Published on 12, July, 2020
How long is the PIP process?
I phoned up to request a form a few weeks ago and set up all my security details. The lady on the phone was very nice and said the claim form would be sent out and to ring back in a few weeks if it doesn't come.
It hasn't come so I rang up and they now say they can not verify who I am and I must have rung 3 times today and not gotten through the security questions. This is the first time I have rung in a few weeks. Then I get a phone call back and they can not verify who I am through the national insurance number and I now have a different set of forms and not the original one they said I was getting. Unless the person on the other end of the phone made a typing error I don't understand what is going on and am now in tears with the stress.
Given I have autism, fibromyalgia and permanently borderline anaemia even though I am on supplements I don't even know if it is worth going through the process or not or whether they will just say no as I can manage to work (through necessity not choice).
All I want is a little bit extra so I can get some extra high quality supplements and get my bills down so I can maybe drop a day or two at work so I can feel normal again and not live between fibromyalgia relapse and autism meltdowns all the time. But that is obviously too much to ask of life right now I just feel so hopeless and doomed to this cycle forever.
Julie
I don't want to sound negative about the process, but.......
I am having a lot of touble with my pip - be aware that they claim to be understaffed so they 'appear' to be making deliberate mistakes to buy themselves more time.
They also like to say that their mandatory 28 days for response does not apply to them because they are short staffed.
They also like to post their responses back to you 20 days into YOUR 28 day time so you have only a couple of days to reply back before your time runs out. (with fake dates on the letters and obsolete phone numbers to make you jump through hoops).
They also like to pass the buck and 'accidentally' forget to update your file when you speak to them - so the next person denies you ever spoke to anyone - just to keep buying more time and generally delaying everything.
At your interview, the person will likely lie and falsify information and badger/bully you into saying you are fit to do xxx.(and even if you don't say what they want, they will lie on the form to say you did). Make sure you have at least one other person with you as a witness of what is said).
If you ask for a review, they will ignore all the medical evidence and letters from consultants and only look at the false data from the original interview. (we demanded a disclosure of all data held about me to find this out).
Anyone would think there is a deliberate management policy to obstruct and deny claimants.
This is all been going on since February.
Also - they will NEVER ring you back.
I'm having to go to tribunal. Possibly another 6-9 months expected.
BTW - I have Aspergers, severe ulcerative (pan)colitis, osteoporosis, crazy hypertension and a brain injury (menigitis) resulting in serious memory loss, CFS and chronic pain and, not surprisingly, anxiety and depression.
You MUST go through with it - but expect to be messed about, lied to, put under pressure to give in and generally given the run-around.
Make sure you have all your medical evidence before you start and get someone professional to fill the form in for you - there are correct words and phrases to use that say the same thing but score more points. CAB are very helpful.
My psychologist is so outraged by the way I'm being treated that she says she will make time to attend the tribunal and speak on my behalf.
Good luck.
Thank you for the response.
I shall try and make sure someone is with me at the interview. Are you allowed to record it on a voice recorder?
I do also need to ring the CAB about some of the questions to clarify. For example does an orientation aid for the planning journeys include sat navs and maps on phones. If I didn't have access to at least one I wouldn't go anywhere new and still often need them on familiar journeys. Also how many times do you have to have travelled it for it to be familiar - once before, twice before ten times before?Also I can often walk (well hobble) 200 meters but also struggle to stand from sitting either needing to be lifted up by my hubby or haul myself up. Once I get going I loosen up a bit and its a bit easier - So what on earth box do I tick? I think I am going to go through the form and write down any queries and then ring the CAB and ask.
It's all so ambiguous.
As far as I know, you are NOT allowed to record the interview.
Be careful - if you have strategies that appear to work around problems, then you have no problems. You shoot yourself in the foot.
They also look for weaknesses in your illness claims - anything to deny your problems are actual problems.
As autistic people are usually people-pleasers, there is a high risk of minimising your problems by saying you are coping ok.
DO NOT fill the form in on your own - you are likely to make fatal mistakes - get an appointment at the CAB and get their experts to help you/fill it in for you.
It's deliberately vague to be able them to mess you about. Look on some forums about the questions they ask and what the 'right' answers are.
I force the mobility and walking too so I am not expecting to get mobility. Once I get going I can hobble around alright, its the standing and first 10 meters or so I struggle with (but I can do it), especially in the evenings or if I have walked a little way during the day. Once I get past that point I loosen a little and it gets easier. I can now get up 80% of the time on my own but it is often more hauling myself up.
I took the decision to push through on these matters as the less you do the more you lose with muscle and I was very close to being non-mobile for a long time. Crawling up flights of stairs, husband having to help me to bed - this was in my early 20s so decided it had to change if that was what it was like in my prime!