PIP Advice please

mary123
Online Community Member Posts: 11 Listener
Hello - I put in a PIP application for my son (age 17) at the beginning of April (last month).
I thought we wouldn't hear anything until summer, given backlog, but out-of-the-blue a lady from Capita rang (from a mobile number) 3 weeks ago. We hadn't had a letter or any correspondence to confirm she'd be calling and I was out at the time (so couldn't support him on call) but when I came back my son said she basically said 'as you've answered we can do the online assessment now'.
He wasn't really prepared but told the truth and we just hoped it was enough.
Anyway, a week later she rang again - this time my mobile - as she couldn't get through on the landline, to check some queries on the mobility issue and said she'd submit the form to DWP that day.
I rang DWP last week - about a week after the last call - and they were very surprised. They said calling without any notice sounded very unprofessional, that normally Capita are working on much older cases and they'd be surprised that they'd picked up my son's so quickly - as it was only submitted the previous month. They also said they hadn't received any report back from Capita.
I don't think it was a hoax as the lady certainly knew her stuff and was referencing what we'd put in the form and had mine and my son's numbers.
I'm just confused as to what is going on and whether I should sit tight - and hope that they did do my son's PIP assessment early - or if I should query with Capita on their published number? I don't want to rock the boat if it does look like we might get an early decision but the whole thing just feels a bit odd given the general backlogs, the way she rang from a mobile number, and no report reaching DWP.
Would appreciate any thoughts/experience on same.
Many thanks in advance
I thought we wouldn't hear anything until summer, given backlog, but out-of-the-blue a lady from Capita rang (from a mobile number) 3 weeks ago. We hadn't had a letter or any correspondence to confirm she'd be calling and I was out at the time (so couldn't support him on call) but when I came back my son said she basically said 'as you've answered we can do the online assessment now'.
He wasn't really prepared but told the truth and we just hoped it was enough.
Anyway, a week later she rang again - this time my mobile - as she couldn't get through on the landline, to check some queries on the mobility issue and said she'd submit the form to DWP that day.
I rang DWP last week - about a week after the last call - and they were very surprised. They said calling without any notice sounded very unprofessional, that normally Capita are working on much older cases and they'd be surprised that they'd picked up my son's so quickly - as it was only submitted the previous month. They also said they hadn't received any report back from Capita.
I don't think it was a hoax as the lady certainly knew her stuff and was referencing what we'd put in the form and had mine and my son's numbers.
I'm just confused as to what is going on and whether I should sit tight - and hope that they did do my son's PIP assessment early - or if I should query with Capita on their published number? I don't want to rock the boat if it does look like we might get an early decision but the whole thing just feels a bit odd given the general backlogs, the way she rang from a mobile number, and no report reaching DWP.
Would appreciate any thoughts/experience on same.
Many thanks in advance
0
Comments
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I can't imagine that it wouldn't be Capita. Sometimes an assessment report is chosen for audit, if this happens it delays the report being returned to DWP. It's nothing to worry about, it's just they're checking they did their job correctly.It may also not have been a full assessment. Sometimes they ring (without notice) to ask just a few questions to see if they can get enough of information to do a paper based assessment.There's no harm in ringing Capita to check, if it puts your mind at rest.1
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Thank you @poppy123456 that's really helpful. Can I just check does a possible audit delay it by many weeks usually? Am just trying to get some idea of timescales. If they're happy with the info provided and have completed a paper assessment will the audit add on a month or so and then a couple of months for DWP to process (I have no idea on timings as we've never claimed anything before).0
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There’s no timescales how long a report will stay in audit for. To be honest your timescale has been exceptionally quick up to now, we have members here that are still waiting several months after claiming.0
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