PIP telephone assessment

Gig1968

Covid or not to not  even get a date for a phone assessment from Feb is a bloody disgrace. It's Jun now. That's four months. You can say another month to sort a phone date out. Then up to six weeks for decision. You could be looking at August.. seven months complete joke. Different areas have longer timescales but not that long. I have not seen others on here wait anywhere that long

poppy12345

Gig1968 said:

Covid or not to not  even get a date for a phone assessment from Feb is a bloody disgrace. It's Jun now. That's four months. You can say another month to sort a phone date out. Then up to six weeks for decision. You could be looking at August.. seven months complete joke. Different areas have longer timescales but not that long. I have not seen others on here wait anywhere that long

I don't know why you think it's a disgrace. It's perfectly normal to wait this long, in fact 4 months really isn't that long at all. If the OP hasn't had an assessment yet then they could be waiting until the face to face assessments are back up and running again. Several months is about right under normal circumstances and these are not normal circumstances.

Gig1968

Ii is totally unacceptable for the government to await for face to face assessments to resume that could be months and months away. People should not suffer because of this . Too have to wait since Feb when most people on here are getting there claims sorted out far quicker than that is unfair. Regional it maybe but their is no excuse for this. Current situation or not. Katherine if I was you I would be contacting my local MP.  Let home or her help you . You should not have to suffer just because the government are throwing all their resources towards people who are being furloughed etc and are still being paid. If the average ppi claim is twelve weeks you are well over that NO EXCUSE for that.

poppy12345

Gig1968 said:

 Too have to wait since Feb when most people on here are getting there claims sorted out far quicker than that is unfair.

You think a 4 month wait is unfair, really? Sorry but personally i don't think that's long at all. Backlogs happen in all areas of the coountry and that's under normal circumstances. These are certainly not normal circumstances and people need to expect further delays. Regardless of what people think of DWP, they are only human, just like everyone else and people do get sick.

Gig1968

We will have to disagree. Strange how all new covid claims bounce to the front of the queue leaving some waiting for ages. I'm afraid one rule for one, one for another . Remember our argument some time ago about legacy benefits not being increased and me saying how unfair that was, and it was a total disgrace. Looks like I have lots of friends in high places who have the same opinion as me.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-letter-to-secretary-of-state-from-ssac/covid-19-ssac-letter-to-the-secretary-of-state.

poppy12345

Yes disagree it is, again. I see you already posted that link on another thread of yours.. very often the ignore list works well!

Spoonie_Turtle

PIP claims are nothing to do with covid. Backlogs because people are suddenly thrown into dire need due to massive drops in income and staff are diverted to try to help them survive, yes that's to do with covid - but PIP is not an income-replacement benefit whereas all of the benefits claimed due to covid are. Those already needing income-replacement benefits before covid should already have been claiming ...

Since when was the average waiting time 12 weeks? I regularly see people advised - and not just on here, elsewhere too - not to expect to get any PIP for a year, and anything quicker than that is a bonus!

poppy12345

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Since when was the average waiting time 12 weeks? I regularly see people advised - and not just on here, elsewhere too - not to expect to get any PIP for a year, and anything quicker than that is a bonus!

I agree with that. Although timescales are just a guide and nothing more. My advice is usually for people to expect several months, maybe more. The thoughts here that "4 months is too long" is ridiculous.

Gig1968

I'd love to know spoonie turtle where you got the claims can take a year from. I'm afraid according to government figures that simply seems unlikely and frankly impossible. Maybe someone ought to take notice of me who can actually produce facts .
This is a quote from a government report in January 2020

In January 2020, of those new claims cleared under normal rules, the average PIP claim, in Great Britain (GB), took: • 19 weeks from the point of registration to a decision being made on the claim; • 12 weeks from the point of referral to the Assessment Provider to a decision being made on the claim.19 Mar 2020

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk › ...

PDF

Personal Independence Payment: Official Statistics to January 2020

Muttleythefrog

poppy12345 said:

Gig1968 said:

 Too have to wait since Feb when most people on here are getting there claims sorted out far quicker than that is unfair.

You think a 4 month wait is unfair, really? Sorry but personally i don't think that's long at all. 

I wonder if disabled people or those advising them are so used to the shambolic services and treatment that the expectations are very low. Quite frankly I think waiting more than a month for money that is about maintaining basic life function is appalling but given the system as it is.. not surprising. A decision on a PIP claim given a returned completed How Your Disability Affects You form... could be made within an hour at the DWP... similarly my wife will make an application to the Home Office later this year... that will typically take 3-4 months to be processed after paperwork supplied  but if you pay £800 for a priority service it can be done within a day (and that target is hit at very high percentage because the incentive is there to do so). That we have systems and bureaucracy to drag things out for months is a choice of government.

So I'm afraid I do think 4 months is ridiculous... especially given the other criteria relating to having had the disability for what is it.. 3 month. While money is backdated the disabled person can't buy a tardis.

Anyway I digress. I wonder if the pandemic has shone a light on inefficient working practices. Telephone PIP assessments sound a lot more efficient and safer and while not appropriate to all... hopefully more widely considered in future. I'm certainly watching with interest the experiences of claimants.