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Personal Independence Payment tips

We've made the Personal Independence Payment application process as simple as possible for family carers of a learning disabled person.
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Personal Independence Payment (PIP) tips for family carers

The PIP application process can be a daunting and emotionally draining process for many family carers of someone with a learning disability.

The outcome can have huge implications for you and your relative. Not only that, but you have to think about your relative in a very negative light and about all the things that they struggle to do.

Our Family Carer Support Service have produced some tips to make completing the form as straightforward as possible. This will help give the assessors an accurate picture of your relative’s situation.

Contact our family support

Our Family Support Service is for family carers of learning disabled people.

Email: families@hft.org.uk

PIP tips

  • Familiarise yourself with the application form and read over any PIP literature that you have. Read through the 12 activities and choose the ones which you think apply to your relative. Don’t attempt to complete the application form in one go – instead, try to complete one activity per day.

  • If you need more time for the PIP application process because of a hospital appointment or a holiday, contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) immediately to request this. If you cannot collect more evidence in time don’t worry as you can send it after the deadline date. However, you must complete the application in time or your relative’s claim could be refused. Make sure you send it via recorded delivery ahead of the deadline.

  • Always fill out the boxes for extra information and state the obvious in the assessment. It won’t be obvious to the assessor.

  • Provide real-life examples for each activity, particularly if there are any safety concerns or risks involved with your relative carrying out the task. Provide as much detail as possible.

  • Assessors must consider the following factors for each activity:

    • The approach. How the person carries out the task, what help is needed, how long it takes to complete the task, and whether it is safe.

    • The outcome. Whether the activity can be successfully completed and to what standard.

    • The impact. The effect that reaching the outcome has on the person and others. Also whether the person can repeat the activity in a reasonable timeframe to the same standard.

    • The variability. How a person’s approach and outcome changes overtime, and what impact this has on them.

  • So think about:

    • what your relative’s health condition or disability is, and how this impacts on each activity

    • the problems and challenges associated with carrying out each activity

    • whether the problems arise during the morning, evening, at night, or all the time

    • how your relative’s condition varies, from day-to-day or week-to-week, and how much it varies.

  • Consider keeping a diary for the next two weeks. Record how your relative is affected day-to-day by their health condition or disability. This will be important evidence for their daily challenges and any fluctuating conditions.

  • Remember the ‘reliability’ factor. A person must be able to carry out an activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, and in a reasonable time. If the person is not able to do an activity ‘reliably’’, in all the four ways listed above (even with an aid or appliance), then they cannot do that activity.

  • Include details of any help needed – even if your relative does not receive that help. Write about any supervision, prompting or help needed or provided by another person. List any aids (e.g. a walking stick), appliances (e.g. a wheelchair) or personalised technology (e.g. a safety kettle) that your relative uses or needs.

  • Consider writing your own report about what you feel your relative’s challenges are. This is also your opportunity to tell the DWP if you feel that your relative would not cope with a face-to-face assessment and why. If your relative has mobility problems and would struggle to get to an assessment centre then you can request a home visit here.

  • Keep a photocopy of the application form, and staple any extra pages to the original that you’re sending to the DWP. Write your relative’s name, national insurance number, and date of birth on the top of each extra page. You could also provide a list of the extra pages and documents that you have sent, to make sure that everything is accounted for.

  • The more evidence that you provide the better the outcome is likely to be. Include any assessments that provide an accurate account of your relative’s condition and how it affects them. This could be a recent adult social care assessment, a care and support plan, or a behavioural plan. It could also be reports from psychologists, psychiatrists and care providers. You could also request a supporting letter from your relative’s GP (contact us for a template). You may be asked to pay for new evidence reports. You can ask the DWP to request the reports instead, but you risk them not requesting the information and the evidence not being considered.

  • Send photocopies of the evidence rather than the original documents. Do not mark any evidence as ‘confidential’ or ‘in confidence’.

If you are still struggling to complete the assessment on your own, ask social services to provide you with contact details for local benefits support groups and charities. You can also contact us for more information.

Does Personal Independence Payment replace Disability Living Allowance?

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is coming to an end for people aged 16 to 64. It is being replaced by Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

Some people are entitled to carry on claiming DLA:

  • Children under the age of 16, and
  • People born on or before 8 April 1948 with an existing claim.

Everyone else will have to apply for PIP. If you are receiving DLA but have to move over to PIP, you will continue getting DLA until the Department for Work and Pensions writes to you or your appointee inviting you to apply. Your benefits will not automatically move from DLA to PIP so you will need to reapply, otherwise you could lose your benefits.

Do I still have to apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) even if I have been awarded a ‘lifetime’ or ‘indefinite’ award for Disability Living Allowance (DLA)?

If you are between the ages of 16 and 64 and have been awarded a ‘lifetime’ or ‘indefinite’ award for DLA, you will still need to apply for PIP as your DLA will come to an end.

 

More information about Personal Independence Payment (PIP):

 

PIP videos 

Our Family Carer Support Service have created four videos which give information about: –