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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Decision making and appeals  →  Thread

Fluctuating Conditions

Bcfu
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Blackpool Centre For Unemployed

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Hi

This may sound like a bizarre question but is there any caselaw on fluctuating conditions which look at the weather?

Background for this question - Cl has mental health conditions which fluctuate depending on the weather i.e. more upbeat/motivated on sunny days. Although, his health conditions do still affect him on “good days” which will be my main argument.

I want to try to argue that in the UK over the 12-month period required for PIP, we very rarely in the UK have lots of sunny days compared to dull/gloomy days.

Any help would be appreciated

Adam

Helen Rogers
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Welfare rights officer - Stockport MBC

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I don’t think you need case law for this.  You just need to argue that the client is adversely affected on most days.

Mike Hughes
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Senior welfare rights officer - Salford City Council Welfare Rights Service

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I routinely make the case that all conditions are fluctuating and that can be for a number of, often combined, reasons. Environmental issues are absolutely one of them. If you have sensory loss then no measurement describes the minute to minute variations and one of the biggest factors is absolutely environmental. What you see or hear can vary from second to second and what you saw or heard 5 minutes ago in the same position in the same room says nothing about what you see or hear now. It’s also well accepted that weather impacts a variety of physical health conditions - working in North East Wales in my CitA days I was always fascinated by the numbers of people who had been actively recommended by medical professionals to move from Greater Manchester to Rhyl and surrounds because of the positive impact on things like vibration white finger etc. I often wondered if those medical professionals had ever experienced a coastal Winter?

As Helen says though, this is not a case law issue. It’s simply about the 50% rule and explaining how and why it applies in your clients circumstances. 

Also useful to redefine the language around “good days”. None of my clients have any such thing. DWP read “good days” as “health condition and all consequences magicked out of existence”. My clients have better or worse days.

Bcfu
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Blackpool Centre For Unemployed

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Mike Hughes - 10 May 2021 10:40 AM

I routinely make the case that all conditions are fluctuating and that can be for a number of, often combined, reasons. Environmental issues are absolutely one of them. If you have sensory loss then no measurement describes the minute to minute variations and one of the biggest factors is absolutely environmental. What you see or hear can vary from second to second and what you saw or heard 5 minutes ago in the same position in the same room says nothing about what you see or hear now. It’s also well accepted that weather impacts a variety of physical health conditions - working in North East Wales in my CitA days I was always fascinated by the numbers of people who had been actively recommended by medical professionals to move from Greater Manchester to Rhyl and surrounds because of the positive impact on things like vibration white finger etc. I often wondered if those medical professionals had ever experienced a coastal Winter?

As Helen says though, this is not a case law issue. It’s simply about the 50% rule and explaining how and why it applies in your clients circumstances. 

Also useful to redefine the language around “good days”. None of my clients have any such thing. DWP read “good days” as “health condition and all consequences magicked out of existence”. My clients have better or worse days.

Thanks for this. I tell all my clients not to say good days (rookie mistake by me haha).

Living in Blackpool, we see clients who have been told to move to seaside areas due to their health conditions.

Bcfu
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Blackpool Centre For Unemployed

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Helen Rogers - 10 May 2021 08:55 AM

I don’t think you need case law for this.  You just need to argue that the client is adversely affected on most days.

Thanks, Helen.