Personal Independence Payment is the replacement for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) that comes with a £1.5 billion per year savings target according to the official Government position. No wonder so many good cases are being refused!
To get started you can use self-help resources available on this website in combination with the huge amount of other information available on-line from the likes of Citizens Advice and Disability Rights UK. A really useful website is PIPinfo.
It's helpful to work out how your needs relate to the descriptors: PIP table of activities, descriptors and points - remember you need a minimum of 8 points on either the daily living activities or the mobility activities to get any money.
The main area the DWP gets PIP decisions wrong is that they make snap judgements based on face-to-face assessments. The PIP Regulations require decision-makers to assess whether you can carry out the activities safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a timely manner. So deciding your PIP claim on whether you made it from a car to the assessment room is an irrelevent test. As is deciding whether you can engage with other people face-to-face or communicate on the basis of whether you could do it on a one-off basis with an assessor. The decision maker should consider what applies most of the time.
Here is the official PIP guidance from the DWP: PIP - DWP Guidance.
Any face-to-face PIP assessment you may have should be recorded if your request this, or you can record it yourself. Face-to-face "consultations" are not the only way PIP claims can be decided. Paper-based assessments are available if a face-to-face consultation is unsuitable for you. Please see the benefits discrimination section of this website for more information.
Our Director helped deliver a massively positive change in PIP case-law in his previous job. This means the definition of "safely" has become much more helpful. Now it's the severity of the consequences if help isn't in place that is critical. This is the internal briefing the DWP sent round to staff after we won the case: DWP PIP Memo - The Meaning of "Safely". And here is what the DWP is doing about upgrading existing claims: personal-independence-payment-pip assessment - guidance - updated.
It is now possible to lodge your appeal online here.
If you prefer to use the official form then it's here: Social security appeals form.
You can also appeal by letter as long as you include all the information the form asks for.
We offer free initial advice and a case assessment at any stage of the PIP process.
If you get in touch we'll ask you questions about your claim. We may ask you for papers about your case. We will then let you know what we think needs doing and what we are offering to do for you. All this is free.
If you think we can help you win your case we are likely to offer you a no win no fee agreement. If you sign you are agreeing to pay me 30% of any arrears in full and final payment for our services. If we lose you pay nothing whatsoever. If you wish to go somewhere else instead of signing a no win no fee agreement with us you can of course do so. You can still return if you change your mind.