Hi, my name is Tigerseye! Why are they using old reports on my current PIP claim?

Tigerseye

I’m new here so please forgive me if this ends up in the wrong place or if it’s a subject that has recently been discussed. 

I was diagnosed with ASD in July 2023 and applied for PIP later that month.  Back in 2020, i tried applying for PIP, which was for just my OCD, and was awarded no points based on a telephone assessment.

This time around I guess I’ve had a paper based assessment as I haven’t had to attend an IAS  assessment this time. I enclosed my ASD diagnostic report with my form and it was very detailed so maybe that is why.

Anyway, fast forward and it’s around 12 weeks later. I’ve had a letter saying no further information required, and just received today a copy of my PA3 which I requested.

according to this PA3 they have recommended a receive PIP. I realise this is not the actual decision. But I noticed on the front of PA3 they’ve written that part of the evidence they’ve considered is the PA4 PIP Report from back in 2020?!?! This is the one which scored me zero.

So my question is, why are they using a three year old report from before my ASD diagnosis to decide upon my 2023 claim? And given that this scored all zero (or A) as is listed throughout the PA3, is this likely to drag my score down?

it seems absurd that they could do this with an old PA4 report.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Tigerseye

Ps. This forum is awesome. I’ve learned so much over the past month from reading posts on here. So thank you all

chiarieds

Hi @Tigerseye - & welcome to the community. First may I say that PIP is not based on any diagnosis (altho you list them at the beginning of your claim form), rather how these cause you difficulty in your every day life looking at the activities/descriptors with PIP. Of course, I can only just guess here, but your claim form from 2020, perhaps strengthens the fact that you've likely had difficulty for a while (still not considering any diagnoses!) in your daily life.

Please also remember that the assessor is just giving a recommendation, as you've said, so sorry, but you'll have to wait for your letter to see what the decision maker has in fact decided. Kindly let us all know how you get on.

Tigerseye

Thanks Chiareds! I suppose what’s puzzling me is why they would use such an old assessment for a current claim. It doesn’t seem sensible.

Also, with the old PA4, my difficulties were all but ignored,with the telephone assessor awarding no points. So this is definitely a worry to me that they are looking at this as a piece of evidence here and now.

poppy123456

I've heard this happening many times. Even in cases such as yourself, who was previously refused. With a PA3 report they were just looking for extra information and happened to look at your previous report for that information.

I wouldn't worry too much, it's very rare for them to go against the report, though it can happen. Mostly they go with it.

This is also one reason why requesting the report before a decision is made is not the best idea. Even when the report is in your favour, that worry and anxety is still there.

Tigerseye

thank you poppy123456. Really appreciate your advice. I probably haven’t helped by requesting the PA3 but I was driving myself to distraction with the not hearing anything, and the noncommittal DWP text messagEs 😞