Mandatory Reconsideration not allowed to telephone

Has anyone else been told they cannot make a request for a reconsideration on the phone and that they cannot make the request and submit evidence later in the 1 month period?

I am supporting a young person who very clearly meets support group criteria but has been reassessed at 0 points. He did not supply additional evidence this time as he had supplied it before and was in support group and his condition has deteriorated since.

Obviously he will need to re-supply but it will take some time to get up to date evidence.
He called as his letter said he could to make the request and was told:
1) he could not make the request on the phone
2) when he writes the reconsideration will be on the basis of what that one letter says/contains and he cannot add evidence later
3) if the decision is overturned any backdated ESA will only be back to the date they receive the written request.

As his payments were stopped before he even got the decision letter that would lose him at least a week's ESA even if he could reply immediately, but as he can't even get a GP appt until 17th that will be almost 3 weeks after the decision and very close to the 4 week deadline.

My instincts say he has been incorrectly advised and we can write now and say evidence to follow but I don't want to risk him losing out. I really do know nothing!

Any advice gratefully received.

HI and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

If I had a £ for every time a member reports having been misinformed by DWP, I would currently be in the Caribbean!

It is entirely possible to make an MR request over the phone. However, they do have a remarkable habit of getting 'lost' so we always recommend following this up in writing.

If the claimant tells DWP that they will be sending in more information/evidence they are supposed allow extra time for it to arrive. However, we frequently hear form people who had received the MR decision before they have had time to submit their evidence.

If the decision is overturned it will be backdated to when the disputed decision was made - as long as fitnotes are submitted to cover the period, dating from the day after payment stopped (hold on to them for now).

Have a look at our PIP guide which explains the MR process and the criteria against which the claimant is assessed.

PIP help for claimants

Does the claimant have a copy of the assessor's report? If not, it is well worth getting one. DWP usually send them out on request. However, if it has not arrived in time, don't delay in requesting the MR. The DWP do not have to accept it if it is later than 1 month from the date of the decision letter.

May I suggest that you bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future? This will allow you to return with further questions or comments about your friend/client's PIP without having to start a new topic each time. We ask members to keep everything relating to the same claim in one topic as it helps us enormously - and I hope you will find it useful too

Thank you very much for the information.
A quick update, I'm pleased to say that my friend's support group has been re-instated and backdated at MR from a 0 point assessment!

In case it's useful to anyone else, here's what happened.
Assessment report said "it seems unlikely that" and words to the effect of a young person would be experiencing that level of difficulty. It also said the level of difficulty being described would involve specialist nurses and stronger medication.

Our letter requesting MR pointed out words to the effect of
Although it might be unlikely that doesn't mean it is impossible and for this person it is happening.
It's the combination of one health problem exacerbating another
The lack of treatment is a result of the person's MH problems arising from the distress caused by the condition.

The Decision Maker has given the person a year to get treatment/further evidence and we will support them to do so.