Last year I transferred from DLA to PiP which resulted in the loss of my car and no care component, I requested a mandatory re consideration but it made no adjustment. This final result was received in July 2016 at this point I had become so dispondent with it I threw it the back of the draw and thought f*** off....sorry but I did and I just could not deal with the stress of it any more.
Anyway I then calmed down and became even more down about the whole process but also thought No this is not right I will attempt to question this decision.
To cut a long tedious story with the superb assistance of my local PD UK support network and assistance from a DWP employee I re applied. Now my paper work needed to be back by February 28th and it is now May 19th and I have heard nothing other than it has been passed to Capita......this seems a long time to me, I have rung and the very short abrupt response I was given by Capita was well you won't have a decision because you haven't had an assessment yet!!! I had hoped beyond hope that with the assistance I had completing the form and supporting letters from PD UK and my PD nurse I might not require another awful face to face. Has anyone waited for sometime to hear.
well good news for me my esa support group renewed for 36 months no face to face required paperwork enough ,and great help from my pdsw again shes a gift filled out forms me ,well i suppose dla to pip next just wait for it hopefully that will go as smooth as esa ,had wetroom & stairlift fitted so this will prove im not getting any better ! i hope
In my area, ATOS did/handled the Pip paperwork and assessment, i had that at home I think i had to wait around 6 weeks as around the same time another ESA assessment dropped through the door so i had the double wammy, i was already in esa support group, i also think with my failing mind both awards for pip and esa ( support group) again arrived within a few days of eachother, I'm due for rejection again next year( summer) with Pip i wouldn't be surprised if esa dropped through the letterbox as well.
When i first applied for esa it was nrly a year in assessment phase before i was initially assessed.
Well done Gus, you'd think the penny would drop now?. with them we hope.
I am going through the same awful process at the moment of transferring from DLA to PIP. I also hoped that I wouldn't have to go through the FtoF but unfortunately I hoped in vain. I sent the papers off in February and my assessment was two weeks ago. I have had a copy of the report over the weekend because I rang and asked for it. I am told it takes about two weeks once they get the report so am hoping to hear next week. Not optimistic because assessor has done his best to downgrade all my daily living activities points so if they take his word rather than mine and my PDNS report I am about to go from enhanced rate DLA to standard rate PIP at a loss I cannot afford. I think the time it takes depends on where you live and how many assessors they have in your area. I wish you luck with it.
Thank you Trish it is possibly the most stressful thing I have ever had to deal with because it just goes on and on. It has been 12 weeks now since Capita received my anytime review application, so apparently the first part of the assessment has been completed and I now need to have a further face to face, this has been booked today for this coming Friday morning. I wonder how long it would have taken if I hadn't rung to go through this whole degrading assessment again to try and justify why I have had Parkinson's for the past 11 years and why I pretend to feel like shit on a daily basis to the extent that I have finally stopped struggling to go to work just 3 days a week a job that I loved but I no longer have the physical ability to carry out and why I feel like a complete failure and burst into tears every time I tell someone. But hey lets go and see this applicant to see if she does actually fit the eligibility criteria because of course she might well be making all this up......
Oh I know exactly what you mean. I have cried and cried since I had the report and its inaccuracies and implications that I am lying. I too am 11 years diagnosed and really don't need this. I still work a little, no choice as I am on my own. The DLA money meant I could cut my hours down so if they cut it I will struggle. Why don't they realise that given the choice between money or a cure for this disease we would choose the cure every time.
Well assessment completed on Friday just gone, two assessors turned up which I didn't know about. I could have said no they advised but as I had my sister there also it wasn't such an ordeal. I would recommend that you have someone with you as they do pick up on things that you possibly wouldn't, which my sister did as in a couple of questions were asked about three different times in different ways, wether it was because it was the assessors first time I'm not sure but I hadn't really cottoned on to that although my answers were the same each time she assures me. So we await the brown envelope at some point, they did say if I hadn't heard within 8 weeks to ring!!!!! It's been over 12 now so another 8 for goodness sake
Well just an update rang to see if report forwarded to DWP and surprise surprise no they don't have it as yet and reported that they are quite lengthy delays in them receiving reports can be up to 6 weeks !!! Then DWP need to make decision possibly a further 2 weeks.
Looking back on my application it says if you do not return by February 27th you may lose your right to benefit seems a bit one sided
Clearly I was born 5 months too soon as last July I was instructed that having been diagnosed since Feb 2006 and qualified for DLA since early 2008 for an indefinite time I had to be assessed. The process started and every mechanism to intensify the stress involved has been used. Now almost a year on I have had 2 assessments,one at home and the other in a centre, In both cases errors are plentiful,but we did have a result in so far as whilst I maintained a mobility allowance,I failed to be awarded the care allowance by two points. I then sought a mandatory review which once again failed to consider the errors in the assessment.
Now we are at tribunal stage, date given with time and place. Documentation all provided ,and we were just on the point of leaving home to attend the 3.00pm appointment when the telephone rings and there is a request for further medical records from my GP. So now I am waiting for a consent form that should have been included in the letter from the Court. I have chased it twice and have been told that it is in the post but 10 days later it has yet to appear.This whole process has been stressful to the point that my wife has been reduced to tears as she feels that our honesty,integrity and the hardworking lives we lived has been totally debased. I think that at this rate I will be in receipt of the first posthumous award made!!
I feel your pain bredbu anger frustration and tears my friend it is an absolute nightmare .....I truly hope you get a successful outcome but it's like at what cost ??? Something some where is fundamentally going very very wrong
The greatest difficulty that I will have at the tribunal will be restraining myself and telling the tribunal exactly what I think of this system where people of limited experience and knowledge are able to make lifestyle changes based on a 40 min meeting. You would need to spend a week to understand what PD does to ones life. There are so many factors that have such a major impact that are disregarded totally. In my case for example ,I have no sense of taste and smell. Until one has lost these senses you cannot believe the difficulties it creates in daily living. The fact that no two days are the same,the fact that each evening I feel totally worn out,the fact that my medication restricts any alcohol,the fact that my handwriting is not legible,suffice it to say that every facet of my life has changed.
However, I could have just given up 11 months ago ,but I felt that at the very least I am going to at least educate some of the people involved, such as my MP,the people on the tribunal, the Capita employees who record the information incorrectly,also those who make the wrong assessment of my condition.
i may crash and burn but at least I will have tried. !!
Maybe there is somebody who reads this and is debating as I did ,whether to give up or fight. This post may just give a nudge to keep going.
if this any good news everybody i know who have gone to tribunal have had there decision over turned straight away as the panel consists of real gps & people with knowledge of illness. all done and dusted in 10mins
just when you think that it cannot become any worse it has taken yet another phone call to determine if the Court had received my consent. Needless to say the answer was No.Ring back in another 3 or 4 days. They then have to contact the GP who then will dispatch said documents,and then we might have a tribunal.
i will be representing myself as I feel that I am so often the information that I have supplied has been misunderstood,distorted or just not understood.
If I am wrong then at least it will only be me to blame.
Just a final note about this whole PIP system. I was told to apply for the change from DLA to PIP on July 25th 2016 which in 4 weeks time will be the year round. It appears that the system and the time measures inplace do seem a tad one sided. In effect when I do reach the tribunal, I will have been in the situation of living with this issue for over a year of my life.
Is this an acceptable way to operate for a Government Department when they expect responses in two weeks. At the present rate of progress I am just hoping that this cloud over my life will soon be lifted, but that year will remain with me as I question the nature of the implimentation of PIP. and I suspect that I am not alone in this time taken.
I thought that another update would be useful. As yet the Tribunal Service had not received a signed Consent form from me. Then in this mornings post two more arrived which would bring the grand total to 4.This time it was just the form so the postage/envelope would be down to me. Another phone call and at last soembody said "You can scan it and e mail to us " At last, zero cost and instant delivery. Why has it taken nearly a month to establish this.
I had a weekend away and as always the things that we used to do, are now severely curtailed, by my inability to walk at a reliable manner. This ,of course has an impact on the whole family, and it is a pity that I did not encounter somebody from the DWP/Capita on Monday pm.I would have explained in detail the impact that PD has on ones life and how I really do not need this cloud of stress and concern hanging over us for virtually a year.It has taken 2 days to recover some normalisation after the weekend, and not to feel tired out. I think that I am somebody who hardly ever loses his control but the longer it takes the more the grinding down is having an impact.
PIP. Personal Independence Payment. Sorry not convinced that this should take a year to sort.
There I was thinking that it was possible that at last, progress was to be made, but it appears not yet. So far my GP has yet to receive a request for my medical history. This was requested initially on June 7th, and here we are some 6 weeks later and still very little progress. I have to admit that with this issue entering its second year since it's inception I wonder how much longer it will continue. We who have PD are all aware the impact of stress on the progression of the disease,so maybe this is to,speed my downward decline so that any judgement is simpler.
I have to remind myself that I did not seek or request my condition.I do not drink,smoke or anything else that has predisposed me other than the job I did,so it is not my fault,but I just need to keep going,medication every 3 hours and ignore the antics of certain politicians.who secure a wonderful pension arrangement for themselves which will see them able to live comfortably in the autumn of their years.
This may be a controversial post BUT has anyone considered that some PWP may, just may, be applying for PIP too soon after diagnosis. Not necessarily those on this thread but I have seen posts on the forum asking if, within months or a year or two after diagnosis, how they can they apply for PIP???? Surely the assessors will question this? Maybe this is why they get called for an assessment and more proof from medical practioners of their condition and have to appeal?
in my case I was confirmed that I had PD some 11 years ago but in reality probably struggled at least 3 or 4 years before. For me the difficulty that I have is the variablity on almost every day of the symptoms.At a really good point in my day,usually in the morning,I feel that I could lead a reasonable lifestyle,the problem is that progress is then downhill for the rest of the day. I am sure that this is a familiar story with many others, and thus I fail to see how a 40 min assessment can be an accurate indication of how we with PD exist.
Benji, your point is totally valid,and in my case you do not need a hat ,tin or otherwise
Its very difficult getting your head around the benefit system when you have never required it before, the paperwork is a horrendous anyway sent off the PIP forms been 5 weeks now so looks like we will have a long wait to hear anything back for assessment
