All I want for my summer holidays is some PIP decisions

Santa. You only produced a couple of PIP decisions for me in December and I’ve only had two since so I’m now directing this to the sun gods. Please, please, please let my clients have some money or at least a decision so I can help them with their appeals.

They are all good people who have health issues and real money problems. 8 and 9 months with no decisions. Some have had 2 cancelled medical examination appointments. The stress of all this is getting them down.

Are decisions coming through any quicker elsewhere?

In the words of ‘My Way’:

PIP, I’ve had a few, but there again, too few to mention…

Not really. Complaints are becoming de rigeur unfortunately. These meet with variable success depending on the extenuating circumstances.

same here only two decision off my clients, and that only happended after lodging official complaints. (which was also not an easy process).

One award is back to April 2013 and the other October 2013, the october 2013 was awarded £10.00 for financial loss and £40.00 for inconvenienve after i requested special payments (this does not compensate him for loss af an increase in award of 89.65 per week that he just has to deal with because he was on DLA) outrageous.

They have also recently closed the ‘live running’ email feedback route which we had had some success with (in my other existence in Bristol!). This is because ‘it isn’t needed anymore’...

Not to mention the fact that Cameron said yesterday that its more important to get the decision right than to stick to artificial or arbitrary time schedules.

700,000 people waiting for PIP + ESA WCAs apparently. Disgraceful

How many clients will have an improvement in health while waiting a year for WCAs?

If assessed at week 13 they may have satisfied descriptors, therefore entitling them to WRAG/SG add ons to their benefit but 9 months later given insufficient points at their first WCA as their health has improved in that period.

Try proving that 9 months ago you fitted criteria? Tricky

Recently after a client was sent a DLA 1A form for renewal I asked for a supersession to uprate her claim to higher care and mobility, arguing that her condition was not properly assessed in the first instance (July 2012) in the light of recent doctor’s and other specialists’ reports.  I argued that the condition had not in fact changed but that there is now much clearer evidence showing the effect of this condition.

I was concerned of course that they might respond saying there was a significant change in circumstances (her condition HAD changed)  and this necessitated a claim for PIP.
However they have accepted this as a DLA renewal, and uprated the claim.

It has crossed my mind that DWP may have avoided transferring the client to PIP in the knowledge of delays in the processing. 

A small mercy perhaps.

I still have a client waiting 9 months for his PIP claim to be processed.  How is that acceptable?