Help with PIP

[mafiaduck]

Hi,

 

At start of December, my wifes ESA advisor told her to claim PIP in January (so not to be caught in december backlogs) However, we're not totally sure what it all entails or why we should claim it.

 

MY wife suffers from stress and anxiety, which cause panic attacks, she has asthma, and has osteoarthritis in her knee from a surgery that should never have been done (she was misdiagnosed when her knee kept coming out of socket) she is in constant pain with her knee, can't walk very far and relies on transport. Neither of us drive, but due to her anxiety buses are a nightmare and taxis are far more comfortable.

 

Our advisor knows this, and seems to think PIP should be a walk in the park. Claim it, receive it. Done deal. However, my mother recently applied it. She has a heart working at 10%, cant walk more than 100 yards without needing to pause, also has arthritis and various other medical difficulties that leave her on 20 tablets a day...and she was turned down, and her appeal refused.

 

So why does our advisor think it will be so easy? can anyone see? or does anyone have any advice?

[*RainbowTears*]

I've no idea why your advisor thinks it's so easy to get PIP.

 

As that's so far from true.

 

We do have a few threads on here regarding it & if you have a read on the internet, as I did, you will also see this.

 

From my very limited experience, it's not about what diagnoses you have or medications you're on, it's about the needs of the person.

 

I'm sure the CAGgers with more experience will be along to help you further.

 

Hope you get it sorted! Good luck...

[Mr.P]

[...] or does anyone have any advice?

 

Based on the posted experiences of a couple of people here, one piece of advice: Do not ring up and request the forms "just to see what is involved". You may well find they close the ESA claim in anticipation of receiving the PIP forms back.

[Nystagmite]

PIP is based on the needs of the person and not the names of the conditions they have.

 

As with any benefit, there are people for whom PIP is easy to get and for those, it's a real fight.

[id6052]

Based on the posted experiences of a couple of people here, one piece of advice: Do not ring up and request the forms "just to see what is involved". You may well find they close the ESA claim in anticipation of receiving the PIP forms back.

 

I dont see any reason that ESA would be closed in such a scenario

[blondebubbles]

As others have said, it is not the diagnosis that entitles you to PIP but the care and mobility needs of the person. There is some info here - https://www.gov.uk/pip/eligibility

[Nystagmite]

The criteria for ESA and PIP are completely different. (although, there is some similar criteria) For that reason, I fail to understand Mr. P's point...

[Mr.P]

My mistake. It was in relation to a DLA claim, for further information, see: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?428669-PIP-CAPITA-Frustration.-Any-Advice