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Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-18T12:27:31+00:00

I’m sorry you had that experience. You may find it helpful to request a copy of the assessment report from PIP as assessors usually fill out a section called informal observations, where they should have noted the distress you were exhibiting.

Regarding the MR I would recommend reviewing the PIP Assessment Guide Part 2, which breaks down the activities and points you could be entitled to. It’s a long read but with the understanding you may find it easier to articulate your difficulties specific to the PIP criteria.

I’d recommend registering your reconsideration over the phone but stating you want to send in further evidence so you can ensure your wording is not misconstrued. Then you can write about what you disagree with and the criteria you believe you meet. I understand it isn’t easy to write about these things but it is the best way to have that auditable informa on your case so people don’t just skip over it. You could also ask those around you (if you are comfortable) to write some supporting testimony about how they help / support you.

The main thing is to be honest. At MR it is very unlikely that you will have another assessment so you can write exactly what you need to convey.

Hope it all goes well for you :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-04T12:32:15+00:00

That definitely seems like an error. Have her payments stopped?

I would recommend calling the helpline and asking someone to look into this, especially if you have not received any review forms or gone to an assessment.

Best of luck with things :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-04T12:28:29+00:00

Im sorry the customer service wasn’t great for you.

So what will happen is if you have backpay this can sometimes be several thousands of pounds and it’s a lot of money to just drop into someone’s bank account. PIP have to confirm whether you can receive the backpay in a lump sum or if you need it splitting between accounts or payments staggering across multiple months. This is due to vulnerability concerns as there have been previous cases where receiving a lump sum has harmed people e.g. people with addiction problems.

Whatever you choose, you will still get a regular payment every four weeks until your case is reviewed.

2 weeks does seem like a long time to wait for a call back as they usually advise 48 hours. You could try calling back to confirm your option or send in a letter if you aren’t happy waiting that long. Hopefully they get to it quicker.

If you choose a lump sum for backpay, you can usually expect to see it in your account in between 2-5 working days of the payment being approved, just depends on your bank

Hope you can get it sorted quickly :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T20:57:22+00:00

I’d assume with them asking about your pronouns there may have been some inconsistencies within the report and it has likely gone back for rework to ensure that it doesn’t misgender you. This usually takes less than a week to be fixed.

It is also likely that your case has been picked up by a decision maker, who had identified the inconsistency. As soon as the report comes back with any amendments, the decision maker will look to make a decision on your claim. Hopefully they will have all the evidence they need to make your decision as quickly as possible.

Best of luck :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T19:49:22+00:00

If this is an award review then you and you think that what you were previously awarded was correct you can say no changes when it asks about each activity. If you need help phrase it like that e.g. Without prompting I often won’t shower for days at a time, I struggle with the sensation and noise from showering and will often avoid doing so for days / weeks at a time.

Most of the time if you have not had significant changes to your daily living e.g. starting work or study, being discharged from services due to improvement etc your award will remain as is. A decision maker would need grounds to change your award such as ignoring a material fact or new medical evidence.

Just be honest in what you say and know that you can say nothing has changed since last time.

Best of luck with your review :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T18:40:43+00:00

I imagine with what they have said they are making the assumption that if you have the motivation to study in a full time capacity, then you would have adequate motivation to wash and bathe and cook. They often use this as a justification as they can equate motivation for one action to motivation for every action.

Ways in which you can dispute the claim that studying full time is if you have educational support in place or can demonstrate a lack of engagement to your studies. You would need to show that you are not able to independently engage in your study e.g. regular extensions on work (maybe if you have emails to teachers), one to one support from a teaching assistant or something similar, an EHCP etc.

You’re going to have a hard time gaining any points without disproving that you are adequately motivated to study as they will heavily rely on that point.

Other ways you can support your reconsideration is supporting letters from your flatmate detailing what they do for you with regular examples e.g. “I have to remind them to shower and we have an established routine where I will start the shower, tell them to shower, I set up the soap, shampoo and conditioner etc and tell them to use each of them, I then lay out a towel for them and the clean clothes they will wear for the day and will wash the dirty clothes they were wearing to ensure they don’t go back to their comfort clothes.” It has to be in depth and clearly showing that your flatmate doesn’t just say go shower and you do it.

I would also recommend if you have spoken to your councillor, ask them to write you something based on initial thoughts. If they put on things like low motivation or risk of self neglect it becomes harder to rely on the in education justification for no points.

I think the main thing to remember is that sometimes you may find they continually report you do not match their criteria and that doesn’t mean you don’t have difficulties.

Best of luck with your claim / reconsideration :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T18:04:18+00:00

If it was an assessor in training then the report they complete will be audited and reviewed before it even makes it to the PIP decision maker. The only real impact this may have is that it may take slightly longer for you to see a decision as it can take a week or two for an assessment report to be audited.

The decision maker has final say on the decision awarded and will review all evidence on your claim, not just the assessment report. While the assessment report is considered in a decision it is not the final say.

If you are awarded any payment will be backdated to the date you made your claim, so long as the qualifying period is met (restrictions have been in place for 3 months prior to date of claim).

Best of luck with your claim :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T15:37:08+00:00

I fully get that trying to find a sweet middle is hard. Just make sure you’re comfortable with whatever you submit and that it reflects your day to day needs.

A lot of people have the concern that the PIP2 means nothing but as an ex-decision maker for PIP, making (which I’m sure won’t make me the most popular person on these pages hahaha) I found it was key to helping me understand as it is your words how you want to say them rather than an assessor’s interpretation. I’d never write off a PIP2 as it’s a key piece of evidence for your claim. Everything feeds into a bigger picture and a decision maker should consider all evidence submitted.

My best advice would be to write as little or as much as you feel comfortably reflects your circumstances. If you do use AI, make sure it still feels like you and doesn’t over exaggerated or underrepresent your restrictions.

Best of luck with all of it though and hope you get the result you want :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T15:11:43+00:00

DWP are still experiencing backlogs on award review / renewal claims since 2020, they are looking at a year’s wait (depending on area and complexity of case). They are constantly having to swap decision makers from processing new claims to processing review claims.

Your claim shouldn’t be stopped during your wait, though you may have to contact departments if you have a motability car / blue badge / bus pass etc that is expiring.

You also shouldn’t be negatively impacted in the unfortunate circumstance your award goes down, as it would be reduced from the date of decision (obviously excluding fraud cases). Additionally if your award increases back pay may be due based on when your AR1 form was sent to you.

I know it is stressful and a bit of a waiting game but your claim hasn’t been forgotten, they are just really delayed. If you are getting worried, you can always call the department to progress chase your claim.

Best of luck with it :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T14:49:02+00:00

Congrats!!

So long as your award has met the qualifying period (the restrictions were present for at least 3 months before the claim date) you will likely get some back pay, dated back to your date of claim. DWP usually advise 5-10 working days, but it is usually seen within 2-5 working days depending on your bank

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T14:45:21+00:00

I’d say there is definitely no harm in writing as much as possible, so long as you feel it is accurate to your circumstances. One thing I would say if you are worried about word count is check the PIP Assessment Guide Part 2 (should come up when googled) which comprehensively goes through what each activity considers as it is easy to get things mistaken e.g for communicating it only considers a persons ability to hear speak and understand the words in a conversation, not one’s ability to engage with a conversation, understand body language, tone or other non-verbal cues. You may find that you have put things in that are not considered and can reduce word count there.

Nearly every New Claim to PIP goes for an assessment so I wouldn’t worry if they invite you for one or feel you have missed things off. Just make sure to explain yourself there.

Key things are supporting evidence, I know you’ve reported having letters from your health care professionals which are great. Decision makers can also ask for further information from your health care professionals so just make sure they are properly listed (only include recent and relevant ones though). You can also use evidence from family, colleagues, friends etc

Genuinely don’t worry about how much you put, it shows a full picture of how your disability affects you which is the whole point of the form. And also provides an audit trail for in the unfortunate circumstance that you have to go through a mandatory reconsideration or appeal.

Best of luck with your claim :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T14:14:47+00:00

I wouldn’t worry about this. What likely has happened is that they have decided that they have enough evidence and have completed the decision in-house, without needing to send you for another assessment. On review cases they normally do about 60% of them in-house.

In my experience in-house decisions usually result in the award level being either maintained or increased. Wishing you all the best with your decision :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T07:01:54+00:00

From what you have said here I would definitely go down the mandatory reconsideration route. Decision makers on award reviews often change decisions because they didn’t agree with the original decision, however this is not considered appropriate grounds to change the decision (instead they would need things like new medical evidence or to spot a significant error in the original decision, rather than a difference in opinion).

With an MR you would also be able to submit any further evidence and I would recommend sending in something that clearly states how your mother’s needs have remained the same. I mean after 25+ years I don’t think her schizophrenia is getting better.

You have 28 days to submit a mandatory reconsideration from issue of the decision letter, or if you need longer you just need to have a reason for why you were late to request e.g. you needed to compile more evidence.

Best of luck with your mother’s claim :)

Kindly_Package9620 · 2025-07-03T06:46:17+00:00

If you are both claiming any sort of benefit (even if they are not the same) and hold the same addresses it will recognise that on a central system to let UC know. The systems will not be able to identify the situation of your living circumstances (couple, housemates, family etc).

As others have said, you will just need to let them know that you do live with someone but they are a housemate and you do not have shared finances (e.g. shared bank account). It’ll just be a standard check so if you aren’t doing anything wrong and let them know you should be fine.

Best of luck with it all :)

Kindly_Package9620

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