Invitation to apply for PIP

Hi everyone,my wife finally got the invatation to apply for PIP today.
She wrang them up in the afternoon and they asked all the questions that was in the letter.
Just a couple of questions to ask.
Firstly does anyone know how long the PIP form takes to arrive ?

Secondly how long do you have to return the PIP form once receiving it and how long till they give you an appointment for your medical ?

Thirdly can you ask the person who is doing the interview what qualifications she has in the medical profession ?

And finally can I take notes on my wife's behalf or can I record the interview on my phone after hearing about horror stories being told of claiments answers not been recorded or the interviewer putting something different down to what they actually said.

I'm sorry if some of the questions have been answered elsewhere,but I got a lot to sort out as you could imagine.
Many thanks in advance.
Steve

Hi Steve and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I will try to answer your questions in order -

1) The PIP2 form usually takes around 10-14 days to arrive.

2) The claimant has 4 weeks to complete the form, but this does include postage both ways. A 2 week extension can be given, just phone DWP and ask - you don't need to have any special reason for requesting this. Most claimants seem to hear about a face2face appointment within a few weeks of returning the form.

3) You can certainly ask the assessor what his/her profession is if they do not tell you. As to qualifications - DWP take the stance that all assessors are specially trained in this, their other qualifications do not matter. You can ask, but I don't know if you will be told!

4) You can take notes of the assessment. If you wish to record it openly you must ask for permission in advance and provide your own equipment. You must record 2 tapes/CDs simultaneously and give one copy to the assessor at the end. You may not use a digital recording device.

It is not illegal to record the assessment in secret. However, you must be very careful if you go down this route. If the recording is detected, the likely outcome is that the interview would be terminated on the grounds that your wife had not co-operated.


Please make good use of our PIP guide

PIP help for claimants

May I suggest that you favourite/bookmark 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 wife's PIP without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one topic - and I hope you will find it useful too

Gee thanks for the quick response Mrs Hurtyback and I will have a look at pip help for claiments.And I'm sure your answers will also help other people looking for the same information.
Thank you
Steve.

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3) You can certainly ask the assessor what his/her profession is if they do not tell you. As to qualifications - DWP take the stance that all assessors are specially trained in this, their other qualifications do not matter. You can ask, but I don't know if you will be told!

s about your wife's PIP without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one topic - and I hope you will find it useful too [/quote]

THHe NMC do not appear to recognise the DWP qualification. it does not appear on a nurses Registration entry as a post registration qualification.

I would advise against covert recording as you would not be allowed to use it at tribunal anyhow. Having said that I strongly recommend you nip down Argos and get 2 cheap cassette recorders. Maplin sells cassette tapes for them.