Disabled mum left in tears after DWP wrongly stopped all her benefits – Mirror Online

A mum who suffers from heart diseases and diabetes was left in tears as she battled to get back the benefits she was wrongly stripped of.

Nicole De Rafael, 50, saw her income support reduced to nothing after she was moved onto Personal Independence Payment (PIP) - and incorrectly scored zero on a health assessment.

The mum, whose daughter Lexi is her primary carer while her younger daughter Maytha she describes as her "young carer", was left having to appeal the decision and she said the "hugely stressful" experience only made her more ill.

But, with Legal Aid support, she took the case to Tribunal eventually winning her benefits back and now says she wants to give "others the courage to fight".

Research from the Department for Work and Pensions shows just 9% of claims are appealed, but almost two out of every appeal (65%) succeed.

But that doesn't mean it was an easy process.

This has been a hugely stressful time that has only made me more ill," Nicole, who is from Fulham, said.

"It has become clear to me that the rules are written to confuse ordinary people and ultimately try and cut social security spending, irrespective of an individuals needs or how much damage it does."

She added: The irony should be lost on no one that it took Government money from the legal aid pot to ensure that I received what I need to live on from the social security pot.

"Its madness."

Under PIP, you need to score at least eight points to get the standard benefit, and 12 or more to claim the enhanced benefit.

Those points are based on how much help someone needs to take part in everyday life and with getting around as a result of long-term ill-health or a disability.

But Nicole, who suffers from diabetes, depression, severe anxiety and heart disease as well as dissociative fugue, was initially scored zero points.

Although she appealed the decision, she became tearful at her first-tier Tribunal, as her dissociative fugue saw her temporarily lose her sense of her personal identity.

However, some good news came out of the attempt - as the Legal Aid Agency granted her exceptional case funding afterwards.

As a result Desmond Rutledge of Garden Court Chambers could appear in the tribunals on her behalf, while social care specialist Arjun Jethwa from from Osborne's Law became her solicitor.

It's help that was greatly appreciated, given the complexity of the rules around PIP payments and assessments.

The DWP publishes social security legislation in 13 volumes, and a decision makers guide in 14 volumes it is not an easy task to get to grips with, particularly if youre ill," Arjun explained.

Had we not been able to convince the Legal Aid Agency to fund her case, Nicole a woman recognised by all her medical professionals to be highly vulnerable would have been left in the impossible position of trying to navigate the system herself."

With legal support in place, the First-tier Tribunal next awarded Nicole six points for daily living and 14 points for mobility.

This decision was then set aside by the Upper Tribunal, which found errors in the assessments and ordered a new tribunal undertake the process again.

The final tribunal awarded her 13 points for daily living and 14 points for mobility - up from the original 0.

That was enough to ensure Nicole, finally, received the maximum PIP award.

But while the right result in the end, it took two years of stress and worry to reach it.

"It is shameful how many hoops she has had to jump through. It took two years to prove her entitlement," Arjun said.

"This all had a direct impact on her health and wellbeing to reach what should have been clear from the start the right outcome.

"It is clear that the initial assessments require changing to avoid this sort of situation recurring.

But the case, however many mistakes were made along the way, does at least show they can be corrected.

The good news, however, is that Nicoles case shows how bad decisions can be challenged and overturned," Arjun said.

The DWP said they are spending 55 billion - more than ever before - on benefits to support disabled people and those with health conditions.

A DWPspokesman told Mirror Money: We want people to get the full support they are entitled to and are improving the assessment process, gathering more information earlier to aid decision-making.

"Decisions are often revised because more evidence is provided at a later stage and of the 3.3million PIP decisionsmade, only 5% have been overturned at appeal.

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Disabled mum left in tears after DWP wrongly stopped all her benefits - Mirror Online