For anyone who has problems that effect the physically or mentally

Good news today the Brain Charity are going to help me with my appeal at the tribunal.

Cabbie I did all that I sent every letter I had from GP, cardiologist and all the neurologists I have had. But only had copies of letters from 2017. As before than consultants didn't send patients copies of letters they sent to my GP. My health got worse in 1988 after seeing various specialists saw my first neurologist is 1992. I have been hitting my head against a brick wall for 34 years. Unfortunately had to the last 18.5 years on my own as my husband died aged 47.

Hopefully the Brain Charity can help me .

Whiff, the post is very slow at the moment, and even worse with the strikes. A letter I sent took nine days!

As to Yes or No, as I said, if you can’t do an activity safely, repeatedly then the answer us No.
I agree the assessment reports come across as if you are lying, it is awful that they are worded “You said, …. But I have decided …..”
However I am not surprised that DWP have not consulted your medical experts. They rarely do. It is in your interest to get hold of and provide the medical evidence to support your claim. If you have not already done that, I urge you to do so, which can then be sent to the Tribunal. The diagnosis, but also explaining how it affects you.

Thank you all for your support.

Cabbie I started a diary of all the times I drop things,forget,fall etc a couple of weeks ago. As I remember you saying something along those lines sometime ago. The Brain Charity are phoning back on Tuesday as tomorrow's bank holiday. But the lady was annoyed PIP hadn't contacted my GP, Neurologist or cardiologist at anytime. I checked again last Wednesday will all of them then the MRN arrived on Thursday.

She also told me they deliberately make the forms ambiguous so people will give up after being rejected. I have been to a tribunal before many years ago when my husband was alive in those days it was DLA and it was awful . But I have waited 34 years and that's long enough.

Headlines keep saying how many benefits go unclaimed it's no wonder. Like I have said the forms are yes and no answers but life is not yes or no. Yes I can prepare myself a meal but I have to cook either a large stew or lasgne enough for 6 dinners and portioned into oven proof dishes and kept in the fridge as I don't know how I am going to be from day to day. That way I always have a healthy meal ready and waiting. Do the same with my homemade soup I have for lunch everyday. Porridge is made in the microwave as I can't stand stirring for it to cook on the hob.

All this was explained but I am sure they don't read it. Or listened to me during my phone assessment.

Like my original decision letter the one I received Thursday was dated 10 days before. Do they do that deliberately so it cuts down on the time you have to reply?

Sorry you were turned down again. You should appeal, Whiff. It will take time( months, probably) to get a hearing, but it is worth it. I hope you get an appointment soon, as you should lodge your appeal within one month from your MRN, but late appeals are normally accepted if the reason for delay is waiting for advice.

Meanwhile see if you can study the descriptors and think about reliability, ie can you do the activities as frequently as you need to, safely and within a reasonable time scale. Keep a log of incidents such as dropping things.

I really hope the Brain Charity can help you, Whiff.

Empathy to you, Whiff.

Had my MRN decision yesterday no surprise they turned me down. Spoke to the Brain Charity and hopefully they can help even though they are swamped. Will know on Tuesday . The lady I spoke to couldn't understand why I have never had any benefits in the 34 years since I got worse. Even without a name she said I should have had something. We talked for a hour . Fingers crossed they can fit me in.

Balance is really bad today already fell into 2 of my oak doors and dropped a full carton of milk on my kitchen floor which is concrete under the flooring luckily it was only from knee high and didn't split. At least I know it's part of the HPX .

MissAdventure

Also, while I'm here, I wanted to say that for people who wear hearing aids can get a disabled persons railcard.
I remember finding that out when I got my aids (which o dont wear) and at that time you had a simple form to fill in, and they accepted the booklet you're given with your hearing appointments as proof.

Thanks for that information Miss A. Silver lining to needing to wear them ( although not always wearing them. ).

That's an interesting thought Whiff, that answers are simply not read. That could be a deliberate tactic by staff who, as you say, are overwhelmed with applications and who know that people will still be able to appeal.

Thanks Whiff. She really need not worry about it but I hope she explains and fills in a new form, without the ‘help’ this time!

Germanshepherdsmum that's a lovely post and hope it reassures ExDancer.

MissA glad you are here . How are you ? After all your hard work I didn't want the thread to die . As your courage in posting helped me no end

ExDancer I am so sorry that happened to you. My late husband always got me to read contracts etc as he busy all the time with work. So I always read everything before signing. I always read about new tablets before taking them and appliance manuals etc it's just how I how I am.

I am getting fed up with all newspaper headlines saying people could claim this that and the other benefits. When it's a nightmare. They make out it's so easy. Which means people who don't qualify for anything put in a claim which means people who really need the help don't get it as I am sure the benefits people don't read the forms properly because they are overwhelmed with the volume.

I really believe if you put yes to anything they don't bother to read what is written about how we have to things. Yes I can prepare a meal but I have to do it a certain way . I can't prepare a fresh meal everyday as I am not the same 2 days running. So I cook a large stew or lasgne enough for 6 dinners that way I had dinners in the fridge for those days. Plus I do the same when I make my lunchtime soup.

The way the decision letter was written it shows they didn't read any of that. Plus it went against me because I live on my own. Who I am supposed to live. My husband died aged 47 18.5 years ago.
Our children have families of their own. I would never live with either of them.

All the other decisions where along the same vein.

But I will not give up trying to get the help I need and have needed for the last 34 years since my condition got worse. And it will only get worse as the years go by.

But I am independent because I do not want to be a burden to anyone and that is also held against me or anybody who wants to be independent.

You haven’t attempted fraud ExDancer so please don’t worry. To attempt to commit a criminal offence requires an intention to commit that offence. You had no such intention. You may have been negligent in not reading what had been written but you trusted the person who filled in the form to write down what you said, not a fairy story that she thought would entitle you to benefits. You had every reason to trust that person, and a good reason for not filling the form in yourself. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of this happening with Age UK. Their representatives might have the best of intentions but it is they who are providing the false information. Not you.
Yes, always read and make sure you understand something before you sign, however long it might take. Never be afraid to ask what something means if you’re unsure.
Now put this out of your mind.

Well! That's a turn up for the books, isnt it?
Well worth knowing though, thank you.
She must have got carried away with the claim and gone for everything.
I do hope it all works out for you.

I'd also add do read through what has been written before you sign.
I was persuaded to apply for a benefit and was helped by a lady at AgeUK who wrote the answers I gave to her questions, which was great because I have arthritis in my hands. She turned the form to me and said 'sign there, and there' - so I signed and the form was dully sent off.
My request was granted on the ground that I was infirm and needed help with my bodily functions. My bodily functions work very nicely thank you so I wrote to the govt dept and a very officious man told me I'd signed a declaration that I needed help with this - therefor I had made a fraudulent claim and could be prosecuted.
I withdrew the claim but it seems I have attempted fraud and could still be prosecuted.
Even if it takes time - read what has been written on your behalf before you sign

Also, while I'm here, I wanted to say that for people who wear hearing aids can get a disabled persons railcard.
I remember finding that out when I got my aids (which o dont wear) and at that time you had a simple form to fill in, and they accepted the booklet you're given with your hearing appointments as proof.

Thanks Whiff for starting this.

I have a little update.
I noticed that when I got my jobcentre money, it was the same amount as always; no extra for the disability part.

I phoned them (rude, horrible woman) who could only pass on a message to the job centre itself.
A case manager phoned me from the job centre the next day (lovely woman!)
I will get the disability premium.... wait for it.... on 20th of October!

In have also used Railway Assistance for several years and often sing their praise. Without that I would not be able to use the trains and travel to visit my children. I do have a disabled three-year railcard.

My next train journey will be to Warrington and will involve two changes. For the very first time I will be doing this with my small, wheelchair. This will all be a first for me, as i will obviously need the ramps. Bit concerned, but I am sure it will all be okay.

For those in London - the underground also have this assistance, but this cannot be booked in advance as on overland. It is needed to ask for this at firs boarding station. I did use this a few years back when I was travelling across London with a suitcase and could hardly walk at all - it worked very well.

Hope so Franbern as they where a mind of information like yourself.

I went to see my brother ,sister in law and her dad in their new bungalow in Lincolnshire. Only way I could travel the 4 hours each way was with travel assistance by the lovely rail staff. Had 2 changes going on Tuesday and 1 coming back yesterday.

Travel assistance on the train is wonderful. Been using it for over 10 years. But I have also found train passengers friendly and always have offers of help with my luggage.

Last year had to give away my medium and small suitcases as empty they where to heavy for me now. So I brought a soft bodied one with a long handle and 2 wheels. It's perfect and very roomy.

Having a senior railcard saved me a third on my ticket. Hopefully when I get my MRN letter and can appeal the PIP decision and then most likely have to go too tribunal I will be able to get a disabled Railcard when this one comes up for renewal.

Many thanks for starting this thread Whiff. Do not worry about the title, we will all know what it is about.
I found the original thread on Benefits, etc very interesting and useful, was astonished and sad when it disappeared.
Hopefully, contributors to that will now come into this thread.

When I was in my mid-teens I had to sign a form at somewhere and it had

Signed ..................................... Date ................

and after I had signed my name the receptionist snatched the form away and I said I hadn't written the date on yet and she stated that she would add it later and refused to let me have the form back.

Ever since then, every time I have had to sign a form in the presence of someone else, I have always written the date before signing.

I am not saying that anybody else would have snatched the form like that, but I have always made sure that nobody would ever get the chance to do that and thus that it would never happen again.

Which I suppose, if someone habitually acted in that manner and were poised to do a form snatch like that would have been a bit of a Tales of the Unexpected moment for him or her.

StarDreamer that's good advice I will remember that.

If I am speaking to a person on the phone and they say their name I write it down and address them by it . Also if I speak to the same company another time I will say I spoke to person's name or your colleague on what ever date it was. When speaking on the phone I always have a pen and paper as I forget things.
Appointments are always put straight on my calendar so I don't forget.

Let us start our discussion by mentioning not to use idioms when dealing with officialdom.

For example, if a decision goes against a claimant, it is best for the person not to say "I will fight your decision" as it has the word 'fight' and it will not help if anyone tries to seize upon the word 'fight' and deem the claimant violent.

Am I exaggerating? Maybe. One cannot say for certain. But if one avoids ever using the word 'fight' or any word that by any stretch of the imagination could be used against one by an official then they can't do it.

Try to avoid the word 'you' unless you actually mean specifically the person or persons to whom you are talking.

I know that some people say 'you' when they should say 'the government'. I consider it best to say 'one' or 'someone' or 'a person'. If one means 'the government' say 'the government' not 'you'.

That way one avoids saying things like "When I said 'you' I didn't mean you you I meant ..." as some people do.

If one listens carefully to television news one may find it surprising how often people use 'you' and say 'you can't ...

Just because they do it does not require one to do it oneself.

I know what I am saying can be laughed at by some people and that I can be deemed to be pedantic, but I say precise, not pedantic.

I know that using 'one' can be deemed la-dee-da and pretentious and quaint by some people, but there we go. That, as the politicians say, is a matter for them.

I have found a good way to behave in life is to imagine, hypothetically, that it is mid-morning and one is trying to justify one's actions to a straight-faced High Court Judge who is listening to one's attempt to justify one's actions.

Try to imagine his or her likely reaction to what he or she is hearing.

Doing that thought experiment about something one is considering doing before doing it is a good self-protection strategy.

StarDreamer glad you are here as you are a mind of information,advice and support to all.