PIP RECONSIDERATION

Hi Yorry

Welcome to the forum.

You might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is; www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/faq/forum

You are both correct; to request a Mandatory Reconsideration in time then it is within one month of the date on the decision letter. You can do an out of time request for a MR with good reason, the absolute time limit is 13 months from the date on the decision letter, I have put in a few at the 12 month stage, mainly for claimants with mental health issues.

The first thing you need to do is contact DWP and request a copy of the assessors report called a PA4.

When you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and you will now be able to argue against them.

I usually use a highlighter to highlight any inaccuracies, once you have gone through the report you then set out why you are applying for a MR and go through each descriptor one at a time why you disagree with the assessor and try and match it with any supporting documents you may have sent in.

Understand that the assessor is offering an opinion when they say 'in my opinion' you can do the PIP activities, tackling these head-on is unlikely to be successful, you need to show that the basis of that opinion is founded on incorrect information, so try and refer to your evidence to undermine what they have said., remember they are just an opinion which is not based on fact.

Also, try and stick to issues that lead to your scoring points, I often hear members referring to the assessors spelling, as an example, whilst it may show a lack of professionalism, raising it as an issue isn't going to help you get an award.

Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation.

Lastly, make sure that you understand the criteria that you are being assessed against you can put the best case forward that is possible but you won't score points if you do not meet the PIP Descriptors.

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide; benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/pip , you can do an out of time MR request with good reasons.

For the CRMR1 form to initiate your MR; www.gov.uk/government/publications/chall...ork-and-pensions-dwp

When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

Gary

Hi Yorry

You don't need to worry about using capital letters in your subject line. Lots of people do - including me as a mod. We discourage it only in the text, as it can appear as if people are shouting.

BIS