How Long Does Pip Review Take?

How Long Does Pip Review Take
Getting a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decision – The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will make a decision on your Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim after the medical assessment has been completed. The DWP’s decision about your PIP entitlement is based on the information in:

Your claim form The documents you sent with your claim form The health professional’s notes from the medical assessment.

On average, it takes the DWP 20 weeks from the date you started your claim to make a decision. Some claims take less time; some take more.

How long is it taking for a PIP review?

As the DWP grapples with personal independence payment (PIP) reassessment delays, Carri Swann considers how to advise affected claimants. Background As of October 2022, it takes the DWP 16 weeks to decide a new PIP claim. While nowhere near the August 2021 peak of 26 weeks, 16 weeks is still a long time for new claimants to wait.1 DWP, Personal Independence Payment: official statistics to October 2022, available at gov.uk, (‘PIP Official Statistics’), para 6 The DWP is taking steps to ‘manage’ these delays, like increasing its numbers of case managers and subcontracted healthcare professionals.2 DWP email to stakeholders, 16 November 2022 It is also prioritising new claimants for assessment ahead of existing claimants whose cases have come up for review.

Unfortunately, this measure is shifting delays from one part of the PIP system – new claims – to another – the award review process. Delays when you have an existing award The DWP does not publish statistics on how long a PIP reassessment takes, but CPAG’s Early Warning System has heard about claimants waiting a year or more between completing a review form and getting a new entitlement decision.

Sometimes these claimants have been sent a review form as part of a planned award review, and sometimes because they have notified the DWP of a deterioration in their health. These delays present a few different issues. In this article, two are considered.

First, there is the fear that a fixed-term PIP award might end before a new award is made.
Second, there is the issue that people wait too long for a much-needed PIP increase after a deterioration in their health, and when it comes, it is not always applied from the date they expect.1.
Automatic extensions The DWP has taken steps to prevent PIP from going out of payment due to reassessment delays by introducing automatic extensions for some awards.

If, 35 days before an award is due to end, it is still ‘awaiting review’, it will be automatically extended by up to 12 months.3 Confirmed in DWP, LA Welfare Direct 9/2022, paras 28-31, available at gov.uk Automatic extensions are not new, having been used extensively at the height of the pandemic.

However, the latest policy offers the longest extensions to date. It also promises written confirmation, which has not always been available in the past. Does the automatic extensions policy apply to all PIP awards? The policy only appears to apply when an award is subject to review, This is not a statutory term.

Being subject to review means that a claimant is sent an award review form (AR1) to complete before their fixed-term PIP award is due to end. The DWP then reassesses them and makes a new decision on their entitlement without them having to reclaim PIP.

Some PIP awards of two years or less are not ‘subject to review’.4 para P2063 ADM; DWP response to FOI request FOI2021/ 13215, 2 March 2021, available at ; there is implicit confirmation that this approach continues in the PIP Official Statistics at para 4.
A decision maker has discretion to make this kind of award if they think that (eg, because of planned treatment) the claimant will no longer qualify for PIP at the end of the award period.

The DWP sometimes calls these ‘short-term awards without review’. The DWP makes lots of short-term PIP awards: as of October 2022, 77 per cent of new awards were for two years or less.5 PIP Official Statistics, para 4 As a result, it is likely that many PIP claimants are not subject to review.

Instead of being sent an award review form, short-term award claimants get a letter some months before their PIP is due to end prompting them to make a new PIP claim.
This ‘renewal claim’ is made in the same way as any other new claim and can be put in up to six months before the existing award is due to end.6 Reg 33(2) Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2013, No.380.

As noted above, the average waiting time for a decision on new claims is 16 weeks. Although ‘review’ and ‘renewal’ are sometimes talked about interchangeably, in practice these are clearly two quite different processes. For a claimant coming towards the end of a fixed-term PIP award, it is crucial to know what they are expected to do and when.

If you are not sure whether your client is subject to review or not, you can normally find this information in their award letter or by calling the PIP helpline.7 The wording in the award letter might be: ‘We will also contact you while you are getting PIP to see if your needs have changed and to look at the amount you get.

This will be after,’ If your client’s award is subject to review, and this has not been completed 35 days before its end date, the award should be automatically extended as described above. If it is not subject to review, it appears that it will not be extended.

This could mean your client’s award ending before their renewal claim is decided, leaving a gap in payments. What is not clear is whether your client could get around this by making a supersession request (ie, reporting a change of circumstances) more than 35 days before their existing award ends. If they do so, they are classed as awaiting an unplanned rather than a planned review.

The policy and indeed the relevant law does not distinguish between the two, and it is possible that having either kind of review outstanding will mean their award is identified for extension. When you are advising someone who has a short-term award without review, you might therefore suggest they report a change of circumstances at the same time as making a renewal claim.

A relevant change of circumstances can be that their difficulties are expected to last beyond the end date of their award, even if the level of their difficulties has not changed.8 PH v SSWP (DLA) UKUT 268 (AAC). While this was a DLA case, it is strongly arguable that the reasoning also applies to fixed-term awards of PIP.

This approach, although admin-heavy, might give them the best chance of being protected from a gap in payments. The best advice will always depend on the facts of the case. Can an award made by the tribunal be automatically extended? Yes, in principle.

A PIP award made by the tribunal can be superseded for a change of circumstances in the same way as other awards.9 Reg 23(1)(a) Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2013, No.381 (‘UC,PIP,JSA&ESA(D&A) Regs’) If this is the legal ground the DWP is using to make automatic extensions – and it appears to be – then it follows that an award made by the tribunal will be automatically extended, so long as it is ‘awaiting review’.

However, some advisers have reported that the DWP is not always attaching review dates to tribunal awards in the way as it does to other awards – ie, even where they are for more than two years. These awards are therefore not being automatically extended.

The DWP does not have any statutory obligation to review awards, but its approach here does not appear to be in line with its own policies.10 See footnote 4 When you are advising someone who has an award made by the tribunal, do check their DWP award letter or call the PIP helpline to ask if an award review date has been set.

The answer will determine the advice you give (see answer to ‘ Does the automatic extensions policy apply to all PIP awards? ‘ above). How can my client prove their extended PIP entitlement – eg, for a blue badge application? As of mid-December, affected claimants are automatically sent letters confirming their extended PIP entitlement.

The DWP has told stakeholders that any affected claimant who has not automatically received a letter (eg, because their award was extended before December) can call the PIP helpline and ask for one.
CPAG’s Early Warning System has heard that some councils are adapting to the situation by offering longer Blue Badge extensions based on previous medical information in appropriate cases, rather than extending for 12 months or less in line with the PIP award.2.

Deterioration in health and effective date of supersession A second issue for existing PIP claimants hit by assessment delays is that they may wait a long time for much-needed PIP increases after experiencing a deterioration in their health. When they do get a new decision, the increase does not always apply from the date they expect.

From what date should PIP increase? There are several factors to consider.
The required period condition PIP can usually increase no earlier than three months after your client starts satisfying the conditions for a higher rate.
This is part of the ‘required period’ condition for PIP eligibility, and is statutory.

So if, for example, your client’s needs increased in December 2022, their award can increase from no earlier than March 2023. They should still report the change as soon as possible, and not wait three months to do so, as this will simply hold up the reassessment process.

The supersession rules The date of any increase will also depend on which grounds of supersession are being used by the DWP to increase your client’s award. The answer to this question determines the relevant date of the increase – but it is not always straightforward. (a) If your client actively contacted the DWP to report a change in circumstances In this situation, you client’s award should be superseded on the grounds of a change of circumstances.11 Regs 12 and 13 Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, No.377; reg 23(1)(a) and Sch 1 para 15 UC,PIP,JSA&ESA(D&A) Regs If they report the change ‘no later than one month’ after it happens (or later if the DWP agrees), then the supersession takes effect from the date of the change of circumstances.

This needs to be read together with the required period rules above – ie, so that, technically, the change would need to be reported within a month of satisfying the required period condition. In practice however, it remains good advice not to wait until then, but simply to report the change (the deterioration in health) as soon as possible.

For example, if your client’s mobility gets worse because of an accident on 1 December 2022, and they notify the change in their needs any time between 1 December 2022 and 1 April 2023, their award should be increased from 1 March 2023.
If they tell the DWP about the change on a date after 1 April 2023, then unless the DWP agrees to allow a late notification, the increase will only take effect from that notification date.

(b) If your client instead completed an award review form that the DWP sent them unprompted as part of a planned award review In this case, you could argue that your client notified the DWP of a change of circumstances on the date it received their completed AR1 form; that the DWP should therefore supersede their award on the grounds of a change of circumstances; and that the effective date of any increase should be worked out accordingly.12 See footnote 11.

Note that, for Sch 1 para 18 of the UC,PIP,JSA&ESA(D&A) Regs, it seems unlikely that the DWP sending you an AR1 in a planned review case could amount to ‘action with a view to supersession’.
However, the success of this approach might be dependent on what your client wrote in their AR1 form.
The DWP may not agree to supersede on this basis, and want instead to apply the alternative rule described below.

The alternative ground of supersession In either (a) or (b), the DWP might try to supersede your client’s award on the alternative grounds of receipt of new medical evidence from a healthcare professional.13 s10(5) Social Security Act 1998; reg 26 UC,PIP,JSA&ESA(D&A) Regs Supersessions made on this ground have a different effective date from supersessions made for a change of circumstances.

If this medical evidence ground applies, any increase in your client’s award will only apply from the date of the DWP’s new decision.
When both possible grounds for a supersession apply, and the DWP uses the ground that is less generous to the claimant, that is at least potentially wrong, and its decision can be challenged.

In the reported decision in DS v SSWP (PIP) UKUT 538 (AAC), reported as AACR 19, Judge Mesher noted that the PIP supersession rules make particular provisions about changes of circumstance that are advantageous to the claimant, and stated: ‘So far as decisions that are advantageous to the claimant go, there is then no difficulty in applying a general principle that the claimant should be able to take the benefit of whatever ground gives the most advantage.’

How long does it take for PIP to review 2023?

Forum Members forums ESA, PIP and DLA Queries and Results PIP Renewal timescale 2023.

1 month 1 week ago #279016 by Rossi222 How long is the PIP Renewal process taking? I returned my form 10 weeks ago. My Motability Car lease is due to end and the process for changing starts 31st March. In January 2021, my PIP was extended to December 2023., so I will have to ask for an extension on the lease as I have less than 12 months left on my award.

Everything seems so far behind, with no communication, it just adds to the already nerve wracking experience. A rough idea of the timescale would be great. Also, are there any figures on how many renewals are being decided without an interview, to help clear the backlog? Many thanks Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.1 month 1 week ago #279023 by BIS Hi Rossi222 I’m afraid I can’t offer you any sort of timescale because we just don’t know.

Some people are hearing within 8 weeks, and some are taking up to 18 months. They are dealing with a backlog, and the majority of people are being given a video or a telephone assessment. Some people have been given a paper-based assessment, but I have noticed that many of the award lengths seem to be short.

Forum Members forums ESA, PIP and DLA Queries and Results PIP Renewal timescale 2023.

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What happens when you have a PIP review?

How PIP reviews work – You will continue to get PIP while your claim is being reviewed.

You’ll get a letter asking you to fill in a form called ‘Award review – how your disability affects you’. Fill in the form using the notes that come with it. Send the form and any supporting information you have not shared with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) before – the form explains what to include and where to send it. You’ll need to return it within 1 month. Contact the PIP enquiry line if you need more time. DWP will review your form. If they need more information, an independent health professional might phone you to ask some questions or send a letter inviting you to an assessment. Assessments can be in person, over the phone or by video call. You’ll get a letter that tells you what will happen with your PIP. If your needs have changed, your PIP might be increased, reduced or stopped.

Because of coronavirus (COVID-19), you’ll only be invited to an assessment in person if more information is needed and you cannot do an assessment by phone or video call. Your invitation letter will explain how to attend your appointment safely,

Does PIP review get backdated?

How to claim PIP – Claiming Personal Independence Payment can take up to four months after making your claim to you receiving any money. PIP cannot be backdated but your payments start from the date you made your claim to cover the handling time at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

How do I pass a PIP review?

What to do if the impact of your condition has changed since your last PIP assessment – When claiming PIP, you must report specific changes in your health to the DWP. For example, a change could be:

If your condition or the relevant symptoms have improved or worsened
If you’ve stopped or started taking any medication

If a change in your situation has impacted your life since the last assessment you need to explain the following in your PIP review:

What happened to cause the change
When it happened
How it made things easier or harder for you (detailing what help, if any, you still need)

How many people are rejected from PIP?

Review outcomes from 25th June 2016 to January 2022 –


Review Outcome	Planned Award Review	Change of Circumstance
Award Increased	18%	45%
Award Maintained	47%	30%
Award Decreased	12%	7%
Award Disallowed	22%	13%
Withdrawn or voluntarily relinquished	n/a	5%

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2022, Stat-Xplore From 25th June 2016 to January 2022:

1 million (66%) of the 1.6 million planned award reviews resulted in an increase or no change to the level of award received by the claimant
290,000 (75%) of the 380,000 changes of circumstances resulted in an increase or no change to the level of award received by the claimant
the difference reflects the fact that many PIP claimants report a change of circumstances when their condition or disability deteriorates and their needs increase

The proportion of claimants receiving more (or less) benefit after their planned award review differs across the various main disabling condition groups, where condition is as recorded at the time of award review clearance. The five most common groups account for 87% of all planned award reviews cleared between June 2016 and January 2022. Among these groups:

claimants with a respiratory disease were most likely to have their award increased or maintained (73%)
claimants with psychiatric disorders were most likely to have their award decreased or disallowed (39%)

Do PIP assessors spy on you?

What will the assessor be observing at your PIP medical assessment – Firstly, you shouldn’t expect the PIP assessor to be favourable towards you. They are there to ask you questions and are not there to ensure you get PIP. The assessor will investigate the information you gave on your PIP form but also make judgements based on what you say and do during your PIP assessment.

What happens if you fail PIP?

If you fail a PIP, can you negotiate a settlement payment? – If you decide to brave it and go through with the performance improvement procedure, but then fail it, you may still be entitled to leave with rather more than just statutory notice pay, If the rights outlined above have not been upheld at any point in your procedure, you may be entitled to financial compensation for having been put through an unfair and stressful procedure.

How long should it take to hear about PIP?

If you want to apply by post – It’s quicker to apply by phone, but if that isn’t possible you can write to the DWP and ask for a PIP1 form. Write to the PIP New Claims address. You’ll need to tell them why you (or someone else) can’t fill in the PIP1 form over the phone.

Personal Independence Payment New Claims Post Handling Site B Wolverhampton WV99 1AH When you get the PIP1 form, fill it in and send it to the address on the form as soon as possible.
You must send it back within 1 month after the DWP got your letter – that might be a few days before you get the form.

If the DWP decide you can get PIP, they’ll pay you the money you should have got from the date they received the PIP1 form.

What if nothing has changed on PIP review?

PIP renewal risks and how to reduce them

Feedback from Benefits and Work members about the shortened personal independence payment (PIP) renewal form suggests that following the DWP’s instructions could lead to the complete loss of your PIP.
Below, we outline the risks and how to reduce them.
PIP renewal process From June 2016 the DWP began sending out a PIP renewal form (AR1) which is much shorter than the PIP2 ‘How your disability affects you’ form.
The AR1 form that asks you whether each activity has got:
Easier
Harder
No change
If you tick the ‘No change’ box for any activity, the form tells you do not need to provide any further details about the difficulties you have with that activity.
The AR1 form goes to a DWP case manager initially, rather than a health professional.

DWP guidance says the case manager “will compare the new information against the evidence from the previous assessment”, The case manager can also contact the claimant or carer for more information, but cannot send for more medical evidence. If the case manager cannot make a decision, then all the information is forwarded to Atos or Capita for assessment by a health professional.

The health professional will initially attempt to make their assessment solely on the papers.
Only if that isn’t possible will the claimant be required to attend a face-to-face assessment.
A decision will then be made by a case manager, purportedly based on all the evidence, but more usually based entirely on the health professional’s report.

Here at Benefits and Work we’ve had considerable doubts about whether just ticking a box is always sufficient to ensure that a PIP award continues. We have also been concerned about what evidence the health professional sees, in reality, if there is a face-to-face assessment as a result of completing an AR1 form.

We asked for feedback from our members who had been through the process and below are some of the things you told us.
‘No change’ can lead to face-to-face One thing that rapidly became clear is that simply ticking the ‘No change’ boxes does not guarantee that you will avoid a face-to-face assessment.
One member told us that they were still required “to have a face to face appointment even though I had ticked no change.”
Another member commented that they ” completed the AR1 form stating things had not changed” but still had a face-to-face assessment. In addition:
” The assessor didn’t have my AR1 form, said he wasn’t familiar with the form and preferred to work from the original application form.”
The result was that even though our reader had arrived on a mobility scooter they had both components reduced from enhanced to standard rate.
In spite of the lack of evidence used by the health professional, things ended better for another member who also ticked ‘No change’:
“Assessor did not have AR1 form or hard copy of original claim.”
Nonetheless, both their enhanced awards were extended.
Deterioration may leads to face-to-face It also appears that stating that your condition has deteriorated means that there is a real possibility that you will be required to attend a face-to-face assessment.
One member had completed the review form with their partner:

“The form says if there has been no change they do not need any further details as they had already got all the information they need, so we did as they said. We made it clear on the review form that his health had not got better in any way, but had in fact got worse and told them how.

He was then sent for a medical assessment.” Our member says they do not know what information the assessor had, though they did have some.
But the result was that the award was reduced from enhanced rate for both components to standard rate.
Another member’s relative, who has a very serious condition, received the AR1 form: “she filled in the form saying things were either the same or worse than before.

She had an assessment at home and it was appalling, she went from the enhanced rate for the daily living section and standard rate for moving around to nothing at all.” Another member had a similar experience: “I indicated on the form that there had been no change in my ability to carry out activities, or I had worsened.

However, I was then required to attend a face-to-face assessment at which the health professional in my opinion did not accurately report my conditions, resulting in my PIP being stopped.” Things also went badly, though not quite so badly, for this member: ” Completed pip review form.
On majority of activities ticked harder, gave explanation, ticked some no change, no easier.” They were then required to attend a face-to-face assessment and had their mobility component reduced from higher to standard.

No face-to-face but award reduced One member told us they had been obliged to appeal to get into the support group for ESA before undergoing a PIP renewal. They completed an AR1 form: “I had stated in the form that everything has got worse, mobility is much worse!,

PIP have gone by assessment that esa did but I don’t believe that they looked at further information I supplied.” Their award of the enhanced rate of the care component of PIP was reduced to standard care What is particularly alarming is that our member says that the decision was made without inviting them to attend a face-to-face assessment.

Instead, the unreliable evidence from their overturned ESA assessment was used. Increased award with minimal new information One member’s partner managed to keep their award at the same level in spite of providing minimal information. “Most of his renewal was answered with ‘No change’ but I did need to inform them of a change in his medication, 2 added ones and increased dosage for two of them.

I also had to tell them that he was now suffering breathing problems which affected his walking.” Our member received a telephone call from the DWP case manager asking further questions about their partner’s mobility.
They were then informed that the claim would be renewed at the same rate without the need for a face-to-face assessment.

No change and additional information leads to same award One member ticked ‘No change’ for each activity but also copied their written answers from their last PIP claim form onto the AR1. In addition they: “provided an up to date note from my GP. I also provided up to date letters from friends/family stating there had been no change since they wrote in 2014, along with their original letters.”

The result was the same award again for another three years, although likely to be reviewed again in two years.
Conclusions We can’t draw many firm conclusions from our limited anecdotal evidence.
However, it does seem clear that just ticking ‘No change’ does not in any way guarantee that you will have your award continue or be spared a face-to-face assessment.
It is also clear that explaining that your condition has got worse does not ensure that your award won’t be reduced or stopped altogether.

There also seems to be no consistency in what evidence health professionals use when making a decision. They may, or may not, look at your AR1 form or your previous PIP2 form. The safest course Your job when completing the AR1 is initially to try to convince, not a health professional, but a DWP case manager that your evidence is sufficiently accurate and detailed for a decision to be made.

The purpose of the AR1 is to speed up the renewal process and cut costs by nor involving Atos or Capita.
So there is pressure on the case manager to make a decision themselves where there is strong evidence to allow them to do so.
This is likely to apply whether you are arguing that your condition remains the same or that it has deteriorated.

So, making your case as persuasive as possible, rather than simply ticking boxes, makes good sense. The reality is that we have no way of knowing what percentage of claimants who tick the ‘No change’ boxes are referred to a health professional, but clearly some are.

So, we would argue that the safest course of action is to give as much evidence as possible, both your own and supporting evidence, including medical evidence, regardless of what the DWP advise.
There’s lots more about providing persuasive evidence in the PIP guide in the member’s area.
We will be updating the PIP guide in relation to PIP renewals over the coming week, to take account of members’ feedback.

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How long should it take to hear about PIP?

Personal Independence Payment New Claims Post Handling Site B Wolverhampton WV99 1AH When you get the PIP1 form, fill it in and send it to the address on the form as soon as possible. You must send it back within 1 month after the DWP got your letter – that might be a few days before you get the form.

If the DWP decide you can get PIP, they’ll pay you the money you should have got from the date they received the PIP1 form.