PIP review enquiry 24 August 2022 at 11:54PM in Benefits & tax credits 10 replies 716 views

damo6666

A short one this...

I returned my PIP review form a couple of weeks ago and received a text message to say it's been received. It got there before the deadline.

The form basically asks if there's any changes in my conditions since my first award that's due to end early next year.

Does anyone in the know who's recently done this have a ballpark of when I'm likely to be called in for assessment again, or receive a response regarding a decision, please?

poppy12345

Backlogs are huge and they are continuing to concentrate on new claims. For this reason you could be waiting 10 month+ for a decision. An assessment is most likely because most people have them.

Rubyroobs

I assisted a client with one of these review form early July and she received her decision a couple of weeks ago without needing an assessment. Nothing much had changed and the award stayed the same. So a very quick decision really. I have other clients from around the same time who are still waiting for a decision.

sammyjammy

damo6666 said:

The form basically asks if there's any changes in my conditions since my first award that's due to end early next year.

Hopefully you gave the full information that you gave when you made your claim rather than just told them of changes or that nothing has changed?

Bigwheels1111

Before Covid it was 3-4 months now a year is not uncommon,
 missed to 10 year award when the government first announced it.
Then was waiting for the brown envelope to hit the mat and the battle to begin.
The letter hit the mat, opened it and instead of the forms it was here is your 10 year award.
Will be retired when it’s next up for renewal.

Just remember you are at War, no retreat no surrender.
Never give up the fight.

damo6666

sammyjammy said:

damo6666 said:

The form basically asks if there's any changes in my conditions since my first award that's due to end early next year.

Hopefully you gave the full information that you gave when you made your claim rather than just told them of changes or that nothing has changed?

Yes, in the upper box, I mentioned "no changes" 

In the box underneath, I gave an explanation of the issue and how its dealt with.

I also submitted medical evidence, and am still trickling it to them by post now.

Sncjw

I had to do mine back in April and they wanted it by may. I got an award notice couple weeks ago. 

Robbie64

i sent my PIP review form back in February and got a decision in early April. Some people aren't having their file sent over for an assessment and the review is being decided by a Case Manager on a paper sift. The CM that phoned me to ask a few basic questions said the DWP were trying to decide on as many cases as possible without referring the file over for a paper or face to face assessment. I don't know what the criteria is for which cases are handled this way though I suspect it's people who have a mental health marker on their file who are getting this quick turnaround on their review. Everyone else seems to be waiting many months for the file to be sent to the assessment provider.

it would be interesting to know if anyone who is claiming for purely physical needs is seeing a quick turnaround to their PIP review.

poppy12345

Robbie64 said:

i sent my PIP review form back in February and got a decision in early April. Some people aren't having their file sent over for an assessment and the review is being decided by a Case Manager on a paper sift. The CM that phoned me to ask a few basic questions said the DWP were trying to decide on as many cases as possible without referring the file over for a paper or face to face assessment. I don't know what the criteria is for which cases are handled this way though I suspect it's people who have a mental health marker on their file who are getting this quick turnaround on their review. Everyone else seems to be waiting many months for the file to be sent to the assessment provider.

I don't think it's just those that have a mental health marker on their file. My review was last year and the backlogs were the same back then. My timescale for a decision after sending back the review form was 6 weeks, no assessment and no phone call from a CM. I don't claim for mental health.

My daughters was even quicker and they couldn't have even recieved her form i returned before making a decision because i returned it, then 10 days later her decision letter arrived. No phone call from a CM for her either but she does have ASD and a learning disability but no idea if there's a mental health marker on her file (i'm her appointee)

Robbie64

poppy12345 said:

Robbie64 said:

i sent my PIP review form back in February and got a decision in early April. Some people aren't having their file sent over for an assessment and the review is being decided by a Case Manager on a paper sift. The CM that phoned me to ask a few basic questions said the DWP were trying to decide on as many cases as possible without referring the file over for a paper or face to face assessment. I don't know what the criteria is for which cases are handled this way though I suspect it's people who have a mental health marker on their file who are getting this quick turnaround on their review. Everyone else seems to be waiting many months for the file to be sent to the assessment provider.

I don't think it's just those that have a mental health marker on their file. My review was last year and the backlogs were the same back then. My timescale for a decision after sending back the review form was 6 weeks, no assessment and no phone call from a CM. I don't claim for mental health.

My daughters was even quicker and they couldn't have even recieved her form i returned before making a decision because i returned it, then 10 days later her decision letter arrived. No phone call from a CM for her either but she does have ASD and a learning disability but no idea if there's a mental health marker on her file (i'm her appointee)

There probably is for your daughter as one of the criteria for a mental health marker is if someone is going to need help with the claiming process. The marker is usually set either at the start of the claiming process (the PIP1 form that is usually filled out over the telephone has a section of whether someone needs help with the claiming process) or is usually set in response to the assessment provider completing a tick box on the assessment report, so it should be indicated on the PA3 (paper assessment) or PA4 (face to face assessment) form. It used to say "The claimant has a mental, intellectual or cognitive impairment and may need additional support to comply with future claim processes" with a Yes / No radio button choice. Clicking Yes sets the mental health marker on the PIP computer record.

I also believe that if the mental health marker is set then if the PIP2 or review form isn't returned then the claim isn't automatically closed but instead a decision can be made on either the evidence that the DWP already have or can be sent for an assessment plus a welfare / vulnerable person visit can be done to the claimant's home (similar to what can happen when an ESA50 / UC50 isn't returned during the WCA process where a mental health marker is set on the relevant benefit). Perhaps the DWP didn't wait until your daughter's review form was returned to make a positive decision. Or maybe they got the form and quickly checked it, saw everything was consistent with the previous form and sent out the decision letter the same day. It sounds unlikely but perhaps they really did turn her review around so quickly. Mine took 6 or 7 weeks to be decided from when I sent the form back because the Case Manager went on holiday for a week or two after phoning me and left some cases to still be decided! She actually phoned me about 3 weeks after I returned the review form and then set up a very nervous two week wait while she took time to make a decision.

poppy12345

Thanks Robbie, that's good to know that she would have the mental health marker against her name. I knew about the rules for returning forms if you did have this on your file.