Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all -
I don't have a lot of people I can share this with IRL so I thought I'd post here.
I applied for my PIP this summer and got a call earlier this week to say it has been granted. I am OVER the moon.
Everything I read online says that the process is impossible to navigate, you're always rejected first time - so expect to fight - and even if you aren't rejected, the whole thing takes months/years to work through the system. My experience couldn't have been more different. I made 1 call and was emailed the form - I filled in the form at GREAT LENGTH using a guide on the citizens advice website to help input all the relevant information under the right questions. After this was sent off I had regular texts to say where my form was in the process. Recently I had a call from an outsourced nurse who wanted to clarify 2-3 things with me, which lasted about 30-40 mins. Then I got the call to say I have been awarded PIP and to await a letter with the financial breakdown. It took 10 weeks and 1 day start to finish.
To say I am astonished doesn't cover it - I was certain I would be rejected as that is what all of the literature online indicates.
This benefit support will be life-changing for me - I hadn't realised how tense and stressed I've been about it until that call came earlier this week.
Finally feel like I can breathe again!
Wow incredible and well done. So many horror stories about the process get posted on here, so it's good to hear of a success.
Maybe you could become a consultant, advising the rest of us what to put on the forms!
I wonder if it made a difference that the nurse was outsourced It sounds like you got a real human with compassion and understanding, rather than a deceptive and dishonest one as many accounts report.
That's a great idea Autonomistic! I just followed the steps on this page: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/fill-in-form-pip/ and that showed me the right way to do it.
All of the nurses are outsourced eg. they don't work directly for the DWP, they just work on their behalf. The nurse call meant that I got to skip the 'formal' interview though, she said you tend to have one or the other.
Autumn_Trees said: just followed the steps on this page: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/fill-in-form-pip/ and that showed me the right way to do it.
That's what I did for my mum when I got her PIP.
This was mainly based on her losing her sight (partially sighted).
It's a very good resource.