Returning PIP form (Tittle changed)

My husband is having to fill in the PIP form for me as I cannot concentrate well enough to fill it in, let alone physically hold a pen. Thank dog for predictive text and touch screens!


My husband wants to know how he should complete the form:

- in the first person, as if I was filling it in myself ("I am...").
- in the third person, as though he is writing about me ("Vikki is...")

Any help is most gratefully received.

All the best,

Vikki the Legless

Hi Vikki

I don't think it matters which way you write it, so long as you sign it at the end. You are then accepting that everything in the form is true, that it is the way things really are as far as your health is concerned.

If your husband fills it in and you prefer, you can always get him to state at the end that you are unable to complete the form yourself because of your illness, so he has written your words down for you. Again, so long as you sign it at the end, it is acceptable.

Hello again everyone. I was wondering...I'm typing up notes for my PIP application form, using my touchscreen predictive thingyamibob.

Does anyone know if we can type up then print out the answers for each question and, literally, do a physical cut and paste job into each box of the form?

I can't write by hand and my husband has arthritis in his wrists so finds it painful to write for any length of time. I can't leave the house due to severe panic attacks and we can't access a home visit from a CAB member as there are none in our area, and time is running out.

Half of the answers have been typed up so far, for my husband to copy out for me, but if I can save him a painstaking job and just print out my answers, that would be so much better.

Very many thanks from a rather tired and anxious Vikki.

Hi VikkiH

Well, if you can't write to fill the form in you'll HAVE to type it!! I don't see that it will make any difference at all, better typewritten and legible than scrawled and unreadable.

The only thing I would suggest is to type your answers on separate sheets. Number the sheets carefully; put your name, NI number on each sheet., then mark the sheets 1 of 7, 2 of 7 or however many sheets you are attaching and put the number(s) of the questions you are answering on each sheet. Best if you can attach the sheets to the relevant questions so the decision maker isn't having to search through them all each time.

You might also put a sheet at the front of the form, explaining why the answers are typewritten.

Try not to wear yourself out doing it!! Good luck.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ANYONE APPLYING FOR PIP from DLA:

After your initial claim over the telephone, you will be sent your PIP claim form for evidence. On the front of it will be a date for return that is one calendar month from the day the form was posted. For example, my husband called for my initial claim on January 17th, 2016. The form was processed for posting on January 19th and the return date was by February 19th, 2016.

BEWARE: we were informed by the helpline that this date does not allow for the received processing time at their end, which, depending on postal levels, can be anything from 2 to 10 days.

In order for your claim form to get there in time AND be processed as received, you need to send it off AT LEAST 10 days before the date given on the form.

My husband has just had a conversation with the PIP Existing Claims helpline explaining our postal problem (below) and although we have been given a 7 day extension, it doesn't help the fact that the form gives a false impression of the date you need to send it by.

Our situation has not been helped by the fact that Royal Mail have cocked up our Special Delivery by 1pm Next Day order. It was posted on Wednesday for arrival by 1pm yesterday and it still hasn't been delivered.

We were also informed that although the current target for undergoing the Medical Assessment is 16 weeks, the national average is still 23 weeks. Prepare for a bit of a wait for your oh-so-honest appraisal...