A was referred to social prescribing by her GP in August 2019. It was at this time that she first came to me for benefit/financial advice, as her Disability Living Allowance had been stopped, and she was having to put in a claim for Personal Independence Payment instead.
A had already started her claim for PIP by completing a “how your disability affects you” form. She had also had an assessment, but as a result that had been refused PIP and told that she wasn’t eligible, meaning that she would no longer receive a monthly payment to support her with living and mobility needs.
This put A into financial hardship and meant that she would no longer qualify for Motability, who were at this time providing her with a vehicle.
The prospect of financial hardship and losing her vehicle, would mean that A would lose all her independence. As the situation began to unfold her mental health began to suffer and she became depressed.
At the initial assessment the patient scored a total of 13 on her wellbeing scores, never scoring above 2 for any of the categories.
I know from working with that she had hit an “all time low” at this point.

The moment I began working with A, it became clear that there were two goals; Firstly to challenge the decision made by Department For Work and Pension in relation to her PIP claim; Secondly, to prevent Amanda from losing her Motability vehicle.
At this point I referred her to the CN4C Crisis Team in order to provide support needed
to challenge the decision made on her PIP claim by DWP.
A mandatory reconsideration was completed, which would force them to look at their decision again.
After submitting the MR, DWP continued to refuse A PIP.
At this time A with Crisis support completed an online appeal to the court and tribunal service.
Due to COVID, A was forced to wait several months, but was given an extension on her Motability vehicle. As the extension was coming to an end, A contacted the court and tribunal service again, as an attempt to expedite their decision.
They eventually decided in favour of the claim for PIP, based on the evidence provided relating to her health conditions and following a telephone hearing.
As a result of this, A is due to receive enhanced rates for living and mobility needs, her claim for PIP has been successful and she will receive back-payments for the time that she did not receive anything and is in the process of ordering a new vehicle through Motability.

The impact of A being awarded Personal Independence Payment has been “life-changing, and a huge weight off my shoulders. I will finally be able to focus on improving my health instead of worrying about financial issues.”

A has now achieved the two goals that we set at the beginning of the initial consultation.
It has been a year of perseverance and patience for, but during that time her confidence has grown, and she is better equipped to assert herself and challenge when wrong decisions are made.

A recently scored a total of 30 for her overall wellbeing.