Hi Abigail3434, I had a problem with the DWP payment setup when I was awarded ESA and PIP. I got in touch directly with my MP at their main office locally. The Welfare Rights Worker was able to phone the relevant department and solve my problem, more or less instantly. (No faffing-about listening to Vivaldi) RESOLVING PROBLEMS LIKE YOURS are the sort of thing your MP is there for. (Just in case they need reminding) Good luck

Hi Nystagmite, Yes, I went to my tribunal with a new welfare rights officer. They've been helping me in filling in the documentation.

I've gone through the first level appeal for PIP at Tribunal (twice - the first tribunal was disallowed for legal reasons). On receiving the latest tribunal's refusal, I got home and immediately reapplied for PIP. I'm honestly beginning to have doubts as to whether it's worth it - I feel my one piece of supportive evidence has been turned against me. My long-term condition involves chronic heart failure and type-2 diabetes. I would maintain that my condition has not improved and in some areas has certainly got worse. The tribunal said that my condition was insufficient to qualify for either the daily-living or the mobility components of PIP. In the course of the tribunal, I admitted telling my doctor (of nearly 30 years) that I was unable to walk for long, before stopping to catch my breath. The interpretation of this was that I had put words into my doctor's mouth. I can't see how I can have led my doctor in the course of an everyday examination. When you see your doctor, it's reasonable and expected that you would tell him what's wrong, and he would then do what he could to heal you. My PIP medical was a year ago. Getting to this point has meant enduring a lot of stress and a large drop in income. My heart-rate has never slowed, meaning I have been even more exhausted than usual. I'm bowled over by the negative outcome.

I can only tell about what I have experienced and from chatter with disabled friends around the UK, some of whom are still touchy about the whole proceding. From feedback from friends, and the postings on the few UK-based websites around the internet, people and their carers are left with a very bad taste in their mouths. As far as I know, everybody is being seen, even those who were assured years ago that they would be on benefit for life. Friends who can be plainly seen to be disabled seem to have their application for PIP accepted, while those whose disability is less apparent seem to encounter problems . The governments own website say that, on appeal to tribunal, about 66% of appeal are successful, (though friends suggest the amounts paid to these individuals is less). I hope this success is because people everywhere are better informed that they have been in the past. That they're more likely to engage the services of experienced welfare rights workers or the Citizen's Advice Centres, who have been able to identify and match-up conditions to more stringent points-based criteria set by the government. Also through the use of supportive and relevant evidence from consultants; GPs; practice nurses; social workers and specialists

Hi dillon21. I had my medical last June (almost a year ago). I failed to score enough points at the medical with a group called SALUS here in Glasgow. My PIP benefits stopped at the end of July. Over that period: I've had the medical (this took 3 weeks to arrange) Gone through the Mandatory Consideration (this took 4 weeks) Gone through the first level tribunal (this took about 3 months to finally get a date for the panel) Because the judge ignored my GPs report, I've been granted another tribunal hearing. The previous decision having been set-aside. I now have a new date for early May Reports from friends across the UK about how long this process takes agree with my own experience (for both PIP and ESA). I conclude that the entire system is somewhat backlogged, with too many people awaiting their medicals, and appealing the results of these decisions. Hope my own experience can be of some use to you.

I failed the PIP medical (by a mere few points). I'd gone through the Mandatory Reconsideration and had posted the paperwork to lodge an appeal before the imposed deadline. On chasing this up, I found that the appeal paperwork had not been received by the tribunal. Thankfully, I had help from a welfare rights worker at my local housing association, who contacted the tribunal and managed to fax them a copy of said paperwork. It's really lucky that I chased this up. They will now process my application and get back to me with a date (hopefully not too far into the future). Please, please, please keep on top of your paperwork. I'm sure it's very rare for important letters to disappear in the post, but it does happen. If you have someone to help you, ask them to confirm that everything is proceeding as expected. If I hadn't asked my welfare rights worker if they'd received any news, I'd be none the wiser and my appeal would be going nowhere.

As I understand it, if you have over £6,000 in savings, the DWP will taper the benefits you receive down to zero. If your savings exceed £16,000, all benefits would stop entirely, and you'd be expected to live on the interest accrued. (This info is more than 4 years old, but I don't think it has ever been updated in light of the pitiful interest rates offered by banks). As you say, you have no other savings, so this gifted amount falls safely below the lower threshold amount where you would be compelled to inform the DWP. Hope this helps.

I would agree wholeheartedly with this advice. When I went through my appeal against the 'fit for work' decision, I had used legal aid to get medical evidence from my doctor and consultants, and had engaged the help of a Welfare Rights Officer (WRO) at my local housing association. I won both my ESA and PIP appeals. In addition to claiming the correct rate of ESA and PIP, my benefits were backdated. My WRO further suggested a number of benefit I could legitimately claim, these were all backdated to 2013.

As I understand it, having savings of £6,000 or above, is the point at which your collective-benefits start being tapered-down towards zero by the DWP. As stated by estellyn, your benefit is reduced by £1 for every £250 (or part thereof) above this amount. If you have savings exceeding £16,000, any benefit claim would be rejected. This is the point at which you would be expected to live off your own savings. If you have made any major-spends over the past year, I can only think that would be what the DWP are fishing for here. Beyond the necessities of life - food, bills, transport etc, I find that I spend money on very minor items on an "as and when" basis. Since these items generally cost less than a tenner, I don't keep trivial details on every last penny. If the DWP press you to provide this level of detail, tell them they're being unreasonable.

I waited 14 months for my PIP medical. I had a photocopy of my doctor's note (which the DWP had lost) and a list of my 12 meds listed on the back of an envelope - the latter was mostly for my own reference. The nurse took the photocopied doctor's note but refused to take the envelope because it didn't have my name and NINO on it.

I stay in Glasgow and have a Council Tax bill for £243. I receive both ESA and PIP While I can't remember our local council paying my council tax bill, my rent on a LHA house has gone to zero (though until about 2012, I paid less than £10 pcm).

Whether to detect a mental or physical condition, I've always held that the HCP-led medical assessments are woefully inadequate, and is dependent on the medical-experience of said HCP. Everybody presented for the medical, has a unique medical condition. Unfortunately, we are tested under the flawed methodology that requires that everybody fits into the tight-criteria of a static computer-based questionaire, This is as opposed to a personalised, and necessarily more-involved medical which takes account of individual symptoms. It's little wonder that so many are found 'fit for work'. The testing-metrics are skewed to deliver the opinion the DWP require - to find as many as possible fit for work. Personally, I have chronic heart failure. For my consultant to detect this requires fairly advanced technology in addition to his own skills, knowledge and experience. I've been prescribed strong medicines to suppress my symptoms. Whatever data is gained by (say) a psychiatric-nurse, who has no cardiac-nursing experience, must produce information that is extremely limited. Time will tell if Maximus will improve upon the performance and accuracy of ATOS in conducting the medical.

All fun aside, the DWP are not supposed to discriminate against anyone based on their race, creed or colour. In an employment situation, we can add age and sexual preference. Maybe you could ask this woman to print out a hard-copy of the DWPs equality documentation, and you could offer to go through this with her.

Hi bydand, Do you have a welfare rights worker? Some Local Housing Associations directly employ Welfare Rights Workers, or they can be found through the Citizen's Advice Bureau (CAB) or your local social work department. They may be able to successfully plead for more time for you to structure a strong case. I have recently succeeded in gaining both ESA and PIP , though I was forced to take both to appeal. My own experience with the CAB was poor because there seemed little experience with appeals. They did however tell of legal-aid funding to gather medical evidence. I feel certain that my success at appeal was squarely due to the medical evidence provided by my doctor and consultant. If you speak to your doctors before they write the medical report's covering letter, be sure to ask them to include how the stresses and strains of returning to work would affect your medical condition in the immediate, short and long-term.

I would insist that whatever you do choose to wear, it MUST include fairy-lights and tinsel. You can discretely plug yourself into a free wall-socket when you are signing on. This will be sure to impress. Be sure to carry a few pine-fresh car-fresheners to exude that sense of clean, snowy fjord air.

Hi Bobfish7271, I'm not an expert, but I've gone through the appeal process. It seems the ATOS medical is no longer about your physical or mental abilities. The medical now seeks to determine WHAT YOU CAN DO and HOW YOU'D COPE in a working environment. ESA seemingly has a very different focus on your medical condition from that of IB. I believe they operate on the assumption that everybody can do some thing in the workplace. I can only say that you need to get an appeal underway ASAP. If you're lucky enough to have one, go to the citizen's advice bureau (CAB) and ask for help in lodging an appeal against the DWP's decision that you are "fit for work". You also need to get in touch with the DWP and request a mandatory reconsideration within a month of their decision that you are "fit for work". The DWP have added the 'mandatory reconsideration' recently as a step, to allow them to look-again at the decision. Some see this as a delaying tactic, or a wicked flurry of red-tape to dissuade appeals. The mandatory reconsideration occurs in-house; it can theoretically take as much time as they fancy, I think the norm is 6-8 weeks. No ESA benefits are payable during this period, so you may be required to sign-on for JSA to get any money to live on. You can submit new medical evidence during the period of the mandatory reconsideration and it will be considered by the decision maker. You may have a need to get a lawyer to gather medical evidence. Medical report from specialist normally involves a fee. If you're unemployed or in a low-income household, I think you'll qualify for legal-aid. Your medical evidence will establish the extent of your injury, expected healing time, etc. Your feelings of anxiety and depression and the associated delays will also be important in determining your fitness for work at the time of the medical. Also, the fact that you are awaiting further treatment. It may be in your interest to find a welfare rights office (possibly at your local housing association or social work department), if there is none at your local CAB. I hope my rambling answer helps. Best wishes

Thanks Reallymadwoman and nexxusone for your replies. I was told of the ridiculous need to bring my own CD recorder which had to be able to make two records simultaneously. Frankly I'm horrified by the high cost. Why are we being asked to bring such an expensive recording device? We would only need to use it once, so the cost would be unjustifiable. Apparently the organisation doing PIP medicals in Glasgow is an NHS subcontractor called SALUS working on behalf of ATOS. By not recording the medical, I feel SALUS could more easily turn the situation to their own advantage, and not that of the client. The full process should be completely transparent, for all to see. I contacted my MP and spoke to one of his assistants. That was two days ago, I haven't had a response yet, but I'll wait til tomorrow before calling again for an update. My medical is next Wednesday, so I'll hope for a satisfactory resolution before then.

Thanks reallymadwoman - I was thinking of using a mobile phone to record it, but there was the mention that I would have to have two recordings - one for me and one for the nurse - at the end of the medical.

I apologise if this is a re-run of a really old topic This will be my first attempt to claim PIP. I've just phoned to ask ATOS Healthcare to record my assessment, which is due to take place next Wednesday. According to the call-centre worker I must provide my own recording equipment. I'm a little confused since I had an ESA medical back in February which was recorded using ATOS's own equipment. I may be accused of paranoia, but I feel this is an attempt by ATOS to stop later claims of unprofessional behaviour by their own hcp.

@2ltr16valve I wish you well with that good news, I'll bet you're glad the wait is over. Coincidentally, I've just received notification from ATOS that they've got my PIP application from exactly a year ago. The good news is, it looks like they're processing what must be an immense backlog.

The best advice I've picked up on this site, (among many other excellent pieces of advice), is to discretely record conversations with the DWP or ATOS, whether face-to-face or on a telephone. Technically, you're required to seek permission before recording, but so long as you don't use the physical recording for anything other than personal use, you're ok legally. That recording can (and certainly should) be turned into a written transcript, which you can use freely in a court room, if it gets that far. Also, when you reveal that you possess a recording of someone deliberately lying, that other party will likely change their tune, sharpish. While I appreciate the difficulty of managing and storing multiple recordings on micro-tape, recording digitally and saving in an mp3 format (for example) creates a relatively small file on a hard disk, which can be collected in a library of similar files. It also provides high quality proof, if needed, when your honesty and credibility are questioned. Just as an example: I label files stored in the following brief fashion: [ date & time ] [ who was involved ] [ what it related to] eg: 20140727 @1326 - DWP CC Spk2 Steven, Blackpool CC re Non-payment of JSA Which tells me: I spoke to Steven at the DWP call centre in Blackpool about Non-payment of JSA on the 27th of July 2014 at 1:26pm I hope this is of some use to someone out there

If it is the end of THIS punitive tax on the sick, old and poor, I'm confident there'll be another along in a few minutes - just like waiting for a bus with this government.

I made a fresh claim for PIP made last September, that somehow got lost in the post, twice!. I have put this claim temporarily onto the back-burner, since I'm now gathering medical evidence to support an appeal against a decision to stop ESA because I've been found 'fit for work'. Between the complicated experience of claiming PIP and ESA, I've been forced to jump repeatedly through more firey-hoops than a circus clown. The complexity and frustration at the seeming incompetence seems to grow and grow. It's easy to see how this might push claimants to simply give up. I'm almost cynical enough to think this to be the intended result of a DWP plan. I'm glad to read that you're more organised than the DWP seem to be. I'd also be considering raising a complaint against your advisor for the intimidatory practices used that have got you into this situation. I'd also get your MP writing letters on your behalf (that's what they're there for after all). It seems the people at the DWP ignore other politicians as being too minor, but jump when a MP's letterhead crosses a DWP manager's desk. Best of British to you, and I hope you get a swift resolution to this problem

Saw this on the Mirror website http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/iain-duncan-smith-hauled-out-3848022 Took them long enough. Do you think he'll cry?

My own recent experience of UJM was that it would crash repeatedly, or silently log you out of applications as I completed covering letters or tailored CVs. I have a very stable computer with a solid internet connection, so the problem definitely lies with the UJM site. I filled in the 'My Work Plan' booklet, with details of countless jobs that I abandoned because the UJM website would suddenly become flaky. Of course, I used other websites to fulfil my weekly quota, and I kept copies of the application acknowledgements, so my advisor would have no basis for argument.