Good morning all,
So OH has been in receipt of standard daily living and standard mobility for around 9 years now. He's got rheumatoid arthritis, glaucoma, reynauds, spondylosis and almost lost his foot in a freak accident.
His first award was for 5 years then had a review (paper based, no assessment) and his second award was for 4 years. His awards have always stayed the same and he's not had another face to face or telephone assessment since his claim began.
His current PIP award was due to be reviewed in June this year but as we know they always send the forms out a few months early
He got sent a review form October 23 and shockingly we only had about 5 days to get it sent back (they wanted the form back by beginning of Nov 23) so had to pay for special delivery 🥴.
By the end of May we'd still not heard anything re his review decision then a letter dropped through the door stating they were extending his PIP for another year until June 25 as they were so behind with reviews, however a decision could be made sooner etc.
This is where it gets interesting,bear with me...
So we got told via a letter from HMRC in May that we had to migrate to UC by August. (we were previously on income support, child tax credit and I get carers allowance)
So we did the migration and all went smoothly. OH has to send in fit notes etc etc. He's also had to fill in a UC50 for the work capability element which had to be back in by Monday just gone (16th). On the same day, bearing in mind we never put his phone number on his PIP forms as he never answers his phone as he hates speaking to anyone on the phone, he got a text from PIP at 8am saying that his PIP review was now complete, wait 2 weeks for a letter, don't call to ask about your claim bla bla bla. It just seems really odd that they've got his number now and text him the same day that he had to get his UC50 form back in. Could just purely be coincidental as according to others I've spoken to, the 2 depts are totally separate and don't often communicate. But it seems like they were waiting for his UC50 forms to make a final decision on his PIP. 🤔
Sooo that's my first question... Has anyone experienced the same?
2nd question is what happens to his PIP if for example it's been stopped? He still got his normal payment the day after he received the text from PIP (this Tuesday, 17th). I've read that a lot of people have had the text one day and no PIP in their banks the following day when it was due.
I can't see why they would stop his award, If anything it should have been increased well before now. But the problem we've got is this... Hes really sensitive to a lot of meds. He can't take a lot of meds as they cripple his stomach and he has rectal bleeding as a result. He's tried every anti rheumatic drug available and always ends up back on thr only one he's OK ish on. He cant take any NSAIDs either. So we always put no change on his forms in regards to his meds.
His mobility is getting worse but weve been said no change on that because he's not in need of a wheelchair just yet and I'm not going to lie on the forms.
It's just a crazy waiting game and he won't ring them to find out what's happening. It's a bit nerve wracking if I'm honest.
What are other people's experiences please?
TIA x