PIP Delay........................................

[JamesC]

I applied for PIP at the begining of Jan 2014, eventualy got an assesment at the beginning of June, received a leeter mid June from DWP stating they now had all the info required and would receive my decision within 4-8 weeks, it is now week 9 and surprise surprise no decision, i called last wed and was told a claim manager would call me within 5 working days, it is now 7 working days and Guess what ! no contact received, what an absoloute shambles they could not organise a **** up in a brewery !!!!!! frustrated is an understatement......

UPDATE

Well it is now Day 12 and still no call from the Claim Manager that was promised within 5 working Day's 12 Day's ago.
It is pointless calling them as all they tell you is "we will note the account for the Claims Manager to call you", i will not be holding my breath.....................

[phaedra]

My friend is off to a tribunal in a few weeks and went through exactly the same, even the request for all his information was continually delayed until welfare rights got involved. It makes truly appalling reading, the amount of requests to ATOS for clarification, asking if they were sure of their assessment given the description of his condition at the assessment etc.

There are multiple references to phone calls and notes recorded by the DWP onto the system asking for claim managers and the decision maker to make the promised call backs that never came. As you said it really is a complete disgrace.

[Xxviroxx1]

I applied for my dads pip in jan, and esa was over 12 month with no assement ment, I contacted our local mp in March and by April dad had his pip assement and within a week we had an answer with both pip and esa, might of been luck but I think the mp helped a lot to speed up the process and dad had nothing to live on! So maybe try and see if your mp can help?

[nanna55]

Hi James
I know how you feel! Took them 33 days to call me back - absolute shambles!
Hope you hear soon

Nann55

[JamesC]

Called them on Thursday and was told it would be escalated to a manager to call me the same day, alas no call, rang on Friday to ask why no call and was basicaly called a liar as i would not have been told this, the woman then said she would check to see if the call had been recorded and get back to me, i advised her that I had recorded the call and could send her the recording which she declined.

[weary]

Hi all - first time on here so hope I'm in the right place. Looking for some advice please? I was diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2013. I had surgery and then began chemotherapy in October 2013. I applied for PIP then. At that time grueling treatment meant that I needed help with feeding, bathing, prompting to take meds and getting to hospital appointments etc. Copies of diagnosis, drug schedules, treatment plans etc etc were all submitted with my application. I heard nothing from ATOS until this summer when they sent me an appointment for a home visit. It clashed with a hospital appointment so I asked them to reschedule. Today I got an another appointment for two weeks time. However, looking on these forums I don't know whether it is of any use for me to have the assessment. I've had surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Although not back to work yet, I am capable of doing everyday things now that I couldn't at the time of application and for months afterwards. I am in receipt of ESA and I'm in the Support Group element of that. I still have some treatment for side effects of the surgery and chemo. I have lymphodema in my arm, meaning I have to wear a compression sleeve and glove for three or four hours a day and I am about to start an 8 week course of manual drainage for that at my local hospice. I also attend weekly physio sessions for mobility issues, again as result of bone degeneration after chemo. However, I can do all the things that are listed on the assessment/point schedule that they use. It was a year ago that I made my initial claim. So. should I just cancel it now? Seems a pointless and stressful exercise, scares and panics me so much at a time when I don't have the energy to fight anymore. Thanking you in anticipation.

[Flymo]

I know it's frustrating, James, but drawing attention to procedural foul ups and broken promises will not move the situation onwards, so there's little point trying to catch out the helpdesk operators.

There is no way you can enforce a verbal "promise" from the helpdesk even if there is a recording. Any promise by the DWP staff member was not given in exchange for an act or promise from you, so there is no consideration and therefore no contract. There's also some doubt over contractual intent, as helpdesk operators are not going to be authorised to make binding promises on behalf of DWP, so anything they say does not represent an intention to enter into contract.


Sadly, requests for calls to be returned are not always implemented, which is not acceptable. However, it is important to remember the primary task of the staff at the Benefit Delivery Centres is to get on with the task of making and implementing decisions, not phoning claimants for a discussion of where their claim has got up to. If they spend all their time talking to claimants, the wait for decisions will grow which is in nobody's interests.

The letter saying a decision is expected in 4-8 weeks is not a binding promise. There are some cases where a careful examination of the evidence during the decision making process results in a request being sent to the assessment provider for something to be clarified or corrected, which slows things down. In other cases, the workload at the Benefits Delivery Centre in question means decisions are not being made as fast as expected.


The current delays are a disgrace - there is no doubt about that. You're now up to about 14 weeks from the letter, James. I'd draw the delay to the attention of your MP's office and let them pursue DWP on your behalf. They have contacts at a higher level than you do as a member of the public, which is more likely to result in action. If DWP know an MP is potentially interested in an individual case, that provides a powerful incentive to resolve the problems and make a decision.