Personal Indepedence Payments

Zeus28

Hello. Have any of you applied for PIP ? I have and been told it takes up to 26 weeks to get processed ? Why so long ? Is that the same wait for you guys ? Does one need to go to an assessment and if so what does it involve ? Thanks.

Indie_Kid

There's a long thread in Disability and Dosh about this. It's taking so long because of the amount of applicants / lack of staff and because of the checking that goes on. Not everyone will need a face to face assessment.

Diary

Zeus28 wrote: »

Hello. Have any of you applied for PIP ? I have and been told it takes up to 26 weeks to get processed ? Why so long ? Is that the same wait for you guys ? Does one need to go to an assessment and if so what does it involve ? Thanks.

I applied for PIP 29/11/13, had my face to face 17/03/14 which was really stressful and very unpleasant, got my decision 17/04/14 - enhanced mobility but no care.
I Issued a mandatory reconsideration 29/04/14 and after an intervention from my MP in early August I got the original decision overturned and was given standard care element with mobility unchanged finally on 22/08/14 - 9 months all in all.
My face to face was brought forward by about 4 months as I took an assessment a long way out of my area, I phoned ATOS weekly and asked for a cancellation and was lucky to get one a long way away.
One thing to bear in mind however is I sent no medical evidence whatsoever at any stage and ATOS didn't ask for any from any DR, GP etc, had I submitted evidence it might have meant I didn't need the mandatory reconsideration and the whole process 'may' have been quicker.

GiveMeABreak

Zeus28 wrote: »

Hello. Have any of you applied for PIP ? I have and been told it takes up to 26 weeks to get processed ? Why so long ? Is that the same wait for you guys ? Does one need to go to an assessment and if so what does it involve ? Thanks.

26 weeks imo is the least amount of time you can expect to wait. Typically claims are taking upwards of 9 months from the date you make your claim to the date you get your first payment.

I was waiting for 9 months before I finally had my face to face assessment and got my first payment a week later.

Groovee

I applied in May as I was changing from DLA. Had my Face to Face assessment in July, award within 17 days and an ongoing award with a check after 10 years to ensure nothing has changed.

But from what I can gather, I was very lucky.

rogerblack

Recent claims by the minister responsible are that nobody should be waiting over 16 weeks at the end of the year.
So that would in principle mean all live claims now will be sorted before January.

On completely unrelated note, I'm investing in genetically modified pigs with wings.