PIP and leave to remain ending - Part 2!

Hi there, I queried this situation a while back but there has been further development:

I have a client who leave to remain ended on 25/11/23. She received a letter from DWP saying her PIP would end then also. I called the DWP and asked for advice, they told me that she needs to apply for indefinite leave to remain before that date and send confirmation that she had applied for this in the form of a copy of a ‘set P’ form. My colleagues helped with this in our immigration department and we got everything sorted before that date. The DWP said that if we did this the claim would continue. However her PIP did in fact stop.

I called the DWP again and they claimed ignorance about the procedure and said they’d get a case manager involved and call me back. They didn’t call me back at all but called the client asking to see a copy of her BRP card. Client sent it in and she’s still not getting her PIP. Client called PIP again while I was on a annual leave and they said they need to talk to the home office first before starting the claim again?! I’m a hair away from doing an official complaint and getting her MP involved but I’m perplexed as to what they could possibly want/need from the Home Office given that we have provided everything relevant.  I know the Home Office are notoriously hard to communicate with too. I’m out ideas as to how to proceed other than the complaint and was wondering if anyone has any other suggestions/advice etc.

Thank you for any help/advice in advance.

Hi Rachel, I’ve had really varied experiences with the DWP/HO about this exact issue, and would be really interested in speaking to you more about it, in the hope that there might be any scope to raise it at a policy level? As people’s leave to remain obviously shouldn’t end on the day their leave does AND the DWP seem to have different ways of dealing with this issue (I’ve seen one good example, where they did know the SET P had been completed in time, and automatically renewed the client’s PIP award without them having to do anything, but all of my other clients have had bad experiences with this).