PIP review delayed - I think my award is too high

BertieBot
BertieBot Community Member Posts: 10 Connected
in PIP, DLA, ADP & AA

I’m getting so worried about my PIP review it’s affecting my health condition. Initially I was awarded enhanced mobility but as I’ve gotten to understand my condition and had support (aids and treatment paid for by PIP) the distance I could walk increased. I was kind of between the two at the time but I felt lower mobility was probably appropriate. I had no idea about the delays in processing reviews. I was asked to send the review papers in April 2025. They extended my award by a year in November 2025 and now it’s nearly August 2026. I feel I should definitely be on the lower rate mobility but I’m scared to contact them in case they stop my award completely as I still need PIP and help paying my PA and other health condition related costs. Can they claim they’ve overpaid me if they’ve caused it? I’ve considered trying to save the money to try and pay it back but UC have already done two reviews of my payments and it’s so intrusive I can’t bear the thought of having to try and explain myself to one of the UC representatives. 

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Comments

  • SheffieldMan1976
    SheffieldMan1976 Posts: 3,734 Connected

    @BertieBot If your payments were too high they'd have said.

    I wouldn't worry too much.

  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 9,142 Online Community Team

    Hi @BertieBot, sorry to hear you're feeling so worried about all this. It can be a nightmare navigating the benefits systems sometimes! Hope you're managing okay in the circumstances.

    You could put in for a change of circumstances to say your health has improved. This would usually trigger another review, but they wouldn't stop your payments unless you no longer scored enough points to qualify. Your current award generally continues until a new decision replaces it, so there shouldn't be any gap in payments while you wait. I can understand that the idea of another assessment is pretty daunting though.

    I think it's unlikely that they'd ask you to pay anything back. It doesn't sound like you've deceived them on purpose, and a lot of the delays have been down to PIP's slow processing of your paperwork. But it may be a good idea to speak to a trained benefits adviser for some in-depth advice. If that's something you'd like to do, you can search for one using this tool: Turn2Us - AdviceFinder

    Sorry if I've misunderstood what you wrote - have you had an award decision through for your most recent review yet?

  • BertieBot
    BertieBot Community Member Posts: 10 Connected

    thanks @Rosie_Scope. I haven’t had a decision from the review yet. I think it’s a very good idea to speak to a benefits advisor. If I triggered a new review the paperwork I would submit would be the same as the one as as the paperwork for the review that’s pending. It seems all very complicated and I want to be as transparent as possible with dwp without making it worse. I will use the search tool you’ve suggested. Thank you

  • BertieBot
    BertieBot Community Member Posts: 10 Connected

    Hello @Rosie_Scope . I just wanted to thank you again for your response yesterday and to update you to let you know I called DWP this morning to report a change. I was able to speak to a nice case manager who added a note to my existing review file ready for the assessor when they finally get to my assessment. I feel better having spoken to them and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 9,142 Online Community Team

    I'm really glad to hear that @BertieBot ☺️ hope the review goes well when it comes around!

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