PIP is new to me - how long does it take? And what changes do I need to tell them & when?

B0bbyEwing

I'm in a period of sick leave due to what I'd call a physical disability from an accident. I'm sure others would have a more official name for it and not "physical disability" but basically an accident prevented me from doing a number of things we all take for granted.

Someone told me to apply for PIP. Back story to that is they spoke to someone about my situation which was similar to this other chaps. He applied for PIP & got it & continued to get some kind of payment after he returned to work. Now whether that last bit was dodgy dealing or not I don't know.

So a few weeks in to my leave I applied & I've heard nothing since. Probably been 2 months now since I applied. I've heard nothing at all.

I stayed unable to do many things & struggling to do other things for a good number of weeks. Then it got to a point where I started recovering very slowly & continue to.

I'm now able to do much of what I couldn't. I'm not 100%, there's still some things I can't do but these are now more strenuous tasks rather than basic day-to-day tasks such as showering & drying yourself, using a kettle etc. As it stands I'm probably only 2 or 3 week away from attempting a return of sorts to work.

I've not contacted them about any of the change because I've not actually heard anything from them beyond "we've received your application".

I don't want to be hit with dodgy claiming but at this stage I don't even know if I'd have been approved anyway.

What am I supposed to do?

Woodstok2000

Employment status isn't a factor for PIP. From the government page:

You can get Personal Independence Payment (PIP) if all of the following apply to you:

• you’re 16 or over
• you have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability
• you have difficulty doing certain everyday tasks or getting around
• you expect the difficulties to last for at least 12 months from when they started

You also usually need to be under State Pension age to make a new PIP claim.

elsien

You must have had the condition for three months and expected to last another nine months in order to qualify.

B0bbyEwing

Thanks.

Some of those pointers I don't remember seeing.

Points 2 & 4 could be debated.

2 - depends what's meant by long term. I'm coming up 3 months but have been improving in the past few weeks.

4 - a specialist I saw said that it can be 12 months before I'm fully right. I know 18 months was mentioned for something too but can't remember what that was.

But if it's to be that I need to be in the situation I was in for the first 4-6 weeks or so then no that obviously won't last 12 months as I've started improving

teaselMay

Sounds as though you wouldn't be entitled to PIP at the point you applied, you have to have been disabled by whatever for 3 months already and expect it to last another 9 at least

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82055282#Comment_82055282

Yeah that's probably why they've not responded.

I'd never even heard of PIP to be honest. It was only after I got told about it by someone that I thought ok I've nothing to lose i suppose.

Other than time wasted.

teaselMay

They should still respond to let you know that though, probably will take a while as everything does

Spoonie_Turtle

At this stage they won't even have looked at your application so whether you qualify for it is irrelevant in that respect. But you can cancel your claim if you want, or you can keep it open and see how you are when you're given an assessment appointment and decide then whether to pursue it or not.

(Though from what you've said, if you're managing the daily living and mobility activities fairly well already then it does sound like you won't qualify. PIP is quite a high threshold.)

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82055401#Comment_82055401

Is it a 100% cert that I would need to be physically assessed?

I only ask because that will obviously require time off work, unless they accommodate a weekend. Just to turn up for something that I'm not confident I'll get & that by the time I would have a physical I would be maybe 85%-90% good vs how I was in the first 6 weeks where as I say I couldn't even dry myself properly out of the shower or make myself a coffee.

peteuk

During Covid all assessments were telephone based, Im not sure if this has gone back to face to face assessments.

B0bbyEwing

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82055739#Comment_82055739

Probably the only time the covid excuse could be quite handy.