Remembering last year's weather and the massive backlog of post, especially with the christmas psot soon as well, how will the dwp respond if the form is stuck in a pile somewhere because of A)snow causes what happened last year b) huge christmas post and last days postings pretty much a week before chrismtas. Would be all be penalised for this? Because it is beyone our control if we can show we got proof of posting and we have done our bit, it is not our fault and dwp should not punish us for it should they?
This has been discussed before on the forum. Although many claimants are worried about meeting DWP deadlines against delays in the post, there haven't been many reported problems of claimants having their benefit stopped as a result.
I would expect the DWP to be lenient when there are obvious delays. As long as you post in reasonable time and have proof of posting I think you are reasonably safe - although it can never be guaranteed.