PIP face to face speed

Hi
I received my invitation to transfer from DLA to PIP( on indefinate award).
Form returned on 12th October and text received on 13th October to say they had form.
Letter dated 18th October from Capita to say they had received the form and should hear within 16 weeks if they needed to see me.
Letter dated next day 19th Ocober with face to face appointment.
Is this usuaL?
I am really anxoius and worried as I suffer from ME which is not easy to prove how it affects me. I did send in a seven day diary and answered questions in lot of detail. Just worried about whole process and speed of everything .
Thank you

Hi Skyblues,

At the moment there are huge variations in the time taken for a claimant to receive an appointment for a face2face assessment. We are quoting anything between a couple of weeks to a few months - so yours is on the quick side!

The length of time taken to invite a claimant for assessment does not seem to bear any relation to the ultimate decision, so I don't see that this is cause for alarm.

Our PIP guide explains what to expect on the day.

Thank you for your reply.
Is it worth me ringing to query face to face appointment being sent on day after they received form? I just don't see how they have had time to read everything.

I need to ring to alter my face to face appointment as I stated on my form that I dont travel to unfamiliar places alone and would need my daughter to come with me ( she is a teacher) my appointment is next week and as it is half term she needs to ask for time off(unpaid) to come with me and asking on Monday for Friday of same week does not give the school time to get cover. Do you think they will allow me to alter my appointment for this reason?

Sorry for the qustions

Hi Skyblues,

You are allowed to rearrange the appointment once without penalty. You don't need to explain why you want to change it. Make sure that you have your daughter's available dates to hand when you phone up, so that you can ensure that the new appointment is at a suitable time/place.

I don't think there is any mileage in asking why the decision to see you face2face was made so quickly - the people you will speak to have no influence over this. We do hear of appointments being cancelled as someone has decided they can make a recommendation to DWP without seeing the claimant. Delaying the appointment will give a bit more chance for this. However, the vast majority of claimants do have to go through a face2face assessment.