Hi, my name is libra98uk!

Hello Lynn

I am sorry to hear about your difficulty in transferring from DLA to PIP.

You have done the right thing in making a new claim for PIP.  Will there however be a gap in your benefit from when DLA stopped to when you requested the new PIP form? 

ATOS should have sent  a letter to you confirming your appointment date and time.  Given that you had no contact in writing from ATOS, something has obviously gone terribly wrong.  Did ATOS have an incorrect telephone number/address to contact you?  

You also stated that your PIP application was withdrawn.  Did you receive a letter stating that your application had been withdrawn or a decision stating that you are not entitled to PIP? If so, what was the date of this letter?

Please post again, as with the above furtehr information we can advise you further on whether you are able to request a revision of the decision.  There can be time limits time limits to request a revision so please post soon.  

Kind regards

Maria

Hi libra98uk,

So, to be clear, you did make the PIP claim when the DWP wrote to you about it, but then heard nothing about your assessment date from ATOS? If that's right, I think there are various things you can do.

First of all, you should definitely complain about not getting your assessment date from ATOS. It sounds as if they used the wrong mobile phone number, and if they did send a letter, it obviously didn't get to you! The letter would have been personal in so far as it was presumably an offer of an assessment date for you, but they are all computer-generated - ask ATOS if they can tell you more. Don't hesitate to escalate your complaint as they clearly had the wrong details. 

Secondly, you should challenge the refusal of your first PIP claim (what the DWP called withdrawal, I think is probably them refusing PIP because of what they thought was your failure to participate). I'm not sure how long ago this was, but as my colleague points out, there are time limits. If it was more than a month ago, explain why you are requesting a late revision of the PIP decision. You have to ask for this (also called a mandatory reconsideration) before you can appeal.

Here, you didn't attend the medical but you had a good reason - you didn't know about it. You should have been send written notice of the date and time, unless you accepted being given notice by telephone. But that still isn't good enough because you clearly didn't receive any notification at all, and you can prove that. 

As Maria says there's probably a gap between your DLA stopping and your request for the second PIP form. Even if that's a small gap, it's worth going through this process to get the money you're entitled to. And I would definitely complain too as this kind of thing happens far too often!

Will