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Mandatory Reconsideration Dates

HealthyUnicorn

We are told on our decision letter that we can submit MR up to 1 month from the date of the letter.

Is that up to the following month of the same date?

For example, letter received 02/02, so mandatory reconsideration can be submitted until 02/03.

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Comments

poppy123456

It's one month from the date on the letter. Not that it really matters because you have up to 13 months to request it anyway. If you're outside of that timeframe then you will need to give a reason why you didn't request it within that time. If they refuse you can proceed to Tribunal.

If you've already requested the MR over the phone and just need to send some extra evidence then they do not have to wait for the evidence, a new decision can be made at anytime.

HealthyUnicorn

Hi Poppy. But what is meant by one month?

For example, letter received 02/02, so mandatory reconsideration can be submitted until 02/03???

poppy123456

I already answered that question. You don't just have 1 month, you have 13 months. The 1 month starts from when the decision was made, so the date on the letter, not when you received it.

chiarieds

As poppy says, your decision letter says you have one month from the date on this letter in which to, much more preferably, write a MR. What your letter doesn't say, but poppy has correctly advised above, is that actually you have 13 months from the date of your decision letter in which to request a MR.

If you don't do a MR within a month, then you just need to give a simple explanation such as you didn't know you could take longer; you were unwell at the time, etc.

HealthyUnicorn

Thank you everyone, but I really am interested in what is exactly meant by one month and exactly how that is interpreted.

eg. is it 4 weeks or one calendar month?
and
eg. is it one day prior or the same date of the following month. So if your letter is dated 02/02/2024, is the one month up by 02/03/2024 or 01/03/2024?

I am not sure why this question is so hard to explain. Apologies I have tried my best to explain what I mean.

poppy123456

If the letter is dated 2nd Feb you have until 2nd March. I'm really not sure why you're so interested in the 1 month timeframe though.

chiarieds

I'd suggest that one month, giving the example you've given, is from the 2nd of a month to the 2nd of the following month, but should however be received by the DWP within that timeframe. As months can have varying number of days, it's not 4 weeks, rather a calendar month.

Your question, as has been said, is moot/irrelevant, as you can do a MR so long as it's within a 13 month timeframe, not just one calendar month.

HealthyUnicorn

Thanks everyone. Do I have to phone to request a MR within 1 calendar month and send further evidence with a letter afterwards? Or can I just send the further evidence with a letter after the 1 calendar month without phoning them first?

chiarieds

Do put your MR in writing rather than ringing; a letter is fine. Just say why your MR is a little late.

Remember PIP is not about any diagnosis, but rather how your disability affects certain activities of daily living &/mobility the majority of the time. Have a look again at the activities/descriptors that are looked at: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/personal-independence-payment-descriptors-and-scores-april-2023.pdf

With your MR you should say where you think you should have got points, & why giving a couple of recent, detailed examples as to the difficulty you face for each applicable descriptor, i.e. when did it happen, where, what happened, did anyone see this, & were there any consequences to attempting/doing an activity?

Say if you can't do an activity 'reliably,' i.e. safely, to an acceptable standard, repeat as often as one would reasonably expect, or if it takes you much longer than someone without a disability. See this mentioned at the end of the link above.

Put your name & National Insurance number on each page. Keep a copy, & get a free Certificate of Posting from your Post Office when sending it off.

HealthyUnicorn

chiarieds said:

Do put your MR in writing rather than ringing; a letter is fine. Just say why your MR is a little late.

Remember PIP is not about any diagnosis, but rather how your disability affects certain activities of daily living &/mobility the majority of the time. Have a look again at the activities/descriptors that are looked at: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/personal-independence-payment-descriptors-and-scores-april-2023.pdf

With your MR you should say where you think you should have got points, & why giving a couple of recent, detailed examples as to the difficulty you face for each applicable descriptor, i.e. when did it happen, where, what happened, did anyone see this, & were there any consequences to attempting/doing an activity?

Say if you can't do an activity 'reliably,' i.e. safely, to an acceptable standard, repeat as often as one would reasonably expect, or if it takes you much longer than someone without a disability. See this mentioned at the end of the link above.

Put your name & National Insurance number on each page. Keep a copy, & get a free Certificate of Posting from your Post Office when sending it off.

Thank you.

I have decided to send the MR after the one month period with further evidence and explaining worsening of symptoms as well as a recent bereavement (although the loss of my loved one was in December). Hopefully they’ll accept this as a reason for lateness

poppy123456

Please be aware that a worsening of condition since the assessment took place will not be taken into consideration. They can only take into consideration how your conditions affected you at the time the assessment took place.

If DWP do not accept the late request you just continue with Tribunal.

HealthyUnicorn

Worsening of symptoms on account of a bereavement is my reason for lateness.

what do you mean they won’t that that into consideration?

poppy123456 said:

Please be aware that a worsening of condition since the assessment took place will not be taken into consideration. They can only take into consideration how your conditions affected you at the time the assessment took place.

If DWP do not accept the late request you just continue with Tribunal.

poppy123456

It means exactly what I said, they will not take into consideration a worsening of condition. I’m not sure how else to advise to be honest.

chiarieds

To say that your MR is a little late due to your recent bereavement in December is fine, & that this has made your symptoms feel worse; that is definitely OK.

What poppy is correctly advising is that otherwise a worsening of your condition since you had your assessment won't be considered as far as a tribunal goes, as they will only look into how you were at the time of this assessment.

HealthyUnicorn

chiarieds said:

To say that your MR is a little late due to your recent bereavement in December is fine, & that this has made your symptoms feel worse; that is definitely OK.
What poppy is correctly advising is that otherwise a worsening of your condition since you had your assessment won't be considered as far as a tribunal goes, as they will only look into how you were at the time of this assessment.

Thank you. This makes sense.

Thank you again so much.

scape1960

I’m not doubting that this information is correct, however I feel I need to say what happened to me. My MR was late going in and the DM rang me saying that she had information that I was applying for MR and I was sending extra evidence in. I replied that was correct, that I had rang up and asked for an extension because I had been ill. She gave me the exact date that she was completing MR and to send in by then. This was late on Thursday afternoon and she said it was being completed on the following Tuesday. As I was almost finished, it was posted by special delivery the next morning and they received it at 1am the next day.

I rang up the following week on Wednesday lunchtime to see if it had been completed and I was told it had just been uploaded onto screens and the MR was completed without the extra evidence, with the result remaining the same. I could understand her not wanting to wait any longer if I had spent another day completing it and sent it second class post so it was several days before they received it! I asked to be transferred to someone in the MR department who said they would get the same DM to look at the new evidence.

After a couple of days I spoke to someone in the same department, who said that the same DM had looked at the new evidence (that same Wednesday) and the decision remained the same.

I know people can say this is just ‘my opinion’ but I 100% know that the evidence I gave was watertight and almost impossible not to make an improved award. I gave exact real-life examples etc etc …, but the main thing was that I sent three individual letters from each of my consultants supporting my claim and backing the evidence that I could not complete the descriptors, which should have awarded me enhanced daily living and standard mobility. My mind was blown that they could go against the support and evidence from three experienced consultants. I am just in a state of shock and bewildered how this can happen!

I know I can go to tribunal but after this I don’t think I have the strength or the extra mental stress and anxiety!

poppy123456

@scape1960

You're putting too much focus on the MR and that's done now, you have to move forward. The most likely outcome of any MR will be the decision remains the same, even if you think the evidence you sent was good. I can't advise on that because I don't know anything about your health conditions or what it said in the evidence you actually sent.

As I advised on your other thread, there's always more chance at Tribunal, providing you do not request a paper based hearing.

scape1960

I know, you’re right Poppy, the injustice is just so annoying! I still haven’t received the written decision yet, they said it was sent out straight away but I’ve received nothing and it was sent approx 4 weeks ago. They’re sending another one out so I’ll see how long that takes. The worrying thing is that they go by the date of letter and by the time I get that it’ll be over the one month deadline. Even if they re-date the new one, it still often takes well over two weeks to receive it. To be fair I’m at the point now where I’m just forgetting about it and I’ll see how I feel when it comes.

poppy123456

scape1960 said:

I know, you’re right Poppy, the injustice is just so annoying! I still haven’t received the written decision yet, they said it was sent out straight away but I’ve received nothing and it was sent approx 4 weeks ago. They’re sending another one out so I’ll see how long that takes. The worrying thing is that they go by the date of letter and by the time I get that it’ll be over the one month deadline. Even if they re-date the new one, it still often takes well over two weeks to receive it. To be fair I’m at the point now where I’m just forgetting about it and I’ll see how I feel when it comes.

You have 13 months in total to request the Tribunal. If you're outside the 1 month timeframe you will need to make sure you give a reason why you're late requesting it. It's very highly unlikely they will refuse a late appeal.

The only downside is they will not take into consideration any worsening of condition since the original decision was made.