Question about PIP review

poppy12345

born_again said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Alice_Holt said:

I can see why people follow the instructions rather than filling it out comprehensively.  Maddening.  Thank goodness for this forum and members sharing their expertise!

Having just filled the wife's in. Totally agree with the sentiment.
Plenty of changes & evidence to send in. 
Thankfully got msg today received. So now the long wait to see what happens. Seem to remember something about wait times down to 15 weeks. 😶‍🌫️

15 weeks? If hers is a review then for a lot of people that's very wishful thinking. The delays with review decision are ridiculous. Some are still waiting almost a year after returning their forms.

born_again

poppy12345 said:

born_again said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Alice_Holt said:

I can see why people follow the instructions rather than filling it out comprehensively.  Maddening.  Thank goodness for this forum and members sharing their expertise!

Having just filled the wife's in. Totally agree with the sentiment.
Plenty of changes & evidence to send in. 
Thankfully got msg today received. So now the long wait to see what happens. Seem to remember something about wait times down to 15 weeks. 😶‍🌫️

15 weeks? If hers is a review then for a lot of people that's very wishful thinking. The delays with review decision are ridiculous. Some are still waiting almost a year after returning their forms.

Ah well we live in hope... 👌
Going to bookmark & hopefully remember to update. 👍

Spoonie_Turtle

I think I know the likely answer to this, but since I don't know where it all is and it'll take printer ink and paper for photocopies when I do find it:
I have literally no further evidence since my original claim (and much of that was a bit old then).  Should I still send it all in with my review form, even though they explicitly state not to send any evidence I've previously sent?

Newcad

MR_t0 said:

I noticed on the form they specifically ask NOT to send a supporting letter from the GP.

That line was added onto the form simply because many GPs/practicies would nad still will charge you for such a letter - and then the paid-for letter they provide is usually/often totally useless to the assessment anyway.

There were mumbles/complaints about people having to pay to get evidence 'needed' to make a claim, and so that line was added to the form.
(It's clumsilly worded with no explanation why they say not to, but that's just normal for the DWP)

If your GP will provide one for no-charge (a good one that would help, not a vague useless one) then there is no reason why you can't send it, and the assessors are supposed to read everything that you send.

peteuk

On a review of PIP the assessor (if my memory is correct) will read your previous assessment, your review questionnaire and any evidence presented for review.   They do not need to read your previous evidence as this should be reflective in your last PIP assessment.  For instance in the narrative of the assessment the previous assessor may write “Struggles with arthritis, under the care of rheumatology who at last appointment states…”. If you present another rheumatology letter then they dont need to read the first because it’s been assessed. 

Spoonie_Turtle

peteuk said:

On a review of PIP the assessor (if my memory is correct) will read your previous assessment, your review questionnaire and any evidence presented for review.   They do not need to read your previous evidence as this should be reflective in your last PIP assessment.  For instance in the narrative of the assessment the previous assessor may write “Struggles with arthritis, under the care of rheumatology who at last appointment states…”. If you present another rheumatology letter then they dont need to read the first because it’s been assessed. 

Thanks for your response, that all sounds sensible.  Alas in my previous report/award there was no reference to any of the evidence, except implicit references if you count saying the dates of diagnoses and having a Blue Badge predating the claim.

But what you say is useful, thanks.  It'll help me decide about any other evidence.

MR_t0

Still waiting to hear back about this. She still hasn't had a decision. However, now she has received the message in the Universal Credit journal saying "we need more information about your health condition" and they are posting out a UC50 form for her to complete. So now we've got the UC50 to do in the middle of still waiting to hear from the PIP. 

Is the UC50 form something I can fill out as her carer or do I need to contact some kind of support worker or professional to assist with it? She has not been required to look for work since we've been on Universal credit but now this message has arrived? 

Spoonie_Turtle

How long have you been claiming UC?  Is this her first WCA or has she already had a LCWRA decision / claimed ESA?

You can fill in the UC50 form, it may help to know what scope the activities cover but from memory they're a bit more self-explanatory than the PIP activities.

https://wcainfo.net/ is very in-depth if you look into the case law but I find it really useful just for simple reference for the descriptors.
Also this, after the introductory section it goes through the activities/descriptors  https://www.advicenow.org.uk/know-hows/employment-and-support-allowance-esa-activities-and-descriptors-and-substantial-risk

MR_t0

Spoonie_Turtle said:

How long have you been claiming UC?  Is this her first WCA or has she already had a LCWRA decision / claimed ESA?

You can fill in the UC50 form, it may help to know what scope the activities cover but from memory they're a bit more self-explanatory than the PIP activities.

https://wcainfo.net/ is very in-depth if you look into the case law but I find it really useful just for simple reference for the descriptors.
Also this, after the introductory section it goes through the activities/descriptors  https://www.advicenow.org.uk/know-hows/employment-and-support-allowance-esa-activities-and-descriptors-and-substantial-risk

Been claiming UC since she had the PIP taken away the first time so since 2019. Prior to that we were on legacy benefits. A support worker at the time when we went on UC filled out the UC50 form back then on our behalf and sent it off and she was accepted into LCWRA, so she's been left alone basically and not called into the job centre since then so around 5 years. That support worker has since retired so I'm wondering if It will be a stressful process trying to fill it in myself as I'm not sure what he put in the forms back then and I've never had to fill it in myself unlike the PIP forms. She has a serious psychotic disorder and what I've noticed with all these forms is that majority of the questions are based around physical health and physical capability rather than mental capacity to do these things. 

MR_t0

I should add that the since we've been on UC and she's been on LCWRA she has never had a WCA, the forms the support worker did were accepted without the need for a WCA back then.