PIP claimant wants to create app to help others

Thirty-one-year-old from Stafford tells of how it took him seven months to get through the appication process

- By Thomas Cooper

A UNIVERSAL Credit claimant has triumphed in a gruelling seven-month battle with the Department for Work and Pensions for Personal Independence Payments or PIP.

And now he wants to help others going through the process by creating an app.

James Miere, who suffers from severe irritable bowel syndrome, mobility issues and poor mental health which forced him to quit his job and study part-time at Keele University, applied PIP after finding it difficult to get by on his £300 Universal Credit allowance.

However, the 31-year-old from Staffor found himself 'maxing out' several credit cards as he waited seven months for a decision on his PIP application.

He said: “When I applied for PIP, I found it was a really difficult process. I really had no idea; I'd heard a few people at university talking about how soul-sucking it is, but I didn't think it would be that bad.

“Completing all that paperwork, getting down to in-person assessments with mobility issues, all while juggling the rest of your life. It was really difficult.