Odd Text About a PIP Assessment

JKS$(

Hi All,

I sent off my PIP renewal/reassessment 'How Your Disability Affects You' form in Jan & had a text from DWP in March to say they'd received it, & that I may need to attend a consultation. I'm sight impaired & my sight has worsened although I don't think it would be enough of a change to increase my award. I already get enhanced mobility & standard daily living.

Today I had a text from DWP telling me they've received the written report of my PIP assessment & will write to me with a decision.

I haven't had an assessment.

I'm hoping the assessment they're talking about is a paper-based assessment & that I won't need a face-to-face or phone call assessment. Or should I be phoning them to make sure there hasn't been an admin error?

Anyone else had one of these texts?

Spoonie_Turtle

I haven't had this experience myself but it does sound like they've done a paper-based assessment.

poppy12345

Yup a paper based assessment has been done. I recently had my PIP review, sent back the form mid June fully expecting yet another assessment. I was very shocked when just over 2 weeks later i received a decision letter stating my award had remained the same and was given for another 3 years.

DustyBlues

Yes I had one of these texts last week but had a phone assessment a month ago. It said I may wait up to 8 weeks for the decision though.

poppy12345

DustyBlues said:

Yes I had one of these texts last week but had a phone assessment a month ago. It said I may wait up to 8 weeks for the decision though.

There's no timescales for decisions, they tell everyone 8 weeks. Some wait 2 weeks and othes wait more than 8 weeks. You can request a copy of the assessment report by contact DWP and once you receive it you will be able to add up any recommended points. It's not the final decision but it will give you a good idea of whether there's any award recommended. They mostly go with the report but it has been know for them t go against it.

chrisw

poppy12345 said:

Yup a paper based assessment has been done. I recently had my PIP review, sent back the form mid June fully expecting yet another assessment. I was very shocked when just over 2 weeks later i received a decision letter stating my award had remained the same and was given for another 3 years.

Yes, just had the same. I sent the review forms back in April but heard nothing more until I got the decision letter last week confirming award the same for another 3 years.

JKS$(

Thanks all - that’s a relief! The text also said that ‘As a guide I should hear within 8 weeks’, so hoping my award stays the same. 

poppy12345

That's just a standard text sent to everyone. There's really no timescales, although backlogs are huge at the moment. Under nomal times it can be anything from 2-8 weeks, sometimes longer. At the moment times are far from normal.

DustyBlues

JKS$( said:

Thanks all - that’s a relief! The text also said that ‘As a guide I should hear within 8 weeks’, so hoping my award stays the same. 

I have received my DWP decision 10 days after I received their text as above. I was awarded standard rate care, falling one point short of enhanced! I’m now awaiting the assessor’s report to see whether it is worth asking for a mandatory reconsideration for enhanced rate.

poppy12345

DustyBlues said:

JKS$( said:

Thanks all - that’s a relief! The text also said that ‘As a guide I should hear within 8 weeks’, so hoping my award stays the same. 

I have received my DWP decision 10 days after I received their text as above. I was awarded standard rate care, falling one point short of enhanced! I’m now awaiting the assessor’s report to see whether it is worth asking for a mandatory reconsideration for enhanced rate.

I'm not sure what use the assessment report will be to you here.  What you should be doing is taking a look at the PIP descriptors to see where you think can score more points for the Enhanced award. It will help to have some understanding of the PIP descriptors. If you'r eunsure you should get some expert advice from an agency near you.

Have a read of this link to start with. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

If that fails then put your postcode into here to see what agency is local to you. https://advicelocal.uk/

DustyBlues

poppy12345 said:

DustyBlues said:

JKS$( said:

Thanks all - that’s a relief! The text also said that ‘As a guide I should hear within 8 weeks’, so hoping my award stays the same. 

I have received my DWP decision 10 days after I received their text as above. I was awarded standard rate care, falling one point short of enhanced! I’m now awaiting the assessor’s report to see whether it is worth asking for a mandatory reconsideration for enhanced rate.

I'm not sure what use the assessment report will be to you here.  What you should be doing is taking a look at the PIP descriptors to see where you think can score more points for the Enhanced award. It will help to have some understanding of the PIP descriptors. If you'r eunsure you should get some expert advice from an agency near you.

Have a read of this link to start with. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

If that fails then put your postcode into here to see what agency is local to you. https://advicelocal.uk/

Thanks Poppy. I have worked through the descriptors and am generally happy with the points awarded except for one - on the face of it they accurately reflect my limitations. But I feel there’s one descriptor which doesn’t accurately reflect my limitations and thought by reading the assessors report I could identify whether there has been a misunderstanding regarding my capabilities for that particular descriptor. If I had scored 10 points or less I wouldn’t bother, but it is so marginal I just want to satisfy myself that all has been reported as I feel it should have been.