P.I.P. timescales...

mackem_mammy

Dwp receieved the hard copy of my report on the 6th may. They says i should have a decision within 3 weeks, i have been ringing every couple of days and it will be 5 weeks on Tuesday. Has anybody else experienced this long a wait? They says there is no backlog on the phone

mrecuk

After a lifetime of waiting i Finally had my f2f assessment on Wednesday! The assesor said she'll send my assessment back to ATOS straight away and they'll forward it to the DWP and i should get a reply in no more than 4-6 weeks (not holding my breath though).

Finally on the last leg of this nightmare!

mrecuk

KED1977 wrote: »

Been looking at this thread with dread! It's ridiculous how long this is taking for everyone..... I sent off my form last Friday and today I just got a text saying, we have your form, it could take up to 26 weeks (!) and basically DONT CALL US!! If I didn't laugh, I'd cry......

Fingers crossed for an assessment soon, My SSP has now stopped (been off work sick since aug 2013) so I'll be going through it all again applying for ESA....

I'm worried if they both take so long, how on earth do I survive for 5 months.. I've already been just about surviving on half of my (part time) pay..... locked in to phone and TV contracts I wish I'd never started, not to mention the credit card..... It's seriously anxiety provoking!

Unfortunately it is a long long process. All you can do is hope for the best I'm afraid.

My advice would be:

Ring the DWP to see if they have passed your claim onto either ATOS or Capita (depending on where you live). Once they have confirmed that they have done this, find out from the DWP which healthcare company will be assessing you then give them a ring to find out if they have started to process your claim yet (they may well tell you that they need to gather further supporting evidence and will contact a medical professional that you have listed in your application form in which case give it a week or two before calling back for an update).

Once they can confirm that you are in a queue for an assessment then my advice would be to ring every couple of days (or every day if you feel brave enough) and ask if they have any cancellations in your area.

If after a couple of weeks nothing comes up then start to ring them everyday asking for a cancellation (every phone call you make is logged and it shows that you aren't going away!).

Unfortunately this is all you can really do whilst you wait for them to process your claim. I got my assessment by phoning and accepting a cancellation slot so it does pay to ring frequently.

In the meantime.....DON'T GIVE UP!

Good Luck!

kittykat17

Update (or non-update!) on my claim. Rang ATOS again yesterday in the hope that my MP's call might have had some effect. No! Still gathering evidence (for the third time). Don't know what evidence they're gathering because my GP and Consultant haven't been asked for anything! Will this nightmare ever end?

crisscross_12

It is & was a long painful progress 39 weeks in total 4 me ! But the the small concelation of waiting so so long was receiving a nice lump sum bck payment as this money is not given 2 live off of just 2 make life easier ,hopefully u will all not have 2 long 2 wait now & get the outcomes u all deserve after such a long emotional journey hang in there don't think I've ever experienced anything like this journey b4 & never want 2 again ,

mrecuk

kittykat17 wrote: »

Update (or non-update!) on my claim. Rang ATOS again yesterday in the hope that my MP's call might have had some effect. No! Still gathering evidence (for the third time). Don't know what evidence they're gathering because my GP and Consultant haven't been asked for anything! Will this nightmare ever end?

They do this to buy themselves more time. By saying that they are "gathering evidence" it means that if you go ahead and complain that its taking so long then they can just simply blame it on someone else such as your Doctor taking a long time to respond etc. It's wrong and unfair!

Make yourself a nuisance to them and keep pestering them and eventually they'll hurry things along.

Good Luck!

mrecuk

crisscross_12 wrote: »

It is & was a long painful progress 39 weeks in total 4 me ! But the the small concelation of waiting so so long was receiving a nice lump sum bck payment as this money is not given 2 live off of just 2 make life easier ,hopefully u will all not have 2 long 2 wait now & get the outcomes u all deserve after such a long emotional journey hang in there don't think I've ever experienced anything like this journey b4 & never want 2 again ,

When they sent you your back payment did they backdate the full 39 weeks or did they make some stupid rule saying they can only backdate part of it?

kittykat17

mrecuk wrote: »

They do this to buy themselves more time. By saying that they are "gathering evidence" it means that if you go ahead and complain that its taking so long then they can just simply blame it on someone else such as your Doctor taking a long time to respond etc. It's wrong and unfair!

Make yourself a nuisance to them and keep pestering them and eventually they'll hurry things along.

Good Luck!

Thanks for that! Have been ringing once a week but am going to start ringing every couple of days from now on. Just want to get the assessment done - will worry about outcome afterwards!

crisscross_12

mrecuk wrote: »

When they sent you your back payment did they backdate the full 39 weeks or did they make some stupid rule saying they can only backdate part of it?

I had it all back dated in full

kittykat17

Finally a real update! ATOS rang me this morning (total shock) and have arranged a home visit for tomorrow morning! Didn't expect a home visit or anything to happen this quickly but my MP contacting them has obviously had an effect. After waiting since July 2013 hopefully things are moving now and this nightmare will soon be over - well at least going in the right direction.


I would say to anyone else waiting for their assessment to get your MP involved asap.