Case Study – Sue

Sue is in her early 40s and has recently received a terminal cancer diagnosis, however she was struggling to acknowledge or come to terms with that fact as she was in state of shock.

She had applied for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) but did not declare her condition either at the time of the claim or subsequently in the PIP2 form or at the PIP assessment. As a consequence she was not awarded PIP.

Sue had returned back to work 12 hours week. despite being unwell and immune suppressed (4 x chemo and 3 x immunotherapy in last 12 months) as she was not able to manage financially without the income. Her sister initially contacted us to get help with challenging the decision.

At her appointment the adviser identified that there may be a terminal diagnosis – however was aware this was an extremely sensitive issue for client. The adviser managed to gain permission to contact a named cancer nurse specialist and the diagnosis confirmed and the adviser initiated a revised claim using all the information now available. She also contacted PIP vulnerable customer team to ask them to fast track a decision. Sue has recently heard that her full claim has been accepted and is in payment.

The adviser was able to do all this without causing any unnecessary distress to client. The client is very pleased with the outcome: “I’m so relieved that I don’t have to go into work anymore – you’re a gem! Thank you so much.”