 In March 2021, I had a scheduled review of my Personal Independence Payment (PIP). This means my award – the benefit I'd previously been deemed eligible to receive for three years – was back up for debate. I lost it all. I was, according to decision makers at the Department for Work and Pensions, no longer entitled to a penny. Apparently, I wasn't eligible anymore, despite my conditions remaining the same. I went from the standard rates of both the daily living and mobility components to nothing. Part of me expected it to happen. I'm not the first disabled person to have to fight for what they're entitled to and I won't be the last. That evening I was overwhelmed with despair – I was angry, upset, and felt dehumanised. Work on my appeal started almost immediately, but I didn't expect to still be sitting in limbo over two years later. As a child, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, and have struggled to walk since a back injury when I was 16. Just getting around my home is difficult, and even now, at 26, I'm still undergoing investigations with specialists for a long list of unexplained symptoms on top of struggles with my mental health. When I first applied for PIP, I was nervous because I'd heard it was difficult, and my unease grew when I sent them some NHS information about my condition to be told my assessor didn't have time to read it. After an exhausting and humiliating process, having to describe in detail things like how I use the toilet, a letter arrived saying I was successful. I'd be getting £77.65 per week for three years. Losing the money was one thing, but it also felt like I was losing who I was (Picture: Chelsea Sowden) PIP, as it's designed to do, allowed me to pay for some of the extra costs that come with being disabled like using a car or taxi for every journey, buying ready meals, and using more ene){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
In March 2021, I had a scheduled review of my Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
This means my award – the benefit I’d previously been deemed eligible to receive for three years – was back up for debate.
I lost it all. I was, according to decision makers at the Department for Work and Pensions, no longer entitled to a penny.
Apparently, I wasn’t eligible anymore, despite my conditions remaining the same. I went from the standard rates of both the daily living and mobility components to nothing.