Do I need to inform DWP, if I am leaving the country for less than 4 weeks?
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Earlysound
Community member Posts: 37 Connected
Hello,
In August I have been invited along with my mother, to spend a weekend in France. I am hesitant to accept the invite, as I am unsure on the rules in regards to travelling abroad. Especially since I am also on Universal Credit and placed in the limited capability for work and work-related activity group.
I am struggling to find up to date information, and information that covers people both on PIP as well as Universal Credit. The only pieces of information I can find is something about up to 4 weeks, and something else about up to 13 consecutive weeks. It does not make clear if I have to inform the DWP, if I am leaving the country for less than a week etc.
I want to make clear that I have been recently awarded mobility under "f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid." due to overwhelming psychological distress, and so majority of the time I am assisted by my Mother. Now, I will of course be assisted throughout the entire journey so I will not be following familiar or unfamiliar journeys without another person to support me, and even more so as I will be surrounded by family.
The reason I mention this is that, even if I am not required to legally inform them (again, I am not sure if I have too or not) I will be leaving the country for three days. I can imagine if it is somehow brought to the attention of the DWP, that it would look very odd that someone who has scored points under "f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. " is travelling abroad, and I am worried they will presume I have done this alone. So, I feel it may be wise to inform them simply so they're aware I am still receiving ongoing support.
In August I have been invited along with my mother, to spend a weekend in France. I am hesitant to accept the invite, as I am unsure on the rules in regards to travelling abroad. Especially since I am also on Universal Credit and placed in the limited capability for work and work-related activity group.
I am struggling to find up to date information, and information that covers people both on PIP as well as Universal Credit. The only pieces of information I can find is something about up to 4 weeks, and something else about up to 13 consecutive weeks. It does not make clear if I have to inform the DWP, if I am leaving the country for less than a week etc.
I want to make clear that I have been recently awarded mobility under "f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid." due to overwhelming psychological distress, and so majority of the time I am assisted by my Mother. Now, I will of course be assisted throughout the entire journey so I will not be following familiar or unfamiliar journeys without another person to support me, and even more so as I will be surrounded by family.
The reason I mention this is that, even if I am not required to legally inform them (again, I am not sure if I have too or not) I will be leaving the country for three days. I can imagine if it is somehow brought to the attention of the DWP, that it would look very odd that someone who has scored points under "f. Cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. " is travelling abroad, and I am worried they will presume I have done this alone. So, I feel it may be wise to inform them simply so they're aware I am still receiving ongoing support.
Comments
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You dont need to tell the DWP for less than 4 weeks.
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Are you sure? Even if I do not formally tell the DWP, I would imagine the Home Office would alert them that I have used my passport to leave the country. If you can find some links that would be great, as I want to be 100% sure.lindadenise said:You dont need to tell the DWP for less than 4 weeks. -
Which states-Within your Personal Independence Payment award notification we ask you
tell us if:
• you leave or intend to leave the country for more than 4 weeks (even for a
holiday of more than 4 weeks).
We do this to allow us to pick up claimants periods of absence to ensure that
they continue to satisfy the past presence test of being present in GB for 105
weeks in the previous 156
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Remember, it's 50% of the time in regards to your PIP @Earlysound not only that, you'll have someone with you anyway.
As it's only for a weekend, I would think you will be fine and wouldn't need to tell the DWP. -
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Not for weekend.
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You are extremely lucky that you have managed to find an insurance company who is willing to underwrite the trip at a reasonable cost.
I could only find one insurer that would be willing to cover me for a weekend away to Normandy to visit a grave of a family member. They came up with a cost of £1676 for the three day trip!
Obviously I never went.
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How do you mean? I have a mental disorder, and not a physical health issue. I certainly don't see myself needing hospital attention for mental health problems, and either way my mum is a Psychiatric Nurse. I'm not sure how you feel you can compare myself, to you as you don't know what my conditions are, and neither do I know yours to even do a fair comparison.twonker said:You are extremely lucky that you have managed to find an insurance company who is willing to underwrite the trip at a reasonable cost.
I could only find one insurer that would be willing to cover me for a weekend away to Normandy to visit a grave of a family member. They came up with a cost of £1676 for the three day trip!
Obviously I never went. -
I appreciate that. It was just a nudge that you should have travel insurance and disclose everything to them Maybe you have already but I have had a very unhappy experience of travelling abroad (Cyprus) with full travel insurance and with my GP's permission but within two days of arriving I was ill and the local private American hospital linked the illness to something that I had suffered from years ago that I did not fully disclose. The one week holiday became 5 weeks with all the extra hotel and flight costs etc that I had to pay for. The hospital bill alone was for over £5000 and I had to surrender my passport until it was paid for in full.Earlysound said:
How do you mean? I have a mental disorder, and not a physical health issue. I certainly don't see myself needing hospital attention for mental health problems, and either way my mum is a Psychiatric Nurse. I'm not sure how you feel you can compare myself, to you as you don't know what my conditions are, and neither do I know yours to even do a fair comparison.twonker said:You are extremely lucky that you have managed to find an insurance company who is willing to underwrite the trip at a reasonable cost.
I could only find one insurer that would be willing to cover me for a weekend away to Normandy to visit a grave of a family member. They came up with a cost of £1676 for the three day trip!
Obviously I never went.
That was for mental illness (PTSD) that according to the medics here in the UK I had recovered completely!
Enjoy the break away.
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twonker said:
I appreciate that. It was just a nudge that you should have travel insurance and disclose everything to them Maybe you have already but I have had a very unhappy experience of travelling abroad (Cyprus) with full travel insurance and with my GP's permission but within two days of arriving I was ill and the local private American hospital linked the illness to something that I had suffered from years ago that I did not fully disclose. The one week holiday became 5 weeks with all the extra hotel and flight costs etc that I had to pay for. The hospital bill alone was for over £5000 and I had to surrender my passport until it was paid for in full.Earlysound said:
How do you mean? I have a mental disorder, and not a physical health issue. I certainly don't see myself needing hospital attention for mental health problems, and either way my mum is a Psychiatric Nurse. I'm not sure how you feel you can compare myself, to you as you don't know what my conditions are, and neither do I know yours to even do a fair comparison.twonker said:You are extremely lucky that you have managed to find an insurance company who is willing to underwrite the trip at a reasonable cost.
I could only find one insurer that would be willing to cover me for a weekend away to Normandy to visit a grave of a family member. They came up with a cost of £1676 for the three day trip!
Obviously I never went.
That was for mental illness (PTSD) that according to the medics here in the UK I had recovered completely!
Enjoy the break away.
Okay, well I am being insured via https://www.freespirittravelinsurance.com/medical-conditions/mental-health/ as they specialise in underwriting insurance for those with mental health issues and as a result provide specialist insurance. I've also heard good things in regards to https://www.activemindinsuranceservices.co.uk/travel/ - both of these I found via https://www.bipolaruk.org/FAQs/travel-insurance-travelling-abroad (I do not have bipolar, it's just a useful resource) and https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/guides-to-support-and-services/insurance-cover-and-mental-health/specialist-insurers-for-pre-existing-conditions/ - they provide a comprehensive list of specialist insurers that cover pre-existing conditions.
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