Disclaimer – Although I phoned PIP last week I have since written other articles which would have pushed this article to the bottom of the pile so I have changed the publishing date to today for easy access even though the article was originally published last week.
PIP Review Digital Form.
It is my turn to have a review for my personal independence payment and they do not make it easy to renew. The system is designed for you to not have the energy to argue. But arguing is what I am good at among my other many talents.
I can honestly say my OCD and stress levels have got so bad all because of the emotional distress PIP has caused.
I have phoned three times and had one call back.
Today (14/11/22) I tried to do the review over the phone and the person who said he would phone me put me through to someone who was not helping. I ended up not confirming the callback, so I guess no one will phone me unless I phone back again and wait another 30 mins to get through.
This PIP review process has caused my OCD to flare up more because they cannot access my website, or so it seems (so they are not human) to read my article even though I repeated my domain name umpteen times.
I was told I would have to have an assessment, I turned around and said I would want to know the qualifications of the person before assessing me, although I would not have any proof. Anyone can say they have a Ph.D. over the phone.
This website and my medical records should be sufficient evidence in order to be able to access my information. I am not going to jump through hoops to prove I am disabled.
What are Personal Independence Payments For?
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can help with extra living costs if you have both:
- a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability
- difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around because of your condition
You can get PIP even if you’re working, have savings, or are getting most other benefits.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP): What PIP is for – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
“I AM IN EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AS A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF PIP”
“I cannot handle stress, hence hate making phone calls or talking to people who cause me stress”.
I phoned last week 10th & 11th of November 2022 and today 14th of November 2022 and explained I needed a digital form to send to them and their response was “sorry we currently do not have the form”.
Why make it difficult? all documents are on a database and all are stored on servers somewhere.
I explained I do not have a social worker (I felt this comment degrading, I am not that mentally disabled that I would need a social worker), and I stated I have many sensitive documents to send (which I cannot send in the post) which not only would cost me a fortune in printing and postal fees but could also jeopardize my privacy.
I am anxious about the humiliation I will have to endure with the assessment like my medical records are not enough evidence.
In fact, I found a letter that was archived confirming my article and health condition.
My Background
- I am the Editor of Disability UK – Disabled Entrepreneur Online Journal which I own, I am also the Editor of other online publications, which are all under the www.ukwebsitedesigners.co.uk umbrella.
- I am a web developer.
- Internet Marketer.
- Content Writer.
Famous people with OCD:
https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/category/famous-people-with-ocd/
MPs Charles Walker and Kevan Jones tell of mental health issues – BBC News
There is nothing wrong with my intellectual brain (Nikola Tesla had OCD). I am an abled-bodied person although I have physical and mental problems as referenced in my letters sent to my GP, which can be confirmed on my medical records. I just have issues dealing with people who stress me out, I cannot cope very well with stress and anxiety, and have a problem dealing with germ contamination. My mental health is an issue to include:
- OCD
- Intrusive Thoughts
- Depression
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Emotional Distress
- Procrastination
My Daily Life Routine
I have everything delivered, my grocery, my prescription, and take-outs. I have a business and do everything online, there is nothing I cannot do, other than send PIP Review forms back. 🤣😂
“I can adapt my life around my disability”.
“I am able to cook and clean and do all the usual things anyone else can do with the aid of disposable latex gloves and sanitizing products”.
“I can give support to people that need me, which is why I developed this website to help people with disabilities. Did you there are Politicians in the UK with OCD”?
“I just find it difficult to interact with the outside physical world.
(Wearing latex gloves in public is embarrassing)”.
Although this is tongue-in-cheek humor, (Obviously, this video is a joke, someone with OCD would not allow anything to touch the floor (the spray bottle and backpack touched the floor). However, there is a serious side to OCD where I have been known in the past to sanitize public seating before sitting down. I once cleaned a window sill at a hospital before putting down my laptop and showed the dirt to the doctor, who turned around and said and I quote “I am not a cleaner, take it up with the ward manager”. It got to the stage where I refused to sit in the GP waiting area or in the office. I now avoid public humiliation, germ cross-contamination, and social interaction as much as possible. I now live in a sanitized quarantined home and do everything online. I am happy to keep my own company!
“I can manage my finances and run a business and can give support to anyone that needs me”.
(I prefer not to have incoming calls unscheduled as I could be working and do not want to be disturbed), plus the fact I prefer to communicate online rather than talk over the phone, phone calls cause me stress – phone phobia.
“Phone calls cause me anxiety”.
What happened to being eco-friendly and saving the planet?
I carried on saying, I do not go out, I run a business and the easiest way is to send a digital copy, (every organization on this planet has online or digital downloadable forms, but PIP doesn’t). Even the gov website has online forms inclusive of tax returns and renewals of working tax & child credits.
PIP has made me emotionally distressed.
I also confirmed the email address (contactus@capita-pip.co.uk) I would send the information to and was told “sorry this is not the email address it is for appeals and renewals, not reviews“. Quick thinking I replied that in the subject line I would say please forward this to the relevant person to which the agent replied “you cannot send it there because it may never be seen”.
I also stated this was causing me anxiety, so the agent said she would phone me back in an hour, which she did, and said she could send someone over. I replied because of my OCD I do not have people coming over, besides I run a business and cannot stop my business to stop and chat or fill out forms. How on earth am I supposed to forward sensitive data to a complete stranger?
Telephone Confusion!
(Which has caused me anxiety)!
The agent also gave me the option to get my daughter to send in the form but again I do not want the sensitive data sent in the post, she then asked when my daughter was coming back from UNI.
I did not clock on what the assessor meant until we ended the call. (I suffer from cognitive impairment due to my cerebellar atrophy), all I remember the assessor saying was “so you do not know when your daughter finishes uni” repeating it twice.
My daughter lives with me and goes to a local university I do not know her timetable so do not know when she finishes uni on any given day. But I guess the assessor thought my daughter travels or lives away.
I guess where the confusion came from when the assessor said do I have anyone to fill in the form or post it on my behalf, I said I only have my daughter but she goes to uni and what I should have continued to say is too busy to do errands for me.
It’s usually the other way around, I do all the writing, and phone calls (virtual landline) if I really need to. (I spoke to PIP 4 times over this review), and chasing on my daughter’s behalf but strictly online.
I am Super Stressed by this Review! “This is why I hate talking over the phone”!
Can of Worms.
This personal independence payment review is going to open up a can of worms because not only with my GP not responding to my letters other confirmation that they were received and put on the system but the breach in GDPR by having a cluster pharmacist tell me she had read my letter which was not addressed to her and was marked private and confidential.
My Online Journal
https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/category/renatas-online-journal/
Dilemma
I am now stuck between a rock and a hard place. I will send the form to the email I have regardless and see what happens but I will also contact pip again on Monday 14th to see if they can access this article to download, (I did that and the person said due to security reasons he could not access my site), even though I said I had embedded a PDF, including screenshots of the form to view online or download. No one then can argue they cannot access my review. I hate all the stress, I do not need it in my life.
“There is no cure for OCD”!
My OCD is not curable, so why does PIP think my OCD has miraculously got better? considering I have suffered with it for the best part of 30 years, in fact, the more stressed I am the worse my OCD gets. I use on average 200 pairs of latex gloves a week and do not interact with the outside world other than online. I will also send proof of invoices from Amazon on how much I spend.
Is OCD Curable: Know Why It’s Not, And Your Best Case Scenario (mantracare.org)
I do not see why I have to have a review, the day my health improves DWP will be the first to know.
“My overview letter is below, inclusive of the review form, ready for download”.
PIP-OVERVIEW-ONLINE-PDF-USE-2I actually noticed an error in my letter on page 3, this is my cognitive impairment playing up because within the same sentence I said I use 200 pairs of gloves (I should have said (200 pairs per week ) which would be 1000 pairs, not 500 as stated. I jumble up words when I get stressed. I have not amended this error just to prove a point. Normally when I do content writing I read the article 20 times or more and get a second set of eyes.
Final Thoughts
No one can argue I never submitted or published my PIP review on time.
In fact, with the stress I have had to endure with my attempted communication, I have filled in the form which has caused my OCD to flare up and it is being sent this Wednesday recorded and signed for. The whole process could have been dealt with differently without it being degrading and humiliating.
But what I stated in the form which caused me a lot of distress filling it in, is that I will be contacting the health secretary Rt Hon Steve Barclay, and will be asking the Politicians who have OCD to comment on their disabilities and see if they are treated the same way and how they cope with the disorder.
I should not have to feel like I am bonkers. It does not help when I am trying to heal and have people question me even after I have attempted to show proof.
I have shown evidence of one of my disabilities online (OCD). I know there is a protocol that PIP needs to adhere, to assess people but at least treat people with dignity and not degrade them, make life easier by doing online forms, saving the government money, printing and sending out paper forms (This in itself costs the government money), thus also helping to save the planet from carbon emissions and it would be less stressful for people with disabilities that perhaps have problems filling out physical forms like myself.
I read that the NHS wastes £100m a year sending out letters so how much does it cost the government to send out PIP forms by post?
NHS ‘wastes £100m a year sending letters’ | News | The Times
MPs with OCD
MPs Charles Walker and Kevan Jones tell of mental health issues – BBC News
“Just because I am disabled does not stop me from doing things, I just have to adapt to my surrounding to fit in with my disabilities”.
“My disabilities do not define me or stop me from following my dream”.
“Go Digital, Save Money & the Planet”
One final last thing I would have had an assessment sooner with my GP over my mental health had they bothered to contact me, seeing as I wrote two very detailed letters which were confirmed by the practice manager that they had been received and had been put on the system, but no clinician contacted me regarding my most recent letter, even though it stated in the email someone would.
#pip #pipreviews #personalindependancepayments #digitalforms #dwp
The Editor Suffers From OCD & Cerebellar Atrophy. She is an Entrepreneur & Published Author, she writes content on a range of topics, including politics, current affairs, health and business. She is an advocate for Mental Health, Human Rights & Disability Discrimination.
Whilst her disabilities can be challenging she has adapted her life around her health and documents her journey online.
Disabled Entrepreneur - Disability UK Online Journal Offers Digital Marketing, Content Writing, Website Creation, SEO, and Domain Brokering. Disabled Entrepreneur - Disability UK is an open platform that invites contributors to write articles and serves as a dynamic marketplace where a diverse range of talents and offerings can converge. This platform acts as a collaborative space where individuals or businesses can share their expertise, creativity, and products with a broader audience.
