[Goldmember]

For those that can recall, I went from dla to pip in march and was awarded high care and low mobilty after being both high on dla, I sent mandatory recon and it was discarded with quite an abrupt refusal which ignored the further evidence and hospital documents and supporting letters from 2 specialists and my GP, the award remained high care, low mob for 2 years. I then sent in for an appeals tribunal.

I can honestly say that I live alone and would become isolated without my car, I have felt suicidal these past months, the stress unbearable at times.  I cannot go far ever, I rely on carers to help me but you get used to this life, the struggles daily, the loneliness at times etc etc, Im sure many of you have been there.

I thought I had depression for a years but didn’t tell anyone, however, after these last few months I have come to realise that I was far from being depressed. I am now though, I’m now having to have counselling and medication to help me get through this. The assessment setup for PIP is incredibly flawed.

I’ve just had a call from the DWP, a nice lady who said that having looked at all the information, the original decision is incorrect and that it is abundantly clear that I should be on high motability, thank God! I left her know what I thought of the process and the damage it has caused to me and 1000’s of other VICTIMS of the system. I also explained that my condition has been the same for nearly 30 years and that I wanted to tell the tribunal that nothing will change in 2 years, but I will have to go through this stressful process again for nothing and waste  a fortune in money to process it, doctors and specialists time are being wasted (one of my specialists told me she spends almost a 3rd of her week writing pip supporting letters, just think about that for a minute) and that the award should be for longer, she said she would raise it to 3 years stating that my condition may get worse and I could be awarded more, I stated that if you award me high high how can I get more and in any case, with the stress its caused if I was on low low I would be afraid to report it as I could not face going through this process again, she then said If I agree to it how I would be awarded for 10 years, amazing!

Anyway its over now, a relief but it will take a while if ever to get back to my old self.

I can now look forward to searching for a new car, Motability have been fantastic by the way, I’ve still got my car as couldn’t hand it back as I cannot afford a new private car and cannot drive an old un  adapted car so really would have been house bound.

Sad that I missed the Q1 bargains but extremely relieved this fiasco is over.

Thanks to all on here for your support back then and I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Topic

[Anonymous]

Hi Goldmember

It seems that you have had an extreamly bad experience with DWP and the PIP situation.

I am glad that you have been able to overcome the discrepancies of the flawed PIP system, and have come through with an award that appears to be fair under the present system.

Good luck in finding and choosing your next car.

lightbodyae55

[Trev]

Goldmember,

It’s so good to hear from you again, thank god it’s all sorted for you now. It’s criminal, yes criminal what they are putting some people through, makes my blood boil. I’m glad you found the strength to fight your corner, but please know you always have a place here to post when you are up or down. Look after yourself, and well done.

[Winston]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Hi Goldmember, your post made my day.</p>
I can empathise with your situation as I too live alone, and rely on the car for mostly everything I do – I probably deal lots of things you deal with on a daily basis , various physical and mental conditions

I know how unfair the DWP system can be, and I too went through the appeal process

when you live alone you just get by, you find a way to exist, but that’s all it is, existence – As there is no one there to push you to seek extra medical help especially with your mental health, you just live in a daily bubble of depression/anxiety , when you complete those forms it’s as if thee DWP expect you to be seeing mental health professionals or even specialists for your physical conditions regularly , when it’s not always the case, certainly for me it isn’t. It’s so easy to fall through the cracks and disappear off your GP’s radar and withdraw even further from society

Don’t think the DWP have the ability to look outside the box, having depression isn’t low mood where you are straight to your GP asking for help , far from it

but.. I’m so glad you found the fight to continue your claim for justice, and I’m made up for you that you got the decision you deserved!

fantastic news and I hope you have lots of fun rest driving the cars that suit your needs and appeal to you

i too got the 10 year award with PIP this time last year, so congratulations again mate , some peace n quiet and respite goes a long way ?

[Brydo]

Guys its clear from reading the above posts that I know little about DVLA and PIP. What is the 10 year award, my wife fills in the form they send every few years.

[Trev]

10 year is the maximum duration of the pip award Brydo, recent announcements state those on the 10 year award will now only have a ‘light touch review’ more information here –

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-end-unnecessary-pip-reviews-for-people-with-most-severe-health-conditions

[Winston]

When you awarded PIP they will give you an award for a set amount of years before sending you out the form to apply again

so if you get a 3 year award then they’ll send you the form once you’ve completed your first 2 years

if you get a 5 year award, you’ll get the form to reapply after you’ve had it 4 years

you can also get an “ongoing” award which basically tells you that they won’t contact you for atleast 10 years

with DLA some people got lifetime awards but now it’s moved onto PIP, they say the don’t issue lifetime awards ( to under 65’s ) so an ongoing 10 year award is the best possible result you can ask for

obviously the government could move the goalposts again and come up with an even worse benefit system , but in its current guise that’s how the PIP awards work

[Winston]

You beat me to it Trev ?

[Trev]

Haha – good news on the light-touch review though Winston, i will praise the government on that one, though still many more cracks to fill.

 

[Brydo]

Thanks guys every day’s a school day, I wonder how things will change in Scotland in two years when the Scottish parliament takes over the running of it up here.

[Winston]

I think it will only change for the better Brydo, well here’s hoping ?

but common sense of the 10yr light-touch reviews surely Trev

still have to go through the same garbage for ESA every couple of years, i know they always stick to the same script “ The 2 benefits aren’t releated “

but if they already have your limitations, conditions clearly documented on one system/claim why on earth put you through the same for ESA when it’s almost identical questions for PIP

thsts what I heard the SNP were wanting look at, if you’ve a 10 year high award for PIP which id assume is harder to get the ESA then why waste money reassessing those people for a new ESA claim every 3 years

time will tell

[Trev]

Totally with you on the ESA front Winston, it would save the DWP ££££££’s and the claimants a load of stress if they just assessed the 2 benefits at the same time to run in conjunction with one another. If a face:face interview is needed, incorporate all the questions together – job done.

But that’s just common sense lol

[Trev]

About time the Teacher learnt a lesson lol

[Winston]

Sure is Trev, and since when did the powers at be use that ?! ????

[ChrisK]

I was in the same boat as you Goldmember but failed at the MR but I did get a nice letter from the MR manager saying they appreciated that I had difficulty walking then went on to talk a load of bulls muck about being able to walk X amount of metres in four minutes and god knows where they got that from but putting two and two together I did say at the F2F I could stand in the shower for 10 minutes while my wife washes me and I think they took this as being able to walk for 10 minutes after all it goes without reasoning that if you can stand for 10 minutes then you can walk for 10 minutes.

I’m lucky in not to of suffered any thoughts of ending my life but must admit I was in a very, very dark place and only the fact of having a loving wife and a bank manager who was prepared to lend me money to buy my Motability car so at least I remained mobile as that is I’m sure a real recipe for depression having no way to go anywhere. Might just as well be in prison.

Bottom line is after a very stressful 7 months waiting for an appeal I won my case and had the judge tell the DWP it would be pointless having a time limit on my award so at least I’ve got that in writing and hopefully won’t need to face these jerks again until November 2027.

NO problems with Motability but I did ask them if there was any chance of a low interest loan to buy my car and got the knock back but lucky for me the bank manger gave me a good rate anyway.

I took the £2,000 handshake from Motability and although it’s not their fault I’m keeping the money and rejoining them after 6 months so I don’t have to pay them back. I feel this is a little bit of compensation for my 7 months of stress and now I live with a smile on my face because when I was on DLA I got high rate mobile but middle rate care and now I’ve got high on both so quid’s in and I like to stick that to David Cameron.

Well done on your award Goldmember

 

[JS]

hi goldmember Welcome back

Thankyou for sharing your experience and thoughts at such a stressful time. Your words and the fact you had the strength to come through it, I’m sure will be inspirational to others, we are a very unique forum and group of individuals, with many just browsing or using it as a port for information. It is sometimes hard to make the step and  talk up, and I applaud you for that. As Trev said, up or down! with the great community we have, nobody should feel alone or isolated. The Open Arms is as it suggests, everyone is welcomed with open arms with no preconceptions or prejudice,

i wish I had Winston’s rawness and ability to make everything sound positive, (thank you Winston)  but I best I can do is reassure everyone, someone on the forum is willing to listen and as a group nobody is alone!

thank you All for great comments and support for each other.

JS

 

[Winston]

Thanks you JS, it’s a great forum and like you say whenever the time is right for a member to speak, they’ll always have a sympathetic ear and some fellow members willing to give some helpful advice based on their similar experiences ?

[Goldmember]

Thanks for all the nice words by all, genuinely think the world of all of you………..

Day 1 update……

Had best nights sleep for months and have started looking for cars again this morning online, size of vehicle is not that important, has to be auto, has to be adapted to use left foot only, the main issue is whether my head or my heart win.

My first ever car at 16 years old was an orange mini thou given to me by my Aunt, I loved it and have never forgot the excitement, anticipation and dreaming about the adventures to come leading up to my 17th when I can get on with, I was fully able bodied then and had no trouble passing my test first time, a natural!

After the last 4 months I feel like letting my heart win and get another mini to hopefully recapture the past as something like that might be the catalyst for me getting back to my old self, who knows, would be great fun though. Just wish the price of fuel wasn’t so crippling.

Or, use my loaf and get a golf, Leon etc………

Damn it, after recent times, these are the dilemma’s I like.

Hope you all enjoy the heat wave.

[Winston]

Good problems to have for a change ?

happy car hunting ?

[JS]

Goldmember

Mini are available In PHEV (3 Autos) and Megan at listers is offering £399 off AP. Great specs too.

[Trev]

Stratstone Mini are offering £500 off for cars registered before 30th June.

You can also take a 48hr test drive in a mini, details here –

https://forum.whichmobilitycar.co.uk/forums/topic/extended-test-drives-2/

Marshalls South Oxford have Golf Se Nav 1.4 tsi petrol in stock with £350 off – although it’s not mentioned what transmission it is, could be worth firing off an email to ask –

Chris.allsopp@marshall.co.uk

Happy hunting!

 

[Goldmember]

Thanks for the info chaps, ill check them out.

[Author]

Replies