Filling in the form - timescale?

Hetty17

A friend, who currently gets DLA, has received the letter inviting him to apply for PIP.

I understand that he needs to phone them, by a certain date, and they send the main form for him to fill in.

How long has he got, to fill in the form, and return it? Is it perhaps a set number of days/weeks from the initial phone call? Or from when they post the form out to him?

I can't find a timescale mentioned in the documents sent to him so far, or on the .gov website. Can anyone advise, who’s been through this recently?

Thanks for your help.

poppy12345

Hetty17 wrote: »

A friend, who currently gets DLA, has received the letter inviting him to apply for PIP.

I understand that he needs to phone them, by a certain date, and they send the main form for him to fill in.

How long has he got, to fill in the form, and return it? Is it perhaps a set number of days/weeks from the initial phone call? Or from when they post the form out to him?

I can't find a timescale mentioned in the documents sent to him so far, or on the .gov website. Can anyone advise, who’s been through this recently?

Thanks for your help.

It's 1 month from the date they send the form out to you. You can ring and ask for extended time of 14 days in which to return it. Make sure you send all your evidence with the form (copies only) they very often don't contact any medical professional. If a f2f is needed and most do need these, once they send an appt date and time if it's not suitable you can ring and change it but you can only do this once. Waiting times vary wildly accross the country depending on where you are. Good luck.

poppy12345

I would also advice getting help from CAB or a disability advice centre with filling out those forms. Tell your friend to have a look at the PIP descriptors to help him understand fully what it's all about. So many people fail to understand it.

Hetty17

Poppy,

thank you for your replies and advice. I'd heard 4 weeks mentioned, so thanks for the confirmation, though I'd not realised you could ask for an extension. That might be useful.

He has the notes from the CAB website, and the sample form from the DWP, which he's going through, with the descriptors in mind. I've gathered a lot of useful information for him from this site too. People are so helpful

poppy12345

Hetty17 wrote: »

Poppy,

thank you for your replies and advice. I'd heard 4 weeks mentioned, so thanks for the confirmation, though I'd not realised you could ask for an extension. That might be useful.

He has the notes from the CAB website, and the sample form from the DWP, which he's going through, with the descriptors in mind. I've gathered a lot of useful information for him from this site too. People are so helpful

I would still strongly advice him to get help from someone who knows what they're doing. These forms are very complex to say the least!

Alice_Holt

This site has a very detailed guide:
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-claims
Membership is c.£20 pa.

The PIP assessment guide gives info on how the descriptors should be applied:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547146/pip-assessment-guide.pdf Page 86 on

If your friend has physical problems, be sure to include aids (such as bathroom rails, shower seats, electric can openers, perching stools, etc).
If he has depression or poor mental health - then detail carefully any "prompting" in the activities.

Reliability is very important, as is "the majority of the time".
Because the PIP criteria is very different from DLA, poppy's advice to get help with the form is sound.
If he can't get F2F help, then the B&W guide is worth considering.

Hetty17

Thanks for the links, Alice, I'll follow them up.

You and Poppy both make the point about having help to fill in the form; I'm sure you're right, and thank you for emphasising it.