PIP Decision Timescale (Everything you need to know)

In this brief guide, we will discuss PIP decision timescale, as well as other things you need to know about PIP eligibility and PIP related problems.

PIP Decision Timescale

PIP decision timescales in most cases tend to be around 12 weeks, and in most cases, unless there are rare complications in the PIP process, the person gets their PIP in about 12-13 weeks, along with back pay starting the date of their claim.

Though in most cases PIP decision timescale tends to be around 12 or so weeks, it can also be rushed when you are terminally ill.

When the PIP claim is not that complicated the process is also relatively quicker, but there have been many reports in the past about the many issues that seem to plague the process of the PIP decision making, particularly the part with the assessment, likely because this part is dependent on the independent contractors.

There have also been reports of how the issues with PIP assessment can be managed with ease if the person knows what they are doing and takes adequate help from others.

To get help with the process of PIP claims and ensure that you know how to best approach the situation can be done by talking to local organizations or even organizations or even through online organizations like Citizens Advice.

PIP claims are handled by the Department of Work and Pensions, and it is a government benefit that is meant to aid individuals struggling with physical or mental disabilities to bear the extra costs of living.

A PIP claim amount depends on how the person’s condition affects them, but the claim does not depend on the condition itself, which is why PIP assessment is so crucial.

However, the previously mentioned issues with PIP assessments are something that has been an issue for the longest time, and it has been seen in a lot of cases that the health professional who does the assessment is not doing a fair job of it, which naturally affects the level of help someone may be entitled to.

An improperly done health assessment does not adequately express what problems you face in your daily life due to your disability, including food related issues or mobility.

A PIP decision timescale depends on the following aspects of the PIP claim process:

• Your claim form
• The documents you sent with your claim form
• The Health Professional’s notes from the medical assessment

Other Benefits Aside from PIP 

Along with the PIP benefit, your caregiver may also be eligible for carer’s allowance, if your condition is severe and you need constant help and support.

Another benefit one may get along with the PIP or even aside from the PIP, may be the Disability Living Allowance, however, this benefit is soon ending for people aged 16 to 64, and one can keep getting DLA if one is under 16 or one was born on or before 8 April 1948 and has an existing claim.

Any individual can continue getting DLA until the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) invites them to apply for PIP and they also do not need to do anything until DWP writes to them about their DLA unless their circumstances change.

A benefit that someone can apply for if the person has reached State Pension age, is the  Attendance Allowance.

Any individual who files a PIP claim could get between £23.60 and £151.40 a week if they are aged 16 or above and have not reached State Pension age.

Applying for PIP Claim

To apply for the PIP claim, you can either fill out a form, phone the DWP or write a letter, depending on your circumstances.

Make sure you keep everything you need in one place and make sure you also keep together all the necessary evidence and documents that can attest to your disability or condition due to which you are not able to work.

Once your claim process has been started or when you are on the call, you may need the following details on the call:

• your contact details, for example telephone number
• your doctor or health worker’s name, address and telephone number
• dates and addresses for any time you’ve spent abroad, in a care home or hospital
• your date of birth
• your National Insurance number – this is on letters about tax, pensions and benefits
• your bank or building society account number and sort code

You can also get someone to help you with the starting of the PIP claim process, and for this you can also ask the DWP to add them to your call when you:

• phone
• use Relay UK
• use the video relay service

Of course, this is not possible if you use text, which is why it would be ideal to use any of the other methods of communication.

You can also get someone else to do it on your behalf, should you need it, but you will still need to be with them when they call, because you may be needed for verification purposes.

Here are the details you need for contacting the DWP for PIP claims:

DWP – PIP claims

Telephone: 0800 917 2222

Textphone: 0800 917 7777

Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 917 2222

Video relay service for British Sign Language (BSL) users – check you can use the service

Calling from abroad: +44 191 218 7766

Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm

Eligibility for PIP

According to the PIP website, here is the criteria for one to be eligible for PIP:

“You can get PIP whether you’re working or not.

You must be aged 16 or over and usually have not reached State Pension age to claim.

You must also have a health condition or disability where you:

• have had difficulties with daily living or getting around (or both) for 3 months
• expect these difficulties to continue for at least 9 months

You usually need to have lived in England, Scotland or Wales for at least 2 of the last 3 years, and be in one of these countries when you apply. If you’ve recently returned from living in an EEA country, you might be able to get PIP sooner.

There are different rules if you’re terminally ill.

You cannot get PIP and Armed Forces Independence Payment at the same time.”

After reaching the State Pension age, here are the criteria for receiving PIP:

“You can get PIP if you:

• were already getting PIP before you reached State Pension age and your condition has not changed
• have been claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and you’ve had a letter inviting you to apply for PIP

You may get PIP if you previously got it and you were still entitled to it within the last year.

If you cannot get PIP, you can apply for Attendance Allowance instead.”

Problems with PIP

Problems with PIP usually happen with the PIP assessment, which is done by independent contractors that work with the government to help assess the disability of the individuals.

PIP assessors have also been known to lie on the forms in their assessment of the individual, and there have also been grassroots campaigns that have found how bad a problem it continues to be despite constant reports from individuals regarding the problems with PIP assessment.

PIP assessments are currently under study by a grassroots campaign called WOWcampaign, and they are calling this study “Assessing the Assessors”, and it seeks to have an in depth review of the assessors involved in the process of PIP decision making processes.

The primary purpose of this campaign was to highlight the continued flaws within the assessment processes in the area of personal independence payment (PIP) and employment and support allowance (ESA).

WOWcampaign sought to give people who have been harassed in some way a chance to vent their “pent up anger and frustration” because of the ordeals they were being forced to undergo at the hands of government contractors Atos, Capita and Maximus, who are the ones that take care of the necessary assessments, and people often complain that their assessors can be very ruthless and blatantly lie on the assessments.

The assessing the assessors campaign designed a questionnaire that people with disabilities could fill in to describe their assessment experiences, and about 6 or so months into launching the campaign, WOW had already received about 50 questionnaires and were hoping for and expecting even more responses, which they eventually planned to turn into a report, which would be sent to MPs.

The questionnaire includes questions such as whether the assessor had taken account of information provided by the claimant’s healthcare professionals; whether the assessment report was accurate; and how the process had affected their physical and mental health, and it makes for a good opportunity for the person to talk about the fact that their PIP assessor lied.

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we discussed PIP decision timescale, as well as other things you need to know about PIP eligibility and PIP related problems.

PIP can be very helpful to anyone that is suffering from a disability and when someone needs the extra help.

Despite the problems with the PIP decision making process, the timescale of a PIP decision making process that is not riddled with other issues may still be quite low, and therefore it is always a good idea to apply for it if one has a condition they need help with.

If you have any questions or comments about the PIP decision timescale, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): PIP Decision Timescale

Citations

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Claiming-Personal-Independence-Payment/Getting-a-PIP-decision#:~:text=On%20average%2C%20it%20takes%20the,less%20time%2C%20some%20take%20more.

WOW questionnaire responses ‘show assessors are still lying’