First of all, please buy a stapler and a box file, they are really important for keeping your papers together in the right order.

Make the initial application over the telephone by telephoning the Department for Work and Pensions PIP telephone line – 0800 917 2222

If you struggle to make telephone calls, someone can make the call for you, but you have to be with them, then you have to speak to the adviser giving permission for the other person to speak on your behalf.

For how to make a PIP application, please see - How to apply for a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) form

Complete the PIP1 form over the telephone, a form will then be sent to you. The advisers are all very helpful and friendly, so please do not be worried.

You can ask to complete a form online, but I have found this can be more difficult and I would always recommend completing a paper form.

Your PIP 'How your disability affects you’ form will then be sent to you, it should take two weeks to arrive.

You have a month from the date of the letter on the right-hand side, to send your form back. If you cannot do this in time, please telephone the PIP enquiry line telephone: 0800 121 4433 to ask for an extension, you are allowed to ask for one but really no more than that. Please also use this telephone number if you need to ask any questions.

After completing the form, make sure you photocopy it, then send it with your supporting evidence, this could be prescription lists, care plans, a hospital discharge notice or information from your doctor or others involved in your care.

Please post the form by signed for post so that you can track it on the Royal Mail Track and Trace website. The onus is always on the claimant to keep track of their claim, this includes making sure your paperwork arrives on time.

The next stage is that you will be invited to an assessment by a Health Care Professional (HCP). This could be on the telephone or face-to-face. Please do take someone with you for support and take the copy of your form. This person can come in to the assessment with you, they cannot answer the questions for you, but they can prompt you.

If your assessment is on the telephone, someone else can be patched in to support you, or you can have someone else in the room with you, but please let the Health Care Professional (HCP) know this and who they are.

At the assessment the HCP will be typing your answers and after your assessment will complete the report which will be sent to a Decision Maker (DM). I feel there is a disconnect here as the DM will not have met you or spoken with you. It is the DM who makes the decision about your award, not the HCP.

If you are waiting for an assessment and you do not hear anything within three months, then telephone the DWP, using the telephone number on the top of your letter that was sent with your form and ask for an update.

PIP is divided in to two sections, the daily living component which is the struggles you are having with everyday tasks and the help you need to carry them out. The other section is the mobility component which is the struggles you are having with your mobility and the help you need to carry them out.

Find out more on what the assessment entails above in the ‘PIP assessment’ link.

The points that you require for a PIP award are:

• Standard award for daily living – 8 points

• Enhanced award for daily living – 12 points

• Standard award for mobility – 8 points

• Enhanced award for mobility – 12 points

(You do not add the points of the two sections together)

The Decision Maker (DM) will send you an award letter, but recently the Department for Work and Pensions has started sending text messages to claimants to inform them that they have been awarded PIP.

Quite often money will be put in the claimant’s bank account before the award letter arrives. The PIP award will be back-dated to the date of the initial telephone application. PIP is paid every four weeks however, anyone claiming under the special rules for terminally ill people can receive the payment weekly.

If the award is not the one you think you should have been awarded, you can do a Mandatory Reconsideration, this must be done within one month of the date of the award letter. This can be done in writing, over the telephone or using a form that can be downloaded from the gov.uk website. Please keep a photocopy of it and send it by signed for post so that you can track it.

The success rate of a Mandatory Reconsideration is very low; however, you cannot lodge an appeal until you have gone through the process of a Mandatory Reconsideration. The government’s own figure for the success of a Mandatory Reconsideration is under 20%, this is not just for the success of the Mandatory Reconsideration, but also for any extra points being given.

Once the award letter regarding your Mandatory Reconsideration has been received, you will be sent two copies and if it is still not the decision you think you should have been given, you will need to complete an SSCS1 form to start your appeal. This form can be found on the gov.uk website and completed either online or printed and completed in a hard copy. I also have copies if you should need one.

The SSCS1 form should be completed within one month from the date of the Mandatory Reconsideration award letter sent to you, although there is a box on the form if you are sending the it back late to explain why. The SSCS1 form is not very long, please complete every section and you will need to put why you are appealing. I think this should be kept short as you will not have seen the reports done of your assessment, so you really do not know what you are arguing against.

You will need to include a copy of your Mandatory Reconsideration with the SSCS1 form when you return it, if you do not your case will not be lodged as an appeal. Please do photocopy the form and again, send it by signed for post. The SSCS1 form is sent to the address at the back of the form which is Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), not the DWP.

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) will write to you informing you that your case has been lodged as an appeal and include a sheet with your case reference number on, please keep this sheet to send up to HMCTS with any extra information. It also has their address on.

HMCTS will write to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) explaining that you are lodging an appeal. The DWP then has a certain amount of time in which to respond, explaining why they think you should not be awarded PIP. Once they have responded all of your papers will be put together and sent to you, this is called The Bundle. It is normally over 100 pages as it contains your original application form and medical evidence, the Health Care Professional’s report, the Decision Maker’s report, your Mandatory Reconsideration application, the DM’s report on that, your SSCS1 form and the DWP’s response.

DO NOT PANIC. It is a lot of papers but it is your case and you already know a lot of it. Now is the time to do the submissions, which is your arguments against the HCP, the DM and the DWP. These are really important as this is your chance to explain why you disagree and which points you think you should have been awarded.

The submissions should be sent to HMCTS together with the sheet they have sent you with your case details on. You should send these at least three weeks before your case, but hopefully a lot more.

The Tribunal are then sent the documents for your case at least ten working days before your Appeal is heard as they need to read them all. Your submissions will be asking the Tribunal to look at specific descriptors and asking them to consider the points you are asking for. If you do not send in submissions the Tribunal will not know where you disagree with the DWP.

A date and place will be sent to you to attend a Tribunal, or you may have asked for it to be decided on your papers without you having to attend. The statistics state that you have a much greater chance of being awarded PIP if you attend the Tribunal as they may ask you questions and they can see you.

A representative of the DWP may also attend the Tribunal.

Do not go alone to the Tribunal, I go to many Appeals with my clients, but you can also take a family member or friend for support.

At the Tribunal you will be asked questions, please see the section on Tribunals for more information. Sometimes the Tribunal decides they need more medical evidence and may adjourn for this reason. This if very frustrating and is the reason you should have sent in all your medical evidence.

The Tribunal may or may not give you their decision that day, it depends if they can reach a decision quickly, they may have other cases waiting to be heard, but they will definitely make a decision before the end of the day and you will then receive the decision in the post.

If your case is successful a letter will also be sent from the DWP to you explaining the level of PIP you have been awarded. Quite often you will see a payment in your bank account before you receive the letter. Your award will be back-dated to the beginning of your claim. This money is disregarded as savings by the DWP for a year.

In rare cases, if you do not agree with the decision on a point of law or something that happened that you do not feel is correct, so perhaps the GP did not ask you any questions, then you can Appeal to the Higher Tribunal. If the DWP do not agree with the decision, then they can also appeal to the Higher Tribunal.

If this happens, the first step is that the Judge will be asked to submit their written report, the DWP or you, if you have asked for this, will be sent it and then, after reading it, can decide to go to the Higher Tribunal, or not. I deal with many, many cases at Tribunals and have only appealed to the Higher Tribunal once, which was successful. I have never dealt with a case that has been appealed by the DWP to the Higher Tribunal.

Cases that go to the Higher Tribunal are not decided by the Higher Tribunal. The case is looked at from start to finish and they decide if they think the First Tier Tribunal made the correct decision in the correct manner. If they think not, then the case is returned to HMCTS and another Appeal will be heard by a different Tribunal.

If your application does go to an Appeal, then the whole process from your initial application telephone call, can take a year, so please be prepared for this.