Firstly apologies for ANOTHER PIP post I am bored of writing them you guys must be bored of seeing them, lets hope this is the last one !
So I have made the call, collected the evidence, filled the form, attended the flipping assessment (very early Dec) and still I wait for a decision even though the lovely people at DWP sent me a letter saying they had all the evidence they needed to make their decision weeks ago. As I understand it the process should be 12 weeks from receipt of the form and I am now 11 weeks and 2 days ( YES I am counting !!) so in fairness they do have a few days but I am wondering âŚ
Is the normal for them to run it right to the wire when moving over from DLA?
I know someone who started a new claim within a few days of mine and had their f2f about a week earlier than me and it was all sorted in 8 weeks and thatâs with 2 conditions to consider.
The stress of this is driving me crazy which is helpful when already signed off work with a relapse. I am literally waiting for the postman to come, pouncing at the letterbox when I see him and the feeling miserable for hours because the flipping letter isnât there again.
The Christmas/New Year holidays may have something to do with it. We all feel for everyone who has to go through this.
Sorry if Iâm repeating what people have already said but, youâve started a new thread.
Did you phone and get a copy of the report? That may indicate the DWPâs decision.
Have you checked your bank account? They may be paying you already.
Let us know what the result is. If itâs not what you expect then appeal. I think a lot of people get what they are entitled to on appeal, so stressful and time consuming but worth it. Lots of advice on threads.
So I started a new thread because I couldnât find the old one about sums me up at the minute lol
I do have a copy of the F2F assessors report mainly because Iâm an impatient devil and I wanted to be sure we were on the same page so to speak. Based on that report and assuming DWP actually pay any attention to it everything will be fine but itâs the unknown the âuntil itâs in my handâ thatâs driving me insane. I definitely donât have any extra money from them but being long old January if they saw fit it would be really appreciated!! Coincidentally my DLA payment date is next week so I guess it could all be being swapped over in one nice move- or is that too simple?
I have on several occasions thought about calling them but not done in case it portrayed me in a bad way or it delayed it further for daring to chase but it sounds like from what you are saying itâs no problem⌠all good stuff .
Thanks again âŚthink Iâm just being impatient as per usual but will probably call at the back end of the week if no letter or money has appeared
Sal - I really hope yours gets sorted as soon as possible, the waiting around and the stress and worry really isnât good for anyone. To make your wait seem a little more reasonable, I got the dreaded letter in March 2018. Filled the forms in etc, had the face to face etc. As you can see we are in Mid January 2019 now and I am waiting to hear about a date for a tribunal! The tribunal people have had mine and the DWPs details and reports since late October, just need a date and time to go to court and see what the tribunal people say. I really canât see it being resolved within a year from start to finish, the process is clearly broken, Charlie
OMG!! Charlie that is awful and flies in the face of all they spout about âyour case will be handled sensitively etcâ what a horrendous strain I definitely donât have anything to complain about I hope itâs resolved quickly and you get all you deserve
I forgot Charlie is still waiting. Hope you make progress soon. In my view this PIP/ESA/UC process amounts to psychological abuse, and is controlling, and coercive.
I did notice a law was passed recently on "psychological abuse", I wonder if it could be applied to these DWP assessments??
It would make an interesting test case, for example:
What is âcontrolling, coerciveâ behaviour?
"The Home Officeâs Statutory Guidance Framework on âcontrolling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationshipâ includes:
Isolating a person from their friends and family
Controlling what they do, where they go, who they can see, what they wear and when they sleep
Repeatedly putting them down, such as telling them they are worthless
Enforcing rules and activity which humiliate, degrade or dehumanise the victim
Financial abuse
Threats to reveal or publish private information"
"It must also have had a âserious effectâ on the victim. It is explicitly stated that the victim must either âfear that violence will be used against them on at least two occasionsâ or âbeen caused serious alarm or distressâ enough to disrupt their day-to-day activities.
The behaviour must also be calculated. According to the Home Office, it must be such that the âperpetrator knows or âought to knowâ that it will have a serious effect on the victimâ.
My refusal and reassessment took from the begining of Oct 18 until the beginning of Jan 19 but as said the Christmas period can knock things back - I got enhanced mobility and standard care after gettinig turned down completely but I did bombard them with evidence etc. It is a minefield.
I decided after reading this and writing my comment I would see if HM Court Services were able to update me on progress. My 18 minute of on hold (in the office today so not really an issue!) resulted in a very rude lady telling me that âyou have only been waiting for 18 weeks since we received your appeal details and the average waiting time for your location is between 24 and 28 weeks, I have no other information I can give youâ. Well that was 20 minutes of my life wasted! Charlie
Must be something in the air today because i too decided to take the bull by the horns and make that call âŚ
16 mins on hold before the (what initially seemed) nice lady told me that new claims are averaging a 14 week turnaround and DLA to PIP 19 weeks from receipt of your claim form which would make mine due back around the 2nd week of March give or take a bit. She then said that the easiest way to check the time scales was to use the 6 week after assessment method so I asked which they were using given mine is days short of 6 weeks? A quick look up of my case determined that it hasnât been looked at yet and will be âa while yetâ but could not expand on exactly what âa whileâ means.
Her parting shot and one that was seemingly meant to reassure me was " donât worry my love you will keep getting your DLA until they make a decision and then for a while afterwards and they will give you notice when it will stop. Of course IF you get PIP you will also be advised of the payment dates for that" When I challenged her on that statement and how for a case that had not been looked at it sounded remarkably like a decision had indeed been made just not cascaded to me she fobbed me off with âits what we say to everyoneâ
Having obtained the assessors report I would love to see any DWP based non medical decision and explanation of such that says I donât qualify !
Think I am going to give up hounding the postie and just wait (impatiently) for the brown envelope to drop through the door sometime in ⌠June
So⌠finally an answer from the gods at DWP ! But in true form it poses a lot of questions- The award is broadly in line with my DLA as much as you can compare the two however I have gone from an indefinite award to 21 months? The new Pip award doesnât start until March despite the application being accepted October and the assessment early December. I was told any increase in award would be back dated but this is not the case. There is no increase in level only ÂŁ due to the difference allocated to DLA / PIP. Itâs not a huge a huge amount of money but when they used the assessment date as the expiry date so I donât even get 2 years this inconsistency at its best and using âthe rulesâ (whatever they are) to benefit them and screw me over. Is this worth a re consideration or do I thank my lucky stars ? And by that I mean the time not the back dated ÂŁ Interested to hear your stories and views Sal x
21 months. I thought they were doing them for longer now. MIne is 10 years enhanced in both. I got more PIP then DLA.
I think if it was me i would quit and just accept it, and start gathering for the next fight, hopefully it will be easier next time.
I wonder if if its a post code thing as most people my end have got long awards down south.
I didnt get it back dated, i had a short time without then it started as it paid out on different times to my DLA. but i had money fall in each month i would have had it. if that makes sense. but not back dated.
10 years thatâs quite impressive I would have been happy with 5 . The annoying thing is when I come to renew my blue badge because our council only give you to the end of your PIP award and no longer (not even to allow for reapplying/ renew) itâs going to be for 5 months out of the 3 years max and then Iâm going to have to struggle for the 6 months whilst the DWP fanny around again. This whole system is so broken
I am not convinced its broken i just think it wasnt thought out enough. They have these brain storming ideas but forget to look at the complete picture.
The change it to cut back but then they open it out to more people for example who have mental health issues. I believe they totally underestimated the amount of people in this country who would be added to the long queue of applying for this benefit.
Its HUGE. All the people i know who have gotten PIP not one has MS, they are either mental health or other issues. A lot are mental health.
Just an observation i have found.
I find it hard to get round my head, if you have been diagnosed with MS you are never going to get better so why do they phaff about with the awards.
I think they should offer it on the EDSS scale whats the point of having this scale if they dont use it.
The scale would simply determine your award and then it should be given for a period of say five years.
Its ridiculous so much work they make for themselves.
I found the people i know who had applied directly for PIP (no DLA) HAVE sailed through it quickly. It seems to be the transposition between DLA to PIP where they drag their heels. Makes you wonder if they have no faith in the awards given at he time and dont believe the assessors or the doctors.
about sums me up at the minute lol
I hope itâs resolved quickly and you get all you deserve