PIP

[newaccountwhodis]

Hi. New to the forum and PIP and am hoping some of the forum members can help me understand the claim process a little better, I applied for PIP in early December 2022. DWP told me that Capita had received my forms on December 9th. But i have not had a phone assessment scheduled yet. So i called Capita just to make sure everything was fine with my claim. They told me this morning that my claim "is in initial review" and that they "are requesting info from my medical contacts so they can do a Paper assessment". Is this a good/bad sign that my claim will be successful?

@sleepingbuddha amazing! Did you have paper based assessment or phone?
well done ❤️

I had a telephone assessment on the 12th Jan x

Brilliant. Check your back for back pay.

You can also phone the payment line which might tell you your next payment due and you may be able to work out the rate from there.

Thanks for the advice clean. Nothing in account yet.

Are case manager and decision maker different?

@newaccountwhodis i had my report through the post, it took 2 days to land on my door step from phoning.
when looking through it looks like I have 13 daily living points and 10 mobility. Il be pleased if the final outcome is that.
have you had any update?

That's great, sounds like your assessment went well. Keep us updated.

I haven't had any update yet on my claim. Will probably call Capita next week if i haven't heard anything back by then.

I will let you know any updates as and when I get them, I can’t help but ring but going to keep busy for a few days 🤞🏻🤞🏻
Good luck, I hope you hear soon!
28th October was the date I rang to start my claim but they didn’t receive my forms till 6th jan 😭

I wasn't sure about that either so i had a look online for some more info:

Case Managers are a lower grade than Decision Makers and are usually only trained to make PIP Decisions whereas a DM may have experience of other benefits and would also be responsible for making eligibility Decisions as well as entitlement ones"

(Source: benefitsandwork.co.uk)

Wow, that's very slow. i think my forms were received by DWP within 10 days. Did they mention why it took so long?
And how did you get your report? I'm thinking about requesting mine some time next week.

Hope everything goes well for you now and you get awarded PIP.

I was late sending them back, I missed the dead line 😭 but then I think postal strikes, Christmas and new year didn’t help either 😩
I had a text message a few days after my assessment to say they now have my report, I rang the pip number and asked for a copy to be sent out.
I think it’s useful to ask for it because if you need to go through MR you can start to gather your stuff up once you have the report x

You can actually request to ATOS or IAS (number on your appointment letter) that they record your medical assessment. They will then send you a copy via CD. Then obviously request a written copy of the report - it's called a PA4.

Very useful when the health care professional inevitably goes off piste and writes a pack of lies. Or over exaggerates one comment. Or fails to explore an issue further.

If you want it recorded... make sure you request it as soon as you get your appointment letter.

@morningstar15 I was pleasantly surprised with my report after heating so many people have bad reports, my points worked out to be 13 daily & 10 mobility. I’m hoping the DM doesn’t knock them down 🤞🏻

Yeah, that's good advice, thanks.

Hi. i'm not sure if your reply was intended for me or not, but I had a paper-based assessment.

Sorry, just noticing now that you were replying to xxAmy.

I got a call from someone at Capita today, i was asked if i'd be willing to have a phone assessment. I should have a letter confirming the date of the assessment soon.

@newaccountwhodis thats good, some progress x

I have been awarded, got the text this morning

That's great! 😀 Very happy for you.

Yeah, will update again soon as i can.

Got a date for my phone assessment (February 20th)

Just received a notification in my UC Journal earlier today that i will "receive a questionnaire from "Medical Support Services" soon and that i need to fill it out and might be asked to attend an assessment with them soon. Does anyone understand this? Why do i need to do this if i have already got an assessment scheduled with Capita later this month? Wouldn't the DWP have already informed Universal Credit about this? I am waiting for a response in my UC journal but wanted to know if anyone on here has ever heard of anything like this before? (Especially anyone who is also from Northern Ireland)

This will be an assessment for work capability. It is a different assessment to the PIP one as PIP is assessing your disability and difficulties with daily living wheras this Uc one is assessing your ability to work ( or not). It will be another assessment, usually by phone and if awarded the highest rate ( LCWRA ) you will get extra money each month on your UC claim backdated to the fourth UC assessment period after you started handing in sick notes.

Sorry I should have said - you fill the UC50 work capability form out first then after a while will usually have a phone assessment unless they have enough information to make a decision just based on the form. People who are undergoing some types of cancer treatment for example will automatically be awarded LCWRA without needing an assessment.