PIP Mandatory Reconsideration timescale 10 April 2022 at 2:47AM edited 25 April 2022 at 4:20PM in Disability money matters 49 replies 3.1K views

Spoonie_Turtle

Seeking_Advice_Please said:

I do not find your responses helpful, Poppy. Please stop commenting on my post, please. I have asked people who have personal experience to discuss with. If you have this, feel free to share;- otherwise, kindly stop. Thank you

That is unfair.  You specifically asked for recent personal experiences about time frames, fair enough. 

But after mentioning contacting medical professionals, the premise changed.  It is almost a universal experience that the assessors/DWP do not contact claimants' medical providers - in fact it is EXTREMELY unusual for them to do so, to the point that in most other threads here there will be comments of surprise on the rare occasion someone did have their medical provider contacted.  poppy is widely experienced and has seen that in countless threads here (and possibly on another board, I can't quite remember) so it is entirely reasonable for her to let you know that it's rare for them to contact medical professionals at any point.  If you don't find it helpful to know that for your claim and any future claims, I suppose that's that's up to you, but it doesn't change the fact the assessors and DWP routinely ignore that option when dealing with claims.

Seeking_Advice_Please

I do not feel I am being unfair at all. I am looking for support in this extremely stressful situation. I found that with one person's response. I appreciated this and acknowledged how I am equally angered that PIP asked for medical contact details- only for the assessor not to contact them. It is unhelpful for someone to comment, turning the supportive conversation into a negative, by responding that it is our responsibility to supply evidence-when that is what we did do.  

Spoonie_Turtle

Seeking_Advice_Please said:

I do not feel I am being unfair at all. I am looking for support in this extremely stressful situation. I found that with one person's response. I appreciated this and acknowledged how I am equally angered that PIP asked for medical contact details- only for the assessor not to contact them. It is unhelpful for someone to comment, turning the supportive conversation into a negative, by responding that it is our responsibility to supply evidence-when that is what we did do.  

Unfortunately, as you have found, quite often regardless of how comprehensive one's application form and evidence are, the assessors and decision makers can routinely ignore it and deny people what they should be entitled to.  It goes against all of their official guidance, it goes against all morals given the harm it does, but it is what it is at the moment - this and the Benefits board are for helping people navigate the system as it is (changing it is a different matter and beyond the scope of this forum).  Ignoring evidence and not contacting medical professionals are infuriatingly routine still, at this point.

MRs sometimes result in an appropriate award and of course I hope that is the case for you, but if not I hope you'll be able to appeal and get the right decision eventually.

Seeking_Advice_Please

Did you need to appeal, and if so, how long did you have to wait?

Spoonie_Turtle

Seeking_Advice_Please said:

Did you need to appeal, and if so, how long did you have to wait?

I thankfully got the right decision from an MR, it was in 2020.  [From sending the request to a decision manager contacting me was somewhere around 10-12 weeks, I can't remember exactly.  I'm in the Southeast.]

Seeking_Advice_Please

That's such a long time. I'm glad you got the right decision in the end, though. Did you have to have another phone assessment, then? 

poppy12345

Seeking_Advice_Please said:

I do not find your responses helpful, Poppy. Please stop commenting on my post, please. I have asked people who have personal experience to discuss with. If you have this, feel free to share;- otherwise, kindly stop. Thank you

I haven't done anything wrong, my last comment was simply responding to your comment that you hadn't been contacted.

I realise you're looking for other peoples exact timescales but i fail to see how that can possibly help you because everyone's case will be different.

I find your comment extremely rude. It's a public forum and i won't stop responding to threads because you're not happy with truthful advice, which comes from my own personal experience, as well as further extensive knowledge.

Seeking_Advice_Please said:

I do not feel I am being unfair at all. I am looking for support in this extremely stressful situation. I found that with one person's response. I appreciated this and acknowledged how I am equally angered that PIP asked for medical contact details- only for the assessor not to contact them. It is unhelpful for someone to comment, turning the supportive conversation into a negative, by responding that it is our responsibility to supply evidence-when that is what we did do.  

I have no idea how you think that advising you they rarely contact anyone is unhelpful. There's nothing negative about the advice i've given.

You won't be asked to have another telephone assessment for the MR. It's simply another decision maker looking at all your evidence again and making another decision.

Spoonie_Turtle

Seeking_Advice_Please said:

That's such a long time. I'm glad you got the right decision in the end, though. Did you have to have another phone assessment, then? 

No, it wasn't another assessment but the DM phoned me to clarify a few things.  It caught me by surprise to be fair, but she contacted me again a couple of days later to tell me what she'd decided to award and to confirm my bank details. 

It used to be quite a rarity but now nearly half of MRs result in a changed award (not necessarily the *right* award for all of those, but a step in the right direction at least).  It seems to me a 'prepare for the worst, hope for the best' kind of thing.

poppy12345

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Seeking_Advice_Please said:

That's such a long time. I'm glad you got the right decision in the end, though. Did you have to have another phone assessment, then? 

It used to be quite a rarity but now nearly half of MRs result in a changed award (not necessarily the *right* award for all of those, but a step in the right direction at least).

Up until January 2022 36% of MR decisions change. Which has shown a gradual decrease since mid 2021. During the first half of Covid that number rose to more than 50%. Full details of all stats here. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-january-2022/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-to-january-2022

That figure is still higher than it was before the pandemic.

Spoonie_Turtle

poppy12345 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Seeking_Advice_Please said:

That's such a long time. I'm glad you got the right decision in the end, though. Did you have to have another phone assessment, then? 

It used to be quite a rarity but now nearly half of MRs result in a changed award (not necessarily the *right* award for all of those, but a step in the right direction at least).

Up until January 2022 36% of MR decisions change. Which has shown a gradual decrease since mid 2021. During the first half of Covid that number rose to more than 50%. Full details of all stats here. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-january-2022/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-to-january-2022

That figure is still higher than it was before the pandemic.

Aw darn, the last time I checked it was 46%.  Had hoped it might continue increasing, but I should have known by now not to actually hope anything where DWP is concerned 🙄 [eyeroll emoji]