ANOTHER PIP ATROCITY: ‘Take my car and you take my life’

‘A DWP spokesperson said: “Decisions for PIP are made following consideration of all the information provided by the claimant, including supporting evidence from their GP or medical specialist.

“PIP assessments are carried out by qualified health professionals who combine their clinical knowledge with an understanding of the fact that not everyone with the same disability is impacted in the same way. Anyone who is unhappy with a decision can appeal, and may submit additional evidence. Most people leaving the Motability scheme are eligible for a one-off payment of up to £2000 to help meet their needs.”’

Who are they trying to convince, they may be qualified health professionals, but in what area of health, is it related to the areas they are now coming into contact with. Their clinical knowledge could be very limited.

The spokesperson states ‘not everyone with the same disability is impacted in the same way’, but the way these supposed qualified health professionals re conducting themselves would appear this is not the case.

More likely they have targets to achieve related to how many claims they turn down, because this is just a costs saving exercise. Or it purports to be, but in reality the quantity of the appeals and the success rate will be proving otherwise.

The decisions made should be right first time and the qualified health professionals should be more experienced in the areas in which they are coming into contact with.

Thousands of disabled people lose special cars in controversial new scheme | DisabledGo News and Blog

More than 50,000 disabled people have had specially-adapted vehicles taken away by the Government, a charity has said. The Motability scheme entitles disabled people to lease a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair using part of their benefit. But thousands of people are now being denied Motability as they transfer over from disability living allowance (DLA) to the controversial new disability benefit PIP. The latest figures from the Motability charity show 51,000 people have been taken off the scheme after a reassessment for personal independence payments (PIP) since it launched in 2013 – 45% of all cases. Of these, more than 3,000 have since rejoined after the decision to refuse them PIP was overturned. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says a fraction of PIP decisions are overturned, while those taken off the Motability scheme are eligible for £2,000 of support. But charity Muscular Dystrophy UK said 900 cars are now being taken away every week, as more people are rejected

Source: Thousands of disabled people lose special cars in controversial new scheme | DisabledGo News and Blog

If you drive a diesel car you could soon have to pay up to £20 a DAY – Daily Record

It is reported that plans for a ‘toxin tax’, after repeated calls for a diesel scrappage scheme, will be unveiled to crack down on air pollution

Source: If you drive a diesel car you could soon have to pay up to £20 a DAY – Daily Record

Major PIP mobility improvements are on the way, minister claims

The Motability scheme may be opened up to claimants who do not get the enhanced rate of the mobility component, Penny Mordaunt, minister for disabled people, told MPs last week. The change is one of three major improvements that Mordaunt claims she is planning to make.

In the course of a debate on ESA and PIP on 30 November Mordaunt told MPS that she was discussing a number of changes to PIP with the DWP.

One change would enable PIP claimants to keep their Motability vehicle whilst they are appealing a decision that they are no longer entitled to the enhanced rate of the mobility component of PIP. This should include claimants who lose their Motability entitlement when they move from DLA to PIP.

Mordaunt also wants to change the rules that mean that claimants who are out of the country for more than 13 weeks, other than for medical treatment, generally lose their entitlement to the PIP mobility component.

Most surprisingly, Mordaunt claims that she is “exploring options to allow those who are not in receipt of the higher Motability component to have access to the Motability scheme.” It is not clear how this would work, given that the standard rate of the PIP mobility component would not come close to covering the cost of a Motability vehicle.

The relevant passage from Mordaunt’s comments is:

Source: Major PIP mobility improvements are on the way, minister claims

Daily Mail Admits It Was Wrong About Motability Scheme Fraud

Same Difference

With many thanks to Political Scrapbook.

In May this year the Daily Mail loudly claimed that thousands of Britons were “driving off” in new cars by pretending to be disabled.

Now, a month later, it has finally admitted what many disabled activists have been saying – it was completely wrong.

The Mail claimed that by “pretending” to be disabled, thousands of Britons had claimed taxpayer-funded cars under the Motability Scheme.

The scheme was set up to help disabled people get around by helping them exchange their mobility allowance to lease a car, scooter or powered wheelchair.

But today the Mail quietly added a retraction to the end of its article, admitting it had got the figures wrong

The headline of an earlier version of this article stated that thousands of people are driving off in new cars under the Motability scheme by pretending they are disabled.

In fact, although…

View original post 83 more words

Nearly 14,000 disabled people have mobility cars taken away | DisabledGo News and Blog

Nearly 14,000 disabled people who rely on a specialist motoring allowance have had their cars taken away from them following government welfare

Source: Nearly 14,000 disabled people have mobility cars taken away | DisabledGo News and Blog

Activist loses appeal over ‘unfair’ 20 metres PIP consultation

Original post from Disabled Go News

An activist has lost his bid to prove that a public consultation on plans to tighten eligibility for the new disability benefit was unlawful, but says his legal case has still exposed the government’s “callous disregard for disabled people”.

The court of appeal ruled this week that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had carried out a proper consultation on its plans to slash the qualifying distance for the higher rate of mobility support from 50 metres to just 20 metres.

Campaigner and blogger Mx Sumpter failed last year in a judicial review of the consultation process, but appealed that decision.

The appeal was heard in July this year, and this week the court of appeal ruled that DWP’s consultation was not unfair or unlawful.

Sumpter, who can only walk a few metres with a stick, and otherwise uses a wheelchair, was assessed as eligible for the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance (DLA), and uses that to lease a car through the Motability scheme.

But Sumpter fears losing the higher rate entitlement when transferring to the new personal independence payment (PIP), and consequently losing access to a Motability vehicle.

Under DLA, someone is eligible for the higher rate if they cannot walk more than 50 metres, but under the new rules for PIP – which is gradually replacing working-age DLA – this walking distance criteria has been set at just 20 metres.

DWP consulted on the introduction of PIP in 2012 but did not mention its plans to cut the criteria from 50 metres to 20 metres until after the consultation had closed.

Last year, a judge suggested that if the consultation process had stopped at this point, he would probably have found it unfair and unlawful.

But after Sumpter’s judicial review was issued, the disabled people’s minister Esther McVey carried out a second consultation, limited just to looking at the 20 metres measure.

When McVey’s ministerial successor, Mike Penning, published his response to the consultation, he made it clear that the walking distance criteria would remain at 20 metres.

Sumpter’s legal team argued that this second consultation was irrelevant because the decision had already been made.

But the court of appeal concluded that the government had approached the second consultation “with an open mind”.

Lord Justice McCombe, one of the three appeal court judges who heard the case, said in the judgment that Sumpter’s argument would prevent decision-makers in the government’s position from “trying to put right errors in consultation processes that are pointed out to them by looking again at the areas of criticism”.

He added: “As I understand the law, consultation has to be fair; it does not have to be perfect.”

Sumpter, who blogged about the judgment today (Thursday), told Disability News Service: “I am disappointed that we were unable to change anything about PIP, but I am glad that we tried.

“The DWP imposed a cruel trade-off on disabled people in increasing support for some disabilities only by cutting help for those with physical impairments.

“In forcing the government to defend this we exposed their callous disregard for disabled people and our ability to go about our lives.

“It certainly does not fit in to their mantra that disabled people will work their way out of poverty, since for many people the loss of support will mean they can no longer work, or even leave their homes.”

Alastair Wallace, a specialist public lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, who acted for Sumpter in the case, said: “Our client originally challenged the consultation during the creation of the PIP system and while our challenge was unsuccessful, we still believe that the current proposals are unfair.

“We are disappointed by this outcome and our client’s focus will now be to ensure that the new scheme is properly implemented.”

A DWP spokesman said: “We are pleased that the court of appeal has unanimously endorsed the decision of the high court that the consultation process was fair and lawful.

“We remain committed to the full rollout of PIP, a benefit which helps disabled people to live independently by ensuring support is focussed on those who need it most.”

Only five individuals out of the 1,142 organisations and individuals who took part in the second consultation agreed with the government that the walking distance criteria should be set at 20 metres.

Government figures predict that, with the criteria set at 20 metres, the number of people receiving higher rates of mobility support – and therefore eligible for a Motability vehicle – will plunge from 1,030,000 (if DLA had not been replaced by PIP) to just 602,000 by 2018.

They also predict that 548,000 of the 892,000 working-age people who were receiving the higher rate of the DLA mobility component in February 2013 will not receive the enhanced mobility rate of PIP once they are transferred to the new benefit.

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Aden

Hi I’m Aden, I work at DisabledGo as the Digital Marketing Manager and I manage the blog and all social media channels.

More posts from author   ………….’

More than 100 a week losing their Motability vehicles, thanks to PIP

Original post from Disabled Go News

‘…………..

More than 100 disabled people every week are losing their Motability vehicles after being assessed for the government’s new disability benefit, the charity has confirmed.

The figures appears to confirm fears that the replacement of working-age disability living allowance with the new personal independence payment (PIP) would see at least 100,000 disabled people lose their Motability car.

Some estimates have suggested that as many as 180,000 DLA claimants could eventually be forced to give up their Motability vehicles after being reassessed for PIP.

Only those qualifying for the enhanced rate of the mobility component of PIP – or the higher rate of the mobility component of DLA – are entitled to obtain a car through the Motability scheme.

Although the process of reassessing about two million working-age DLA claimants for PIP has been delayed, the speed of the programme is now picking up.

Of the 8,000 Motability customers who have been reassessed for their PIP eligibility so far, 3,000 have lost their entitlement to be on the scheme and have been told to hand their vehicles back.

These figures, first obtained and broadcast this week by ITV News, have been confirmed by Motability.

A Motability spokeswoman said: “We are currently seeing over 100 customers losing eligibility each week.

“Whilst the initial implementation of PIP during 2013 and 2014 has been slower than originally anticipated, this rate has increased over recent months as the reassessment rollout has been extended by DWP to additional areas across GB.”

She said it was “still too early” to predict accurately the number of customers who would lose their Motability vehicles.

Motability has previously suggested that about 360,000 of its customers will eventually be reassessed for PIP.

If three out of every eight of these customers lose their eligibility, the number forced to hand back their Motability vehicles could reach 135,000.

The Motability spokeswoman said: “As we are only a small percentage of the way through the reassessment process and it is impossible to know how it will unfold over the next five years, it is too early to accurately predict the number of customers who will lose their Motability vehicles as a result of the transition to PIP.

“The estimate of 100,000 is in line with scheme forecasts. However, Motability is prepared for a range of scenarios above and below this number.”

Motability won praise 18 months ago after it announced – as part of a package of measures – that it would hand £2,000 to every disabled person who had their vehicle taken away after being reassessed for PIP and had joined the scheme before January 2013.

The spokeswoman said: “Motability has already provided some £6 million for this transitional support and the number of customers affected will unquestionably increase during the coming months, as the pace of DWP reassessments accelerates.

“Early research from recipients of the transitional support package shows that customers are appreciative of the level of support provided and that it has helped them to remain mobile without their Motability car, in many cases by purchasing a used car.”

Asked if the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) agreed with the Disability News Service estimate of 135,000 and was comfortable with this number of people losing their Motability vehicles, a DWP spokesman said: “By the end of January 2015, over 103,000 new claimants had been awarded PIP enhanced rate mobility.

“In addition, over 26,000 people previously in receipt of DLA were awarded the enhanced rate of mobility having been reassessed under PIP.

“We have worked closely with Motability to ensure that support is available to people leaving the scheme following PIP reassessment.

“Motability have agreed that the majority of people will be eligible for a one-off payment of £2,000, which will help ensure their mobility needs continue to be met.”

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Aden

Hi I’m Aden, I work at DisabledGo as the Digital Marketing Manager and I manage the blog and all social media channels.

More posts from author  ………’