I knew that the day was just around the corner for me when i had to finally put the claim in for PIP after being on DLA for almost half of my entire life,I knew that my DLA wasn't awarded for life anymore due to the new disability changes and also when PIP was introduced. And i would have to go though this awful process for PIP as DLA was now scrapped and i really didn't wanna be put though it as i have seen and Hurd a lot of people loosing there entitlement and i just didn't wanna be one of those people that would loose everything and not being able to live and pay my bills. I really wanted to leave my claim for PIP until the DWP contacted me to change over to PIP as my award was due to end this year (Due to the new benefit changes) and i just took the plunge and i put my claim in for it in January 2017 as i just wanted to get it out of the way and sorted with as i knew it would be a very long process and also i didn't wanna do it when my claim officially ended as it is my it was my friends wedding in September 2017 (When my claim ends) and i didn't wanna be worried about it on my friends wedding day,I was reading viva the internet and support groups how people had to go though these awful F2F assessments for PIP and being turned down for it and not getting the right support and i just didn't wanna be one of those loosing everything as my DLA has been with me since 1992 and i cannot complain about DLA because it has been a huge help to me ever since i became disabled and it has allowed me to go out and about and enjoy myself with friends and family on a regular basics and also let me have a social life witch is a great helpAs i suffered with Viral Encephalitis when i was 2 and this caused me to have Brain damage from the infection and it also caused me so many issues that it has left me disabled for the rest of my life with no possible cure.The nurses who was looking after me and treating at the time suggested to my mom that she should make a claim for DLA for me as i was in need of support 24/7 and i wasn't able to walk , talk and look after myself and i was also in a wheelchair when i came of Hospital.
The hospital really didn't give no support to my mom to help me with special care and equipment when i came out of Hospital and my mom needed some kinda support for me to buy me the things that i needed the most, The Nurses at the time about 20 years ago helped my mom fill out all the necessary paperwork for me and and to make sure that everything was done at the right time, As DLA was just being introduced when i was first applied for it my mom knew that she would get help for her disabled daughter at last. The application was a huge success and it enabled my mom to get me the things and equipment that i needed 24/7 and also to help me to get to Hospital & doctor appointments on a regular basics with help from Mobility, When my DLA was finally sorted it just made things so much easier for me and my mom and it gave me a chance to let me live a normal and active life when i was old enough to have the allowance for myself.It was a good idea that the nurses who suggested it at the time said about the new disability benefit as i wouldn't be here now and being able to get the things that i want and lead a happy normal life,My allowances wasn't given to me until i was 16 and i was able to spend it anyway i wanted and also not begging my mom and dad for money to get things for me it was such a nice feeling that i was able to buy things for myself for once, A massive chunk of my DLA every 6 months was put on some special walking shoes for me as my walking was very badly effected when i had the encephalitis and there was no shoes for me anywhere so i had to have them specially made for me in Glastonbury witch was fitted to thesize of my feet and i also have very wide feet so it was very important that they fitted me well, Without the DLA i wouldn't be walking today!
I finally put the claim in for PIP in January 2017 and i was feeling the pressure then when i rang up and started the process and reading all the comments on the internet and i knew that i should of really of waited until September when the DLA wrote to me asking me to claim for PIP but like i said that i didn't want my friends wedding get in the way of things so thats why i done it earlier! The process on the phone talking to someone was very easy and they understood my needs and then sent me out a claim pack and i had to write everything down and explaining my disabilities (witch was kinda hard) and you only had a few weeks to complete it and send it back and i think that i done mine a few days later and sent it off and i was already feeling the pressure when i knew that i would have a F2F assessment any day and i was feeling very sick also i had explained everything to my mom what i had done and she said that i was stupid and i should of waited until DLA contacted me and i said to her that i wanted it sorted and done now so i don't need to worry about in September 2017 and that was the end of the conversation,
In a few weeks after sending in the claim form i had to go and have a F2F assessment and i was thinking what are they gonna say, what are they gonna do to me and also will they ask me about my disabilities and my medication, I was bricking it by this point and as my Birthday was just around the corner i was feeling super sick and worried and i didn't wanna go for it as i knew something bad was gonna happen. On the day of the assessment i had to take all of my medication , Hospital letters and my glasses and contact lenses and i was asking why do they want all of this information for when they have it on there system already? It wasn't that easy to find a disabled parking space as it was filled up as it was also pouring down with rain that day and i was soaked.my mum was able to find a parking space outside the assessment center with no problems at all. I walked into the assessment center with my mom and i signed myself in as you normally do, I wasn't looking forward to this at all and i just sat down waiting to be called and i just wanted to go home and forget this whole thing and just give up with it as i knew that i wasn't gonna get my whole entailment back whatsoever, The person called me in to have my assessment and she was watching me and seeing how i walked into the assessment room and i also kinda felt this is kinda strange that she was watching me walk? She also introduced herself to me and my mom and said that she will be doing the assessment and then she asked me some questions about my health & my disabilities and illnesses,I had to explain every little bit of detail about my illnesses and my Migraines as the person clearly didn't know what hemiplegic migraines were and how badly they effected me and how long that i had been suffering from them, By this point i was getting so frustrated that i wanted to leave and my mom also as she was very demanding on the questions and i also had to explain to her what my medication was and what i take for them and i was slowly loosing my rag by this point of time,She then went on about finances and i said to my mom that i cannot answer any of these questions and she said that i will explain to her as she knows that my money sense is no good and i cannot budget at all, My mom explained to her that she has no understanding of the word money and she even went insolvent in 2010 because the way she is with money and also she got into £15,000 of debit because she didn't know what she was doing, She just sat there taking any notice of what my mom was saying and wring it all down in her report. She just went on and on and i just wanted it to stop at this point and i wanted to go home i couldn't bare it any longer with her.She then asked me about work and why i wasn't in full time employment and i said that i would like to work in care and looking after old people in a home but it is so demanding and i really don't have the right qualifications and i didn't do a lot of studying in school about the subject, And i also explained that there isn't a lot of care jobs going but if you can drive there's plenty of them going. I did have 2 care jobs and i just couldn't cope with any of them so i jacked them both in as it was to much for me and she didn't really care and thought that she is overweight and lazy and she should be working full time and i was completely disgusted on what she said about me.
The last virtual information didn't come until the end when she should of started with first and she was looking at her paperwork after she said that i had some kinda infection and i said what it was and then yet again my mum had to take over as i didn't know anything about it, The woman didn't even know what Viral encephalitis was and i thought she was a fully qualified nurse and it turned out to be that was not true as she was a mental health nurse that worked for the company, My mom was there for a while explaining every little bit of information and what had happened to me and all she done was write it in her report on the computer and that was that. She then also looked at my arms and legs and putting my arms and legs up in the are and behind my back, I told her that i cannot lift my right leg up due to my muscles in the leg and it really hurts me when i do it and she basically didn't care and she still made me do it to the highest level that i could go and i was in a lot of pain and i told her straight away to stop as i couldn't take it no more.
Before i was leaving she then asked me to remember some information and numbers and also show her how i managed to put a letter in envelope and watched me do it, As she was asking me the questions she was on her phone messing about and then i said to my mom that i wanna go now and as we walked out of the room she then watched me yet again walking.
This was one of the worse F2F that i ever had since i have been disabled and the woman who done my assessment didn't have a clue about my conditions and disabilities and she should of been fully prepared when she was doing my assessment and i was so upset on what had happened. When i had got into the car i started to feel so depressed that i wanted to end my life right there because i just couldn't face the decision and i wanted what was entitled to me and i said to my mom that i will not get it and i should end my life here and she said why? i replied i have had enough of people who work with this stupid company.
It really didn't take that long for someone to look at my report and claim for the new benefit and i believe it was under 2 weeks and i was always ringing them and asking when it will be finally done and sorted out, I was told over the phone that i was awarded PIP on the 19th June 2017 and when i was told what i had been awarded i was in tears and i had never felt so depressed and sick in my entire life and i just wanted kill myself yet again. I went absolutely mad because i thought that i would be entitled to more because of my disabilities etc and i just wanted to go down to the assessment center personally and smash her head in because she had given false information about me and it was all lies all thought out my report and i was in tears because someone actually lied about me and it wasn't nice at all. I told my mom what i had been awarded and she said well you haven't lost anything have you? i said no but you told me that i would and even my step dad was the same and people were just winding me about it and i believe this started off my depression because i wasn't feeling very well after the assessment and when the decision came though and i was that unwell that i was feeling very week and drained out for over 2 - 3 weeks until all this came to end and i was that unwell with my depression that i wanted to go to Hospital because i couldn't cope with anything no more.
I slowly started to get better and i had also rang up the DWP for my report on what she really said about me and that came the next day, When the letter finally arrived i had a quick read though and most of it was full of lies and things that wasn't said in the assessment at all, They say some things that i am not gonna even right on here as they are so harmful to me and i just felt completely sick how someone can treat a disabled person like this. I was absolutely fuming about all of it and i said this is the final call now and i am taking this even further now and that means court action because she clearly didn't put in the report the correct information about what me and my mom said on the day of the assessment,
I never ever wanna go though one of these assessments ever again even if i am dying it is very draining for someone like me who has physical disabilities and mental health issues. If my mom wasn't with me on the day of the assessment i would of ended it there and then i was fed up and i wanted to be back on DLA where they clearly understood my needs and was very nice assessors as well.Since i have been receiving PIP i have never ever been so broke in my entire life and i hate being paid on a Friday because i am used to having my DLA on a Tuesday and it just messes everything up for me, There are people out there who claims this and they are getting the high rate mobility and i also have a blue badge because of my mobility issues and the woman in the assessment says on the report that i don't have issues with my mobility and also i don't suffer with any chronic pain when i am walking and this is all lies about me, I am so sick and tired of fighting for what i deserve and it is slowly making me give up this PIP if i loose my court case and i am hoping that i will win as i do have all the information every time i get it i am always broke and i cannot live once i have bought the things that i want, I am so peed off with the people and how the look at each case and still lying on the paperwork that was sent to me and giving people who isn't disabled and looks well gets the whole lot and i have been disabled all my entire life and i don't think that these people clearly need to take a look into my records and get the real truth about me!