PIP review time

Hello,

Looking to get any advice on the best approach/use of available time for evidence to submit with my PIP review form.

Just over 2 weeks ago text from DWP stating review has started, 11 months early. Form has only just arrived, have already obtained 2-week extra extension.

Re medical evidence, I do not think anything I have (from within the 2-year window) can be submitted. None of the correspondence I have from my surgeon and various different consultants and services have ever discussed, or explicitly documented, things such as e.g. how I bathe/shower or food and meal preparation etc. I just have letters referring to their medical findings and reports that are specific to each specialty, and contain nothing relating to my overall condition or PIP activities.

At last review, I did obtain a 4-page report from the main specialist service I was under at the time which detailed my DL and mobility issues from a PIP activity angle, but since then I have been discharged after exhausting treatment and medications on offer. Any re-referral to get an updated report would of course massively miss the PIP deadline and also their guidelines for referral specifically exclude for benefit-related reasons.

After extreme difficulty I managed to speak with my own GP, who is supportive and said happy to assist where possible but would not consider providing anything letter-wise until I had received the form. I did say the form itself is only for me to complete, I just wanted something up-to-date to submit with it, but they just told me to contact them again once form has arrived.

Given it is quite unlikely that I would get another GP appointment before the form deadline, would it be still be useful to objectively request (via leaving a message) from GP just an up-to-date letter listing my “disabling conditions” and “effects of these conditions on day to day life” (essentially a partial update of the Capita GP report they filled in last review) or would it be better to keep try, try, trying to meet face-to-face and taking along the B&W questionnaire for them to complete there and then, which does relate to PIP activities and descriptors?

I think option 2 (meeting f2f) would be best as I do not think GP would have enough knowledge to fill in the “effects of these conditions” in enough detail on their own.

I am also hoping to get relatives and friends to write something detailing the support I receive from them for DL and mobility reasons, relating to relevant activities.

Lastly, as I do minimally still drive (approx only hundreds of miles per annum), is it advisable to preemptively address this, as detailed elsewhere on B&W site, by explaining things within my response to for e.g. “preparing food and cooking”, as previous DWP HPs and DMs have used driving as an argument for several activity descriptors in their award refusal summaries.

Grateful and appreciative to hear any thoughts on the above.
Many thanks,
A

Thanks you BIS, for reading and your reply.

If you can get an up-to-date letter from your GP, that would be great. It's nice to hear that you have one that is trying to be supportive.

Yes, hopefully so... though I don’t yet know if the offer of support will – due to GP workload – actually extend to providing something sufficiently complete and detailed, but I shall of course try!

Yes, I would request a letter confirming your conditions and the impact. Just make sure that you have an idea of what they might write. For people I've assisted, I usually send a copy of the letter I want to the doctor and I tell them as they are busy, I would be grateful if they could write a similar letter. Ninety per cent of the time they have just copied what I said,...

If I were to provide (as a hard copy) the similar letter to GP as per above, how do things likely stand at tribunal time in regard to the method of obtaining the final GP letter?

The B&W v58 PIP pdf on p98 relates to this but it isn’t obvious to me (other than a 3-month+ delay) what could happen, is it possible the tribunal decide too much was copied and therefore the GP letter becomes inadmissible as evidence and so without it they would automatically rule the case in favour of the other party with no right to appeal?

Rightly or wrongly, I’ve previously avoided hard-copy request to GP because of this and attempted things verbally at appointment time which unfortunately meant letter had some points mistakenly omitted and so couldn’t use it.

If you prefer to do the face-to-face form - that would also work - just don't let them send it off without you seeing it!

If the opportunity arises, I think I will bring along both f2f form and my version of similar letter, and then ask which the GP thinks they may be willing and able to complete before deadline.

It may be the case that a more detailed and full response from GP now may mean the DWP do not have to approach them directly for evidence in a report, if they did it should closely agree with GP letter that would have been submitted.

If you have had the driving issue come up before, then yes, I would address it. ...

Thank you, do you think addressing things in full on the form just once is enough or is repeating it each time within any relevant activities’ own section necessary?

Thanks again,
A