PIP REVIEW, STILL WAITING!

[Queenanne20]

Dh's PIP award is due to end in April this year. We received a review form which I completed and returned by due date of 20th September 2024. I sent it tracked so know they received it, it was a large package as I included lots of evidence. We still haven't heard anything, payments are still going in to the bank account but I'm worried as what will happen when we get to the end of the award date in April. It was granted for three years and the three years will be up in April. We are Preston, Lancashire area. Does anyone have any advice?

@LakieLady Hi , is it hard to get a mandatory reconsideration overturned when they’ve said the opposite to what you said during the assessment , as they contradicted some not all .
thanks for any advice

@LakieLady hi , have you won many appeals after a mandatory reconsideration has failed.

I had a message saying that they want to have a video consultation with me in a couple of weeks. Not sure how I feel about that. I don't really trust them but DH was saying maybe it will be helpful for them to see me. Would have preferred a paper review though

Both of mine have been telephone, which I’ve been glad of. I’d have been ecstatic with paper!

I'm thinking about asking to change to a phone call, but wondering if might be any benefit to the video call.

I called and got it changed to a phone call, in another 2 weeks. More waiting argh.

I think I’d be more nervous on a video call for sure, I’d have done the same x

I'm feeling a bit better knowing it is a phone call now but a bit paranoid wondering why they wanted video? Oh well, it's done now.

I’m over the 6 weeks the text originally said now to have a decision 🙄

I found out today they have written to the GP with a form, it said about it in the NHS app. I hardly know the GP though, since covid it is hard to see any of them.

I also changed back to video call after seeing myself on the screen this morning and thinking that might persuade them (looked terrible)

How awful is it that this is how we have to think! Hope you’re okay. I’m going to try calling again tomorrow

I had my video assessment and it went ok but who knows. Was about an hour and a half mainly her typing. She did say at the end I'll get a letter in a couple of months and any increases will be on that which sounded positive. Best of luck to anyone still waiting

Good luck, glad it went well!

I rang again today - still no answer!! Argh!

I’ve been waiting since may last year, my last assessment was paper based so hoping for the same again, I seem to have been waiting longer than most people, @Disneybride insaw yours was January last year, are you in the north west by any chance? As it seems to be a long wait here.

Hi, no West Midlands here. Papers for review sent dec 23, returned Jan 24, assessment via telephone 4th April - airing for decision currently (said 6 weeks, but out of that window now)

I've never lost a PIP appeal, and neither have any of my colleagues!

An ex colleague lost one once, and that's the only appeal that the team's lost in the whole 8 years since it was formed. It's not that we're exceptionally good or anything, more that the DWP are shite.

What are your top tips for MRs and appeals?

I have a feeling I might have to appeal again this time around :-(

I'm kicking myself for not answering some questions fully at my assessment- my elderly dad died this week and it's been a difficult time.

They tend to ask these 'leading' questions don't they. and you need to say, e.g. yes, but I'd need support of whatever, I was not explaining properly and they were rushing on to the next one (went on 1.5 hrs)

I guess I will just need to appeal / MR etc AGAIN.

Get the Benefits and Work guide!

Failing that:

1. Check the PIP descriptors and points for each activity (easily found online) you struggle with and work out how many points you think you should get for each one.
2. Bear in mind that if you can't do an activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and to an acceptable standard, without assistance, prompting etc, it counts as not being able to do it (PIP regs, para 4 (2A))
3. Compare the points you think you should get with the points you were awarded.
4. For each activity where you didn't get the points you think you should have got, explain clearly why you can't do it unaided, safely etc, and which health condition(s) make it difficult. Then say how many points you think you should have got and which paragraph of the relevant descriptor should apply. Quote para 4 (2A) where relevant.

If you didn't have a face to face assessment, highlight that and explain that it meant that you were at a disadvantage because the assessor couldn't observe any signs of anxiety, impaired mobility etc or any other visible signs of difficulty.

If it's an appeal, a few weeks after you submit it you'll get a big bundle of papers, including the assessor's report. Go through that and identify where it's wrong, inaccurate, untrue etc. You can then lodge a further submission ripping that apart. It's usually the assessor's report that's led to the incorrect decision, they are often utter bollocks.

It's not rocket science. I'm sure most people on here could do a pretty decent appeal/MR.

Thanks LadyLady that all looks useful. I've already rang and asked for a copy of the report so should see soon what has happened.

Best of luck to anyone else waiting

PS I won a paper appeal a few years back (after they took away my PIP on a paper based assessment) and I used the benefits and work guide then.

Hi everyone. My pip review was completed this week and I thought I’d give a timeline for other people waiting.

pip was till may 2025

received review forms September 2024.

return within a few days.

couple of text messages over the months to say they still have my pip forms.

a letter beginning of March to inform me that they are extending my award by a year to give them more time to complete review.

this week a text saying my review is complete. On the exact day my award was about to end actually.

I rang and my award has stayed the same for the next five years.

{mention:Orangesandlemons77}im@Orangesandlemons77im so sorry for the loss of your dad. What a stressful and worrying time you must be having at the moment. I keep reading your posts out to my husband, your concern over the video call etc and now that you have lost your dad (dh lost his in December). We both wish you well and are keeping our fingers crossed for you that your PIP gets rewarded and you don't have to go through MR or a tribunal x

{mention:Showerflowers}Your@ShowerflowersYour timeline is almost exactly the same as my husband's, so pleased to hear that you got your award again.