
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
58 | THURROCK CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING
Navigating the system
For many disabled and vulnerable
people, the prospect of tackling a
lengthy, complex application form
presents a formidable obstacle to
getting the financial or other help they
need. Often their impairment leaves
them unable to cope, and they often
seek help, either from a carer, relative
or friend. This route has mixed results
in our experience.
The DWP’s own figures show that in
Thurrock, only 40 per cent of new
PIP claims are awarded – 45 per cent
nationally. This cannot be solely due
to applicants not being sufficiently
impaired according to the guidelines.
For those then challenging the award,
things don’t get much better. The
mandatory reconsideration results in
84 per cent of new claims yielding no
change to the award. When the case is
taken to appeal though, there is a 71
per cent success rate in overturning the
DWP decision.
For TCIL, where we are asked to help
in completion of the initial form, our
success rate is extremely high, and
where unsuccessful claims for PIP have
been made and our help sought for the
appeal, it is in excess of 90 per cent.
This is not because of new information,
but purely because we can guide our
clients through the complexity of the
form, get them to answer the question
and collate theevidence.
The cost of rework within the
system is huge, far in excess of any
acceptable maxim in the private
sector, and yet there is little or no
funding from government at any level
for organisations that connect the
individuals with the help they need.
Few people would argue that the style
and veracity of assessment are wrong
in their nature and objective, but where
is the help for those most vulnerable in
our society to access what is rightfully
theirs and often desperately needed?
Way forward for TCIL
TCIL still exists today because we were
prepared to change with the times. We
sought and secured skills, particularly
commercial skills, that have become
the backbone of its offering and we
have relied on our disabled trustees to
guide the shaping of our services to
meet the most crucial needs.
Such has been the demand for our
form of advocacy that we have
broadened our scope, with the
encouragement and training of
the Office of the Public Guardian,
to provide assistance to vulnerable
people in completing Lasting Powers
of Attorney for free – saving clients an
estimated £290,000 in legal fees so
far – and wills. We all live in a society
that rightly demands accountability
and legitimacy in qualifying for help,
but let’s not institutionally discriminate
by creating barriers in the path of
those most in need, or at least fund
organisations that can assist them in
overcoming those barriers.
TCIL still exists
today because
we were
prepared to
change with
the times
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User-led, professionally
delivered