A is a woman in her late 20’s who had recently been relocated to a different area due to the breakup   of an abusive relationship, and had been to see her GP with depression, anxiety, and a fear of leaving the house. The doctor offered her the choice of anti-depressants or peer support, and A decided to give peer support a go.

On the first meeting, she hardly spoke, but on her second visit she was already much brighter.  She said that by talking to someone she started to look at some of the problems that she had put on one side for many years.  When she had tried to speak to her family, she had received sympathy, but she couldn’t really open up, which had made her feel worse. A peer supporter, instead gave empathy, and enabled her to face some of the issues she’d been bottling up.  It was easy to talk to the support worker, and it helped her to clarify some of the concerns that had been going round in her head.  After 6 sessions she was ready to make some decisions about how to move on with her life.

The support worker bumped into her a couple of months later in a playgym, with her toddler and a friend.  She came over to her and thanked her for giving her the confidence, through the support, to take control of her own life again, without the need for medication.

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is the main benefit for people with disabilities.  Since 2013, the government has slowly been phasing DLA out for working age people and introducing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in its place.  All new applicants, of working age, have been applying for PIP and now they are starting to move people over from DLA.

Those that turned 65 on or before the 8th April 2013 your DLA claim will not change or be reassessed.  Similarly, a child will remain on DLA until they are 16.

When the DWP wish to reassess your claim for DLA, they will “invite you to apply” for PIP.  This is not really an invite, if you don’t apply for PIP, your claim for DLA will just stop with nothing to replace it.  You will have to ring up and they will have to check on a few details before sending out a PIP claim form to you.  Please do not ignore this “invite”!

For more information on the PIP process, check out our other article, Spotlight on PIP.