PIP nightmare.

EmeraldEye

I was due to have an assessment on the 7th of this month for PIP. When I received the appointment letter I phoned the PIP department that very same day and explained that I had an issue with ID or in this case the lack thereof.

My bag was stolen a few months back (and of course my only photographic ID was in it) and I never "got around" to replacing it. I spoke to a nice young man from PIP who was very reassuring and told me "not to worry". I explained to him the situation and informed him that I would be applying for an electoral card to use as ID (I applied for this the next day) and his response was to say that he would make a note on my file and book me in for a new date. That new date is the 13th (next Tuesday).

My electoral card has not arrived, I was hopeful that it would have arrived by now but it hasn't, so I phoned PIP again today and spoke to someone far less polite than the man I had spoken to previously. To begin with she insisted I had phoned the wrong number and "would need to phone England" because for some unknown reason she was under the illusion that I lived in England (I live in Belfast where I have lived my whole life), but we finally sorted that misunderstanding out and I started to explain about the lack of ID and my previous call to PIP but she wasn't very helpful and her only suggestion was "Okay we'll send your case back to the Department for Communities and you can explain to them why you failed to attend your assessment".

I corrected her remark and stated that I was not refusing to attend or trying to get out of attending but she was adamant that as I had already changed the date once I wasn't allowed a new date.

I don't have any utility bills in my name but I do have my birth certificate, medical card, medical letters with my name/address/DOB and I could also get a letter from my family solicitor confirming my identity, I put this to the woman on the phone and she said "That wouldn't be sufficient".

What am I meant to do? If I don't attend on Tuesday my DLA will be stopped but if I do attend with only the above forms of ID they will refuse to conduct the assessment (It says so in the information pack they sent me). I never had to have medicals for my ESA or DLA so I suppose I just didn't consider the fact I'd need ID, I should have thought ahead and been better organised for PIP I know.

Is there anything I can do to argue my position? I don't really know how it was left on the phone, she did keep saying to me "Well what do you want to do?" and to be honest I didn't have much to say in response because I feel there's not much that I can do. In the end I thanked her for her "help" and hung up.

Alice_Holt

Do attend the assessment and take what documentation you have, including the letter informing you of the aseessment date. Take medical evidence / letters from your GP / DWP letters showing your DLA award.

I'm not sure I would place too much credence in the opinions of that second DWP employee!

Info on the assessment:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-pip-claim/your-assessment/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/before-claiming/if-you-get-dla/
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-medical-assessments
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71632711#Comment_71632711

At the asessment the important word when answering the questions is BUT; as in
‘Yes I can get out of bed, but not until about 15 minutes after I wake up because I am so stiff on a morning.’
‘Yes, I can cook a simple meal, but on most days I am too exhausted and depressed by the afternoon to prepare anything but a bowl of cereal or a sandwich.”
.....etc, etc.....

Remember the importance of reliably i.e -
"Guidance issued by the DWP states that you need to be able to complete an activity ‘reliably’ in order for it to apply. According to the guidance, ‘reliably’ means whether you can do so:
• Safely – in a fashion that is unlikely to cause harm to themselves or to another person.
• To a necessary and acceptable standard – given the nature of the activity.
• Repeatedly – as often as is reasonably required.
• In a timely manner – in a reasonable time period.

Good Luck but be sure to attend otherwise your PIP claim will end (and you may find you are worrying unnecessarily about exact ID).

bspm

Identity verification for face to face assessment

Please show one piece of ID from category 'A' and one piece from category 'B'. If you do not have any photographic ID, then you should show two documents from category 'B'. If you do not have acceptable proof of identity we may be unable to continue your assessment.

Identity Documents

'A' - Photographic ID

UK or Foreign Passport.
Foreign National ID Card.
UK Photo Card Driving License.
Passport.
Northern Ireland Electoral Identity Card.
Biometric Residence Permit issued by UKBA.
UK Travel Pass with photograph.
'B' - Non-photographic ID

Birth certificate, UK and Foreign.
Marriage certificate, UK and Foreign.
Decree Absolute, UK and Foreign.
UK Driving Licence (old style, no photograph).
Naturalisation/ UK citizenship certificate.
UK Council/ Housing Association rent agreement document.
UK Council/ Housing Association tenancy agreement document.
UK Council Tax Demand.
UK Utility Bill.
UK evidence of entitlement to State or local authority benefit.

TELLIT01

I can't emphasise enough the need for you to attend the assessment whether or not you have the correct ID. You can explain the situation better face to face than you can on the phone. You are only permitted to change the date once, and a no-show could result in your PIP claim being closed.

Diary

Could you phone and check the second call centre employee hasn't indeed sent your case back to the dwp? Don't mention anything else - just say you're checking the appointment date and time.

As above it is vital you attend you attend with the Id you have.

lemontart

the ironic thing is my so called health person did not ask for or look at my id

Alice_Holt

Looking at the list posted by bspm:
You are planning to take a birth certificate, so taking along a DWP letter about your DLA entitlement should suffice.

But as lemontart said - they may not even ask!

EmeraldEye

Thank you everyone.

I will do as you've all advised; I will attend the assessment and bring the ID that I do have along with letters from the DWP relating to what benefits I'm in receipt of.

I'll also phone PIP again first thing on Monday morning and confirm that my appointment for Tuesday is still booked.

Thanks again all who replied.

Lily-Rose_3

Alice_Holt wrote: »

Do attend the assessment and take what documentation you have, including the letter informing you of the aseessment date. Take medical evidence / letters from your GP / DWP letters showing your DLA award.

At the assessment the important word when answering the questions is BUT; as in
‘Yes I can get out of bed, but not until about 15 minutes after I wake up because I am so stiff on a morning.’
‘Yes, I can cook a simple meal, but on most days I am too exhausted and depressed by the afternoon to prepare anything but a bowl of cereal or a sandwich.”
.....etc, etc.....

Remember the importance of reliably i.e -
"Guidance issued by the DWP states that you need to be able to complete an activity ‘reliably’ in order for it to apply. According to the guidance, ‘reliably’ means whether you can do so:
• Safely – in a fashion that is unlikely to cause harm to themselves or to another person.
• To a necessary and acceptable standard – given the nature of the activity.
• Repeatedly – as often as is reasonably required.
• In a timely manner – in a reasonable time period.
.

I can't stress enough how important it is to NOT say YES to these type of questions. (In the blue paragraph.) :eek:

All they will do is record the answers as yes. yes. yes. Not good for you!

If they ask 'can you get out of bed in the morning, you say 'no, not for 15 to 20 minutes because I am so stiff' for example... Don't say yes for goodness sake.

TELLIT01 wrote: »

I can't emphasise enough the need for you to attend the assessment whether or not you have the correct ID. You can explain the situation better face to face than you can on the phone. You are only permitted to change the date once, and a no-show could result in your PIP claim being closed.

I agree, do attend. If you HAVE forgotten certain things (or haven't got them,) you can present them at a later date.'

EmeraldEye wrote: »

Thank you everyone.

I will do as you've all advised; I will attend the assessment and bring the ID that I do have along with letters from the DWP relating to what benefits I'm in receipt of.

I'll also phone PIP again first thing on Monday morning and confirm that my appointment for Tuesday is still booked.

Thanks again all who replied.

Great stuff. :T And good luck!

Please adhere to what I said earlier though; if they ask if you can do something, don't start with YES, start with NO.

EG;

Can you pick up a full cup of coffee? 'no,not without great difficulty,' or 'no, not for more than 3 or 4 seconds without great pain.'

Can you dress yourself? 'No, not without great difficulty and pain.'

Tell them how you are on your very worst days, ask for the interview on the ground floor, and if you can, record the interview...Any little thing they can find to take you off disability, the will find it.

Be careful, they will try to trick you. Some people say they can't trick you if you're being truthful; not so, they will try and trip you up. They are not there to make sure you are awarded PIP or ESA; they are there to try and get people off it! Don't let it happen to you.

Have a gander through this site. Some people have found the advice invaluable.

You do have to pay to join if you want the full benefits, but there is loads of free info on there...

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/

Good luck!

Lanzarote1938

Lily-Rose wrote: »

I can't stress enough how important it is to NOT say YES to these type of questions. (In the blue paragraph.) :eek:

All they will do is record the answers as yes. yes. yes. Not good for you!

If they ask 'can you get out of bed in the morning, you say 'no, not for 15 to 20 minutes because I am so stiff' for example... Don't say yes for goodness sake.



I agree, do attend. If you HAVE forgotten certain things (or haven't got them,) you can present them at a later date.'



Great stuff. :T And good luck!

Please adhere to what I said earlier though; if they ask if you can do something, don't start with YES, start with NO.

EG;

Can you pick up a full cup of coffee? 'no,not without great difficulty,' or 'no, not for more than 3 or 4 seconds without great pain.'

Can you dress yourself? 'No, not without great difficulty and pain.'

Tell them how you are on your very worst days, ask for the interview on the ground floor, and if you can, record the interview...Any little thing they can find to take you off disability, the will find it.

Be careful, they will try to trick you. Some people say they can't trick you if you're being truthful; not so, they will try and trip you up. They are not there to make sure you are awarded PIP or ESA; they are there to try and get people off it! Don't let it happen to you.

Have a gander through this site. Some people have found the advice invaluable.

You do have to pay to join if you want the full benefits, but there is loads of free info on there...

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/

Good luck!

But what if she really isn't entitled to the benefit but you have just suggested lying and making things up. Really really bad advice, especially only mentioning your very worst days. Haven't seen this sort of blatant coaching on MSE for a while.

What about the applicant telling the truth or is that no good anymore?

Lily-Rose_3

Lanzarote1938 wrote: »

But what if she really isn't entitled to the benefit but you have just suggested lying and making things up. Really really bad advice, especially only mentioning your very worst days. Haven't seen this sort of blatant coaching on MSE for a while.

What about the applicant telling the truth or is that no good anymore?

FGS, I have NOT suggested making things up.

Do not put words in my mouth.

Telling the truth is what she must do, of course. And at no point did I say lie, so quit making stuff up!

But saying 'say yes to everything' as the poster above suggested is really bad advice!

REALLY bad!

I can only assume you work for DWP.

The advice I have given is sound.