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
Thank you for your replies everyone. I shall have a read and a digest of all the information and hints and tips
LimaMikeSquared said:How long is the PIP process?
As long as the proverbial piece of string!
It depends very much on what point in the process you get an award (or find out for sure that you won't be.) I now receive enhanced rate "daily living" and basic rate "mobility" components of PIP - but my case took about as long as is possible while still winning.
Although I got very unlucky having to have both the assessment and the appeal hearing twice, most of the above is not unusual for autistic people claiming PIP. It's common to be rebuffed with zero point assessments; mandatory reconsideration are just a time-wasting extra step that rarely lead to any change; and about two-thirds of people who go through the appeal process eventually win.
So, steel yourself for possibly a long process, and if you possibly can, get a disability advocate that can see you through the process (CAB, Mind or a local NAS branch should be able to point you in the right direction.) Always remember too, that psychological reasons for a disability are just as valid as physical ones, though it will probably take an appeal before this will be acknowledged. For example...
Good luck!
You make the PIP process sound like a real drama.
I was advised to apply for it (& ESA) by one of my multiple advisors as part of an action plan. My other advisors laughed in my face and said I had no chance of getting it.
To be honest, my biggest problem with it was all the waiting around for weeks or months between stages. I find nothing worse than having an important decision hanging in the air - my mind spends every idle moment trying to imagine every possible outcome and fretting over how the next stage will play out. If claims were assessed fairly in the first instance, in the way that the tribunal courts do, there would be no need for the vast majority of it.
The system is quite patently designed to be as confrontational as possible, and to dismiss claimants at every possibly opportunity in the hope that they will just give up and walk away. Even the High Court has ruled that the assessment process is flawed and being implemented by contractors who are not fit for purpose. However, most people's chances of success are much better than they usually think, so long as they're prepared for the long haul. I know two other autistic people personally, and have seen several others on forums, who went through the charade of being awarded zero points, even after Mandatory Reconsideration, but were successful at appeal.