PIP Dilemma

I did have an one to one interview and on the day she came I was still in bed but she also said answer your questions how you are on your worst days. I was lucky and had a very nice lady how I was was very evident as I could no longer walk upstairs and my bedroom that she interviewed me in was the dining room end of a kitchen diner.

Anyway do what my interviewer said and reply as if you were having the worst day you have experienced should you come to having an interview but also when answering the questions online or on the paper application

Hi This is a very difficult question. When you applied for PIP did you get advice on how to fill out the Form or did you do it yourself? I was told by Marie Curie Hospice nurse that when I filled in the form, I should think of my worst day and answer questions as if it was my worst day, even if I felt better than that the day I was doing the form. I take it that this is what you did if you were a lot weaker then.

Three months seems a long time to wait for an answer but things never move quickly when it comes to the government giving you anything. It could be worth while to contact your Specialist Nurse to ask if they have been contacted about your condition. This will at least give you an idea of how far (or not) they have got with your application. It also gives you the opportunity to ask them what they think.

Sorry, I can't be of more help. I do know when I went for a face to face interview, my husband came with me and when we got there the first thing we were told was to go to the second floor but "the lifts were out of order"! They did say not to worry about how long it took me to get there taking the stairs, they were making allowances. Now if I had been there alone, I would have tried to tackle the stairs with my elbow crutches. Just as I moved to go to the stairs my husband said, " I'm sorry, the stairs are too difficult for my wife, can we make another appointment to come back when the lift is working?" We were told to wait while he spoke to someone, a few minutes passed and he come back to say they had managed to find a room on the ground floor!! Afterwards, my husband said it was a test to find out if you could climb the stairs or not! I could hardly believe it. So just be aware your assessment starts when you walk through the door. I am not trying to scare you, I think forewarned is forearmed!

My sister in law was a benefits fraud investigator and she always told me to fill in the form as if it was your worst day.  I have been claiming for 15 years.

How do people with mental health problems manage to get it?   Or other conditions that don't affect mobility????.

Surely having stage 4 incurable cancer affects a person's mental health and therefore is worthy of points?

That is part of the reason I mentioned about going back to your GP to try other antidepressant drugs! Mood swings, anxiety, depression, sleepless nights, etc all count to your mental state but a lot of the questions are about mobility because there are different parts of the form, one for mental issues, one for mobility, one for needing help etc.

That's interesting, Annette.

Hi Harebellle,

It seems a lot of palaver for you. When I was diagnosed as stage 4 my CNS referred me to welfare rights. Someone rang me and asked questions and she completed the forms for me. I received PIP and a blue badge within the same week. I was under the impression that if I was stage 4 PIP was awarded automatically and reviewed after 3years. 

Please correct me if I'm wrong

A x

Hi Sistermoon, In Scotland this only happens automatically if you are Stage4 and have been given less than 6 months to live. My prognosis was 5-7 so I did not get DLA (Disability Living Award, at that time before they changed to PIP), automatically, I had to apply for it!

I am not sure how it works elsewhere!

It shouldn't be all about what you can do physically.

Having tage 4 cancer, plus finding out statistically that you have roughly 2 years to live causes a lot of mental anguish and sleepless nights. I would argue that it causes as much, if not more, mental stress than someone with Anxiety or OCD!  Both conditions who can apply for PIP apparently. There are probably others as well.

If they can get it, why can't we?

Its a strange setup.

Certainly is,  the conditions are the same no matter where you live. It should be all the same allocation. 

A x