Pip award review

Hi Lyn
Like you I'm struggling with this form ,it' looks easy compared to the normal pip claim form ,but it seems constructed in a way to make it so difficult to answer the the questions ,the tick boxes are misleading because if you tick things are the same ,they say you don't need to add any more information ,but to my mind it doesn't give you a opportunity to explain the difficulty s you have with doing that activity ,and even if it's harder or easier there isn't enough space on the form to fill in your explanations why it's easier or harder . I like you am worried about being called in for another stressful upsetting assessment and possibly having my award lessened from enhanced to standard , because my last assessment wasn't entirely represented correctly just like yours . I asked for a written copy of my assessment and couldn't believe the discrepancy between what the assessor had written and what I had in truth said !!! It's very worrying when this happens ,and then you have to go through the reconsideration and appeal process all over again . I hope you get on ok Lyn with your claim , im relieved to know that I am not the only one going through this nightmare when my mental and physical health is fragile as it is .

Hi Lyn no
I hope you don't mind me asking ,but did you provide a lot of information on your review form or just tick the boxes ,? I have been so confused as to whether to add information that I have already supplied in original claim for pip on paper and at assessment ,or simply tick no change ? .I have spent all day trying to decipher guidelines and what to do with this totally unexpected form ! I'm seriously upset ,been crying ,can't eat and haven't slept , sick of the constant hassle ,wish they would leave me alone

Hi Libby.
I recently conpleted the form on behalf of my daughter, I didn’t give as much information as I would have with the standard application. This was a mistake, if you have the chance send everything you can. As a result we have had ATOS f2f and they have decided my daughter needs no assistance as she is bright obtained good grades and attends college. The report is full of inaccuracies we challenged and requested MR and are now just starting our appea. So unnecessary as her day to day care and assistance was confirmed by her GP yet ATOS refuses to change their decision.

Hi Libby and Lyn.
If you check your original award letter, it does state on it that the award is for X number of years,with a review.normally a year before your award is up. This is standard PIP policy now, i have found.
I received mine and posted it last week. My advice is, just be honest about your condition. If no change then tick that box and leave the lines underneath blank. If there has been a change,they don't seem to require you to go into a lot of detail. Refer to the front two examples they sent you... EG. My condition has got worse........ Why?...My arthritis has progressed and give a short synopsis as to how it has affected you. They are not looking for a lot of detail, they have that in your PIP 2,which they will refer to...............Don't let it throw you..... Use extra paper if you need to explain further.........I hope this helps somewhat and I apologise to Gordon.......... I am not trying to be a moderator, just help where I can.

Hi Judy
I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter ,it's getting harder and more complicated to than ever to get the award that you need for your disability . I think the review form is another way of trying to either reduce your award to receive less help and money or to stop it completely . It seems from the posts I've looked at on here that some people say just tick no change if your condition hasn't changed and leave it at that ,while others say give as much information as possible ? Seems as you are dammed if you do and dammed if you don't ! . Well I have managed to spill coffee all over my form after days of my husband filling it in for me ,!! Had to ring the dwp this morning and ask for another form to be sent but I. Not sure if it will arrive in time for the date it has to be returned by ,so that's just another thing to worry and stress about , . The mere thought of going through another face to face assessment is terrifying ,the last one in 2015 I spent over 2 hrs In tears and felt more like a interrogation than a assessment ,awful experience To go through especially when you are ill in the first place ,I was a complete mess for weeks before going to it and I'm sure no matter what I put in the ar1 form that I will have to go through another assessment anyway . I hope you get your daughter's claim sorted out ,and I will post how I get on once I have eventually filled I. The dreaded form and find out the results .

Having looked at my original PIP form I don't think I answered certain questions as fully and clearly as I did for my ESA claim which resulted in a much better outcome a year and a half later. I think my inability to explain, more clearly, how my illness affects me on the original PIP form probably affected the final decision. It seems to me that the outcome of these assessments is affected by how much the claimant understands how to answer the questions and whether they have had help filling in the form by someone who can explain their support needs in a way that the DWP acknowledges.

One way to fill in the AR-1 might be to look at the original PIP claim form and the subsequent decision makers report and identify, by referring to the B&W guides, what could have been explained more clearly. Then include, with the AR-1 form, the relevant information that addresses what was originally left out or under scored.

If this provokes another f2f then that's unfortunate but when my friend and I looked at a number of responses about the AR-1 on this site and on others there appeared to be a 50% chance of a f2f even when answering "no change" anyway.

If a review decision ends up reducing the number of points or stopping PIP altogether then at least the DWP has been sent updated information that will have to be taken into account during an appeal. I don't think we can add further information during the appeal process but I might be wrong about this.