They have, but there are some core principles when applying for disability / sickness benefits that remain exactly the same regardless;
- seek specialist advice and support
- plan before you start your application. Have a look through the form and questions and make notes on how each one is affected by whatever is going on for you
- go through all your medication (if you take any) and look through the side effects in the leaflet. If you experience any of those, make notes of which ones and how they impact on the questions being asked on the form
- gather medical evidence if you have any
- answer everything as if it is your worst day. Follow things up with a ‘but’ to be clear that even if you can dress yourself for example, there is a longer term knock on impact on you as a result
- talk through your notes with someone before filling in the form. Someone objective can often spot connections you haven’t made about how your condition affects you
- always appeal if unsuccessful, the statistics are very much on your side
Excellent list.
WRT the side effects, I took out the actual side effects leaflets, highlighted and underlined the ones I get (to make sure they'd show up when they were photocopied or scanned), and then added them into the very, very long extra section, with concrete examples of them happening. It helps to remind you of what the effects are, and provides proof that those are known side-effects.
Someone on here might have advised me to do that - I can't recall right now.
Concrete examples also help but you need to phrase them as "for example," to make it clear that it wasn't a one-off.
I also scanned the entire fucking thing in to my computer and photocopied it all so that I had an extra copy. My ex took the physical copies of my daughter's forms when she left, just to fuck with me, but I still had the scans in my email, so yah boo sucks to her. They're useful for the physical assessment and for any renewal.
What I think is difficult this year is gathering medical evidence, due to so many "non-urgent" appointments being cancelled and treatments being delayed. I think we're going to have to go to appeal for my daughter's PIP renewal because not only were her CAMHS appointments all cancelled, but her GP retired, her Wellness coordinator at college left, and nobody else has ever met her in person because, well, they're not allowed to. They haven't even spoken to her on the phone much because she finds that so difficult and has to put it on speaker for me to handle it, which is evidence in itself, but for the GP, it's less evidence that they can use to back you up.
But we will do the mandatory reconsideration and appeal if it comes to it. You always have to be prepared for that to happen.
I think you can send in extra evidence after sending off the form - I'd have to check, but two years ago that was allowed.
Sorry for the aside, Sheila!
Sorry, you're totally right, and I've accidentally proven that being totally accurate is important! 
There used to be three levels for the care component, and the mobility component has been made much harder to get. Thanks for correcting me.
