Completing your PIP form & the appointment making process

This blog does not give any advice about your conditions but is here to tell you about the process following submission of your PIP form.

Completing the PIP form

I have read that if you are doing a continuation claim, and tick "no change" for your descriptors, and put a small explanation as to what the issues are, this does not trigger a new assessment. I have no experience of this, a number of people have mentioned this, if you are happy with your current award, then I would do this. 

When completing your form, remember, you only have bad days. You need to submit as much evidence as possible. Letters from your GP, hospital, therapists, or anyone involved in your treatment. It is also recommended to send a copy of your repeat prescription list.

• the form is long and complex so take your time to complete the claim form and remember that you don’t have to complete it all in one go. We would suggest that you take a copy of the form and fill a ‘mock’ copy in, and speak to someone about it, make sure you have covered everything, before you complete the actual form. Citizens advice can be very helpful, if you need advice with your form, Citizens advice will be more than happy to help.

• look at the 12 activities and work out which tests you satisfy before you fill in the form - it may be a good idea to get your carer, or partner, to do the same to make sure that you don’t miss anything out, again use your mock form.

• what matters is whether you need the help, not whether you are already getting it. If you are getting it or need it, you must state so, your conditions are not an automatic trigger for help, do not assume this.

• if you are not sure about how much help you need, or how long things take, keep a diary for a week or so - this would be particularly useful with fluctuating conditions

• if you are applying for the ‘moving around’ activity (activity 12), do make a proper measurement of how far you can walk and how long it takes you to walk that far before you fill in the form

• evidence is important - it is a good idea to collect evidence and submit it either with the claim pack or as soon as you can afterwards - evidence might include a report from an occupational therapist or consultant, information from your doctor or a support worker, or a statement from a carer/friend/ family member. Speak to your local Citizens advice, the can advise you about the evidence and additional evidence you should obtain.  Evidence should be sent with your form; the assessor will not look at it.

• keep a copy of your form and any evidence you send, ensure that you write your name and national insurance paper on the top of any paperwork you send in.

The above points are taken from the useful website www.carersuk.org

There is plenty of advice available, and there is little point of repeating points and guidance which is already available. We mentioned Citizens advice, they are very helpful at all stages during the process, even if you feel you don't need them, take your 'mock' form with you, ask them to check through it.

You will be sent an appointment through the post. The first thing after this is to remain calm, and do not worry. The assessment is the first part of a three-stage process which we will look at in more detail.

The appointment

99% of all claims and reviews will trigger an assessment, these are done by various third-party companies, Capita, Atos and Maximus. 

The assessment might be at home, or at an assessment centre, generally you do not get a choice. 

If you are not happy with the time or date you can ask for it to be changed, however, guidelines state that you are only allowed one change, please talk to your advocate and make sure that you have a mutually agreeable date before you change it.

There are circumstances when you can change it more than once, for example if you had an emergency hospital admission. It is always good practice to call the assessment provider to inform them if you cannot make the appointment on the day, and your reason why, they will probably want you to commit to a date and time of the next appointment, decline to make a formal date unless you are sure that you can make it.

We also recommend that you record your assessment, you must tell the assessment company that you are doing this. They will read a script to you, which is like the one you must sign.

The assesment

We have already stated that you need an advocate, a friend, your partner, or someone from your local DPAC organisation. There are no circumstances that it is recommended that you attend alone.

We also recommend that you record your assessment, we will go into detail on the next section about this.

Under construction.....!

Thank you for taking the time to view this blog. I have felt it necessary to create a blog explaining the PIP application process, and how you can benefit from following it correctly, in accordance to there rules.

No medical advice or if your condition qualifies you for PIP will be given, there are plenty of websites and facebook groups that can help with that.

The idea of this site will be to tell you what to do to prepare for an assesment, and how to appeal (Mandatory reconsideration), and finally the tribunal process.

Please by patient, I have not advertised this blog (yet!) so if a search engine has brought you here I do apologise.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/PIPSupport101/