ month queue.
Tips I’ve learnt along the way for completing your claim pack:
Physical hard-copies
When you request your claim pack, the DWP will often offer you it either digitally or physically by post. I always suggest requesting the physical copy, as this allows you to keep a back-up and a record of what you’ve sent. I usually photocopy mine once I’ve filled it out, but you could also take a clear photo of each page. Don’t forget, when posting it back to the DWP, ensure you do so via a ‘tracked’ means, so that you can prove it arrived on time.
Struggle with handwriting your answers? Services like the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) can provide support. Alternatively, feel free to type your answers in a program like Microsoft Word and then print them to include with your claim pack.
Worried that you don’t have enough evidence?
The general rule with PIP is that it’s best to send copies of any recent medical paperwork you’ve got. Particularly useful pieces of information include anything that states your condition, letters from your consultant or evidence of your mobility issues. If, however, like the majority of people you find yourself on waiting lists with the hospital for certain things – don’t panic! Make sure you list any investigations that you’re having, along with referrals you’re waiting for and let PIP know these will be happening. They know there’s been delays due to COVID-19 and the NHS backlog, so just be honest. They’ll still factor this into your claim.
Keep a diary
Whether you have a lot of medical evidence to send along with your claim, or very little a great addition can be a daily diary. I recommend keeping a 14-day log of your health which you can send along with your claim.
It’s a good idea to consider your symptoms each day according to the descriptors in the claim pack and list them based off of this. The Citizens Advice Bureau have a great PDF which you can print off and fill in for this purpose.
Terminology
When explaining how your condition effects you, it is beneficial to specify both the frequency and regularity of the problems you face. For example, you may list how many days of each week you typically struggle with a certain symptom (i.e. ‘I get migraines regularly. These effect me around 4 out of 7 days of each week). I can also be helpful to the assessor if you specify why you can’t do something (i.e. ‘I cannot cook for myself consistently, as I am not reliable in my hand strength and will often drop things’). Two useful words to keep in mind are ‘consistency’ and ‘reliability’.
Talk about your worst day
This can be a tricky one to talk about, so I want to be clear that I’m not encouraging you to lie. However, many of the questions in your claim form will ask you about what would happen if you did things the ‘usual’ way. As a disabled person, we frequently adapt the way we do things, have carers or avoid certain tasks altogether. It’s important to think about what WOULD happen if you forced yourself to perform something the way others do, and what the outcome would be. Typically, it would look like your worst day, with your symptoms becoming totally unmanaged.
Ever measured how far you can walk in bus lengths!?
Well, now you have. PIP love to ask you how far you can walk, according to the lengths of buses. Remember, this question is based not on how far you could physically walk if you absolutely HAD to, but also:
– How far could you walk before you started to feel pain?
– How far could you walk before falling?
– Would you be able to do so consistently?
– How long would you have to rest afterwards before doing it again?
– Would you need an aid to do so?
Do you have other disability help?
You may be entitled to other assistance, like a disabled person’s bus pass, railcard or blue badge even without receiving PIP. It’s good to note if you do receive any of these other forms of help, as it shows PIP that other professionals have noted that you need assistance and can help them to come to their decision.
By the time I’ve written all my answers, added in my extra information, photocopied my medical paperwork and included additional evidence, I don’t think I’ve ever sent a PIP claim that’s less than 70 pages long. Don’t worry about sending too much, it’s best to be over-prepared.
Tips I’ve learnt for your assessment
It doesn’t have to be in-person
Although the DWP usually automatically invites you to attend in-person, if it’s too much for you they can usually change it to a remote appointment. There are many reasons why you may find it more comfortable remotely, such as because you cannot physically attend the assessment location, due to anxiety or because you are immuno-suppressed. Don’t be afraid to explain that to them.
Assessment lengths can vary
I’ve heard of some being less than an hour long, with others being up to 4 hours long. This seems to depend on the assessor and the complexity of your issues. Make sure you have a drink, a snack and any regular medication with you. You can ask for a rest break if you need it. The assessor can always leave the room or call you back a few moments later. They do however have to complete the assessment all on one day, so ensure you’re prepared for this.
They might ask abstract questions
Although the assessor is meant to stay on task, on occasion they will ask a totally out-of-the-blue question. If you do not feel that the question bares relevance to your claim, you are entitled to ask how it relates. If it doesn’t, then it’s down to your discretion as to whether you answer it – there have definitely been instances where I have declined, and it hasn’t been a major issue.
It’s common for their report to be far from reality
At the end of your assessment, when the decision is made on your claim outcome, you’ll usually receive a report. It’s not unusual for this report to state inaccuracies, so don’t be surprised by this. Common inaccuracies include stating you said things which you didn’t, recalling that an assessor saw you physically perform an activity which either you didn’t or it would have been impossible for them to see and on occasion, omitting information altogether.
Don’t get riled by these, instead note each point down and why they’re inaccurate, and then use this in your mandatory reconsideration letter.
Summing it all up
Applying for PIP is a long process, requiring a significant amount of energy. The process isn’t straightforward, however, the outcome of winning your claim can be life changing for those with disabilities. The rate of how much PIP will pay changes all the time, but at the lower level it’s around £350 per month and at the higher rate it’s around £650 per month.
Once you claim PIP, this opens the door to a few other discounts and entitlements too which I’ve talked about in this post.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t claim because you’re ‘not severe enough’. PIP is based on your daily needs, not what labels you’ve got.
Any questions? Let me know in the comments.
