PIP and Stage 4 breast cancer

Hello Loz72

I spoke to a Macmillan financial advisor who was able to go through all my finances with me and helped me claim what I was entitled to. This included PIP. The advisor was able to give me support with the forms. If you are able to give the Support Line a call they will be able to connect you to the financial advisor. 

When I was diagnosed I was working 40 hours a week. It was clear that could not continue through treatments as I was so unwell. The advisor gave exact figures and where I could get support from. I already had SSP which was clearly not enough to live on and going through cancer treatment the last thing you need to be worrying about is finances. I had already claimed Universal credit but the advisor told me about the add on benefits that long term sick people could claim. There is something called Limited capability for work and work related activity, I was able to claim that from 12 weeks after my diagnosis. It was backdated. It was pretty much automatic as I was having treatment. I was also given a number for the PIP and while this took around 3 months to come through- it was also back dated. I was also entitled to claim a discount on my council tax from my local council. I was offered a Macmillan grant that was paid within a couple of weeks which made a big difference for immediate expenses.

With PIP the forms are lengthy and I would encourage you to put as much detail on as you can. From what I understand it is more about how your illness affects you and what support you need rather than it being based on what you have.

You are right that it is based on a point system and it does include physical and mental health needs. I did include things concerned around infection risks. Although they knew as soon as I said chemotherapy there were risks- it's like you have to spell out in detail, clearly describing the risks. I did not have to go for any medicals. I had to give them copies of letters from my consultants but am not aware of whether they did contact them at all. I think to be honest as long as you have the letters to show your diagnosis they are used to dealing with cancer and have a fair idea of how it can affect you. I had one phone call from a very nice man about 10 weeks after I made the claim. It was very much a quick clarification on a few points- one of them was around having to be prompted to eat and another was around peripheral neuropathy of which had only recently began. He wished me well and said that they knew how cancer affected people and that someone would be in touch once he had given his recommendation to a decision maker. I had a text 2 days later followed by a letter. I got the highest award available. A few days later a back dated amount was paid into my account. 

Hope this helps, but I recommend you do give the Support Line a call and they can talk you through what to do. And just give lots of details. It takes around 3 months I found from the first form.

Jane

Thanks Jane.  That is amazing. I will certainly follow your advice x

My local Maggie's have a lady who is a benefits wizard. She helped me get everything I was entitled to, including filling in all the forms on her laptop and doing everything. All of this was done face-to-face, and I was able to keep in touch with her by email and by phone too. I believe they have such advisors in all Maggie's centres, so you could check with Maggie's too.

Being a previous PIP assessor I can advise that the outcome is not based on any diagnosis but how your function is impacted upon because of the diagnosis. It assesses deficits in function and need for possible aids/assistance required to complete daily tasks. For example if you have cancer but still able to manage your daily living tasks and personal care independently you would unlikely qualify for part/ full payment. If your cancer resulted in you struggling to manage daily tasks / personal care and you needs aids or assistance then you would probably qualify for some/full payment. Another example is where a person with a lower limb amputation has a prosthetic  limb where they can mobile effectively they wouldn’t necessarily qualify the higher level of mobility payments. However would qualify for functional deficits such as showering difficulties when not able to wear prosthetic leg and would possibly required a wheeled shower chair which is deemed as aids/equipment. Also where someone has breast cancer which results in limited range of movement due to pain such as inability to raise their arms they would likely require assistance to wash they hair or dress, so would qualify for the tasks needing that level of function. Years ago the DLA was based on diagnosis alone which would qualify you immediately but now it’s based on level of function regardless of diagnosis.  Also review periods are determined by likelihood of change in function as conditions either deteriorate or improve over time  (exceptions: blindness and deafness) so regular reviews are required to assess change in level of function expected where you may have reduced or increased payments to reflect these changes. Hope this helps!

Terminal conditions automatically qualify for PIP not requiring assessment usually 

I'm not classed as terminal yet, only that I have incurable cancer. I mean it will eventually become terminal but not yet. 

Thank you for that. That's very insightful.

All I can advise is that during your pip assessment try not to be a martyr and struggle to do all the tasks asked as this will not be in your favour and I’ve seen this happening a few times.. explain your struggles on your worst days and they have to be deemed as ‘most of the tine’ and if your having chemo and it affects your dexterity through numbness in fingers etc tell them as you won’t be able to improve function with aids due to lack of grip you would qualify for assistance which awards you higher payments!

Hi Loz72

My experience has been similar to jane2511

I have also recieved Pip and it was dealt with efficiently and with understanding.

My advice would be to ensure you detailed how you are on your worse days

With my breast cancer diagnosis which like most people on this forum coping with  surgery,radiotherapy,and various types of other treatments both orally and intravenously has a massive impact on our daily lives both physically and emotionally.

There are never two days the same and we face challenges daily which can be significant.

Good luck I hope you are successful.

 RE: PIP claim with breast cancer