PIP Northern Ireland

AM62

Can any of my fellow Countrymen advise if PIP Reviews are F2F ? how did they fill out the PIP review form AR1 (1043) did you just report the changes ? How long roughly did the process take? I've got my PIP renewal form in even though I have an extension to June 2025 Im stressed to the max anxiety going through the roof as Im not sure what they expect from this form. Hope you can shed some light for me. Much appreciated

Albus_Scope

Hi there @AM62 and welcome to the community!

I know since covid the majority of PIP review assessments are via phone, but I'm unsure if that is the same in NI unfortunately.
Though when it comes to filling in the review form, I'd strongly suggest filling it in like a new claim. My review took just over a year, so them sending you the forms now makes sense, so I'd try not to worry too much. 😊

AM62

Thank you , Im getting such mixed feedback. Some say just report changes as they already have all the info from your original PIP application so if there is someone who handled the AR1 form in this manner please let me know

Albus_Scope

From my training on PIP, I was taught to always fill the review forms in as if you were starting a new claim, it makes things a lot easier for assessors and sometimes they wont pay much attention to your previous awards. I'd fill it in with detail, so saying why the descriptor applies to you, with real life examples and consequences.
I know it seems like a lot, but it's definitely best practice and can save a lot of time further down the line. 😊

chiarieds

Hi & welcome - I'm in complete agreement with Albus, in that you should fill your review form in as if it was a new claim. Please don't just put something like 'no change' without saying exactly what has remained the same.

So, give a couple of recent, detailed examples as to the difficulty you face, i.e. when did it happen, where, what actually happened, did anyone see this, & were there any consequences to attempting/doing an activity such as pain, exhaustion, fatigue, breathlessness, etc?

Also say if you can't do an applicable 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.

Don't be put off by the limited space available, as you can continue your answers on paper you can add at the end (put your name & National Insurance number on each additional page).

Good luck with it all!

AM62

Thank You Chiarieds, have you completed an AR1 PIP review in this way and was it successful, did you get your award paper based or F2F assessment?

poppy123456

You should never just write "no change" and nothing extra included. If you do then you're asking for all sorts of problems. I completely agree with what @chiarieds has advised and this is exactly how I fill out my review forms.

I had a review in 2021 and also the same for my daughter, I'm her appointee. I filled out both forms with as much relevant information as possible and also included those all important real world examples. I had paper based assessments for both that year.

I'm currently going through another review for myself and returned my form in Nov 2023 and did it exactly the same way. Currently still waiting for a decision on that due to the extremely long delays.