Does speak to decision maker before decision made make any difference?

ella65

Hi all,
my initial paper based PIP assessment scored me as high on both daily living and mobility, however this was sent back to capita for benchmarking and my second report is zero on both. Still entirely paper based and they didn’t use half of the evidence I sent, and every section has a copy and paste that my therapist confirms my issues, but because I have a child and am self employed (I work a couple of hours a week, remotely, for sympathic friends) I must be able to do the descriptor adequately 😭

I called PIP yesterday and got put through to a case manager who was by and large lovely and put up with my stammer and crying with anxiety, she noted basically what my issues with the new report are and said she’s put a note for the decision maker to call me, and to send a letter with all the details I tried to get out to her on the phone.

I sent it special delivery yesterday afternoon so it should be there today..

has anyone had a similar experience and it going back up? The case manager said if I don’t get awarded I really have to apply for a mandatory reconsideration and not to give up trying, she said I did really well on the phone and noted my anxiousness and crying on the file she said..

it’s so horrible to have dealt with issues for your whole life, and when you finally ask for help it’s a nightmare process for us all 😞

L_Volunteer

Hi @ella65


Thanks for your post. I am really sorry to hear you have had this negative experience with the PIP assessment. I can imagine just how difficult this must be for you. Unfortunately, I don't personally have any experience with PIP and I know that is what you are looking for so I am hoping someone with personal experience with PIP is able to respond to you soon. In the meantime, I just wanted to respond to say we hear you and see you. You have done really well in asking for help. If you need our help with anything or just want to talk things through with us further, we are here for you. You are not alone in this or anything else if you don't want to be 

poppy123456

It's rare for this to happen. When the report is written it's a recommendation only. Seems like the decision maker disagreed with the first report which is why it was returned. As this was all done through a paper based assessment i'm surprised they didn't ask for either a face to face or telephone assessment but this could still be possible.

The letter you sent special delivery yesterday will definitely not arrive at DWP today. It will arrive at Royal mail sorting office and be signed for by someone from Royal Mail in bulk with thousamds of others not anyone from DWP. A total waste of money sending anything this way to DWP. It won't be classed as arriving until it's been added to the computer, which can take a few weeks.

All you can do now is wait for the decision and if you're not happy request the MR.

ella65

I’ve just had a text saying they tried to call me (have no missed call) and they will call again between 3-3:30 today … so will report back after!

ella65

Update..! 

The decision maker is sending back to capita.. again.. so they can do an assessment actually with me as she can see the 2 reports are so conflicting.

This will be assessment number 3.. what’s the record before a first decision is made 😅🤞🏻

poppy123456

I think it's a good thing that it's being sent back and either a telephone or face to face assessment is needed. The only downside is you may have quite a long wait because of the backlogs for assessments. If it was me then i'd want to correct decision to be made the first time, without needing to go through the MR/Tribunal process.

ella65

@poppy123456 it is frustrating as it’s taking so long but yes I’d rather get a more accurate and hopefully correct assessment now since a decision hasn’t been made at all.. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that I know the reports are polar opposite as they are now or if would have been better to be in the dark and getting zero… at least DWP are acknowledging that something doesn’t look right? If they thought the second report was right I’m guessing they would have just accepted and based it off that?