Will they do another paper-based assessment?

thinkingsoul

Hi everyone I am new to this so be gentle please.

i received a letter today from PIP saying following changes to the new pip law my claim has not been affected. and I will still receive the same amount of PIP as it’s not been affected, I called them up to confirm this for reassurance they said I’m ok and my claim is not affected in anyway. my claim is till March 15th 2021. I had a paper based assessment as with my ADHD / Special needs, Severe Paranoia I can’t go to assessments as I will end up smashing the place up and there computers, so my doctors gives me a private letter to tell them the dangers, when they come to deciding it again will they just do another paper based assessment? my doctor said she will write one advising them to do a paper based assessment. surely they wouldn’t want me to go to one based on the dangers. she said she will do one closer to the time. my condition is still the same and struggle keeping jobs. working part time at the moment. thanks all. 

poppy123456

Hi and welcome,

The letter you received today wasn't because of a recent assessment. It was because of the changes made to following and planning a journey in 2016. As changes were made to this activity they decided to look again at all claims that had decision after 28th November 2016, no assessment is needed for this and they just look at all your evidence that you sent at that time and make a decision from that.

They decided that the changes didn't apply to you and your PIP award isn't affect and they don't owe you any backdated money. Explanation in link here. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-changes/overwhelming-psychological-distress-and-journeys-changes-to-pip-law-from-28-november-2016

As your current award is until March 2021 this means that your next review will be 6 months before that, which means you'll be sent the PIP review forms in around September 2020. When you do receive those forms you will need to make sure you send all the relevant evidence as well as the form filled in with as much information as possible. They will then decide whether a paper based assessment can be done. Hope this helps.

thinkingsoul

Thank you for your reply. stupid question but I will ask anyway as you seem clued up as I’m not. the lady on the phone said you don’t need to call up anymore as you have till next September / October time before you even receive the letters, she said you have got ages away before that stage. with my anger / ADHD / Special needs will they more than likely do a paper based assessment? as my doctor gave them a letter saying I pose a risk to them and myself if I was to have a face to face assessment so DWP said a assessment will not go a head as he poses a big risk to are staff and himself. and they wouldn’t take that risk as if anything happened and they allowed the assessment to go a head they will be just as responsible as they was told about the risk. I got it for not being able to plan a journey and distress it causes me, and I went a special needs school with proof,  they said my rate of PIP will remain the same. how it is not affected as I am getting it for them? thought my claim would of been affected. I appreciate your reply’s.

poppy123456

You're welcome.

Unfortunately, i can't predict that you won't have a face to face assessment next time. I know that they won't do a home assessment because of the risk.

Your rate of PIP has remained the same now because they just looked at the following and planning a journey activity because of the changes.

When you are sent those review forms just make sure you send all your evidence again, even if you sent it the first time. Hopefully, everything will be fine and your award will stay the same once the review decision's been made.

thinkingsoul

Thank you so much for the reply’s I really do appreciate it. glad I joined now. another question I have which I’m not sure if you can answer or not is they said I don’t need to call up another as they said we won’t be in touch until September October time next year as you have got it till 15th March 2021. they said you won’t have any assessment at all and the lady on the phone said based on what I can see they wouldn’t allow a home visit or for you to go the assessment as you could put yourself in danger as well as are staff, so basing it on that I think they will just do a paper based assessment as there is a ‘high risk’ which we wouldn’t take” 

she also said closer to the time just send it all off again. with new evidence ( if you have any ). once again thanks for replying fast it means a lot to me ! 

poppy123456

September/October is about the time they will send the review forms, which is 6 months before and yes, there's no need to contact them again.

A home assessment is very unlikely as i advised but i can't advise whether you'll have a paper based assessment again this time. You will need to make sure you send all the relevant evidence with the form to support your claim and the health assessment providers will decide if a face to face assessment is needed or not.

thinkingsoul

Once again thank you very much for your replies. I’m not going to call them again. it was my doctor that written to the assessment provider they contacted me and said DWP will have to do a paper based assessment as we are not prepared to put are staff in danger or yourself. they just kept sending it back to DWP saying they won’t asses me for the risk reasons.

i was worried that my money was going to go down because of following a journey ect. I thought that was affected or am I wrong? DWP said your later states you are not affected and you will receive the full amount. 

poppy123456

No problem. Yes, they would have looked at your claim again because of the changes to following and planning a journey but have confirmed you are receiving the correct award.

It's quite sometime until they send you the review forms so try not to worry too much about that now because you have about 10 months to prepare for that.

thinkingsoul

Once again thank you very much for your replies. feel like it’s nice to talk to someone that knows there stuff or more than me. the lady said I have ages away yet so don’t need to think about it. 

She said I’ve spoken to a decision maker and more than likely it will be a paper based assessment but your a long time off yet. my cousin went to a Tribunal he has a lot of stuff , and he won and got back dated all the money and was awarded 5 years! so just shows you if your case is strong you can win. 

is it worth sending any documents off now or do it closer to the time? 

poppy123456

You're welcome.

You won't need to send anything to DWP until you receive the review forms which will be September/October 2020.

thinkingsoul

Thank you for that. how long do you have to complete the forms? also do you claim or are you a adviser on here for people.

poppy123456

You will have 4 weeks to return the form but you can ring DWP for an extension of 14 days.

I claim PIP and i'm also a community champion here on scope, which means i give up my time to advise others voluntary.

thinkingsoul

4 weeks is plenty of time. thanks for all your advice. certainly clued on that’s for sure. 

I only called up as I was worried when I received the letter. but they said it’s not affected so did the letter. some people have been getting back dated whys that? am assuming the changed in PIP law. I didn’t get any but I probably wasn’t entitled to anymore. once again thanks for the speedy replies. 

poppy123456

You're welcome. Thanks also for the kind words.

To be honest, i've only ever heard of 1 person that's received backdated money for the changes made to following and planning a journey, this just goes to prove that we only ever hear the bad stories, very rarely the good ones.

Whether you're entitled to any backdated money regarding this will totally depend on how your conditions affect you at the time that decision was made.

thinkingsoul

Your welcome, like I said I appreciate your replies. 

Your correct we only do hear the bad stories. I’m not going to do anything till next year as they have already said you have ages off yet September/ October time. 

Out of interest ( I forgot ), what assessment provider does PIP use? any ideas. was going to google it but seems pointless as you no your stuff. thanks.

poppy123456

Google is always your best friend for any information you need.

It will depend on what area you are. It's either Capita or independent assessment services.

https://www.mypipassessment.co.uk/your-assessment/at-your-pip-consultation/

http://capita-pip.co.uk/en/assessment-process.html

thinkingsoul

Yes that’s fine. Google tells you everything.

One thing that frustrates me is the people that “play the system” and don’t need it get everything. so to ramble on just frustrates me and probably loads of other people. 

poppy123456

I'm sorry but i disagree with that. Very few people claim benefits fraudulently. Lots of people have invisible conditions and my daughter is one of them but she claims Enhanced for both parts. You can't judge a book by it's cover.

thinkingsoul

No I’m not saying everyone is like that but there is people out there that get it when in reality they don’t need it. ( not many ) it’s just the world we live in. 

Even though mine is not till next year the assessment provider ( both ) which I queried without giving any of my personal details said it would be a paper based assessment. DWP PIP have said we received the letter and the decision maker will do a paper based assessment as the provider contacted DWP so early to say they would allow a home visit or to go to a medical centre. So I’m happy. 

poppy123456

PIP isn't means tested so regardless of anyone's income, if they're entitled to it because of the way their conditions affect them then there's nothing stopping them from claiming it. Even if they have millions of pounds.

Just so you know, it's not the decision maker that does the assessments, it's the health assessment providers and they do paper based ones too, not decision makers.

Please try not to relax, it's 10 months until you're sent the review forms.

thinkingsoul

Thanks again for all your advice. I no the health providers send the recommendations to the decision maker and they have the say. 

My ADHD and other factors are way out of control and ain’t getting any better. so I no for a fact they will definitely do a paper based assessment because I’m such a high risk. my doctor said there is a 99.9% chance of something bad happening, so I no they will just do it based on the information my counsellor will send. so I’m happy, every job I have had seems to fall apart as I can’t control my ADHD in work and lash out badly, once again thank you for your advice.

Chloe_Scope

Hi @thinkingsoul, how are you getting on?