Help please - Decision maker’s phone call

Please can anyone tell me, if when you have asked for a PIP mandatory reconsideration request
can you ask for the Decision maker’s phone call to be in writing in a letter rather than the phone call? We would be unable to record this telephone conversation and do not trust the DWP or their note taking.
Thank you

aa wrote: Please can anyone tell me, if when you have asked for a PIP mandatory reconsideration request
can you ask for the Decision maker’s phone call to be in writing in a letter rather than the phone call? We would be unable to record this telephone conversation and do not trust the DWP or their note taking.
Thank you

Hi aa,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

PIP DM's seldom contact you via the phone now, but you do not have to speak to them on the phone anyway.

The whole MR process can take place in writing.

Here is some generic advice on requesting a PIP MR/Appeal :

You have one month from the date of the PIP Decision Notice letter to make a written request for a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) of the PIP decision.

Sending Documents to the DWP.

You could also ring the PIP Helpline :

Telephone: 0345 850 3322
Textphone: 0345 601 6677
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

To request a copy of The PA4 PIP Medical Report compiled by the PIP Assessor at your face to face and sent to The DWP PIP DM to be used when the DM came to their decision.

If you have any problems obtaining The PA4 with a verbal request, you can make a written request which should be done as a separate issue to any MR request :

You can do this using a SAR Form :

SAR Form Download

From this page :

DWP Data Protection Policy

Or you can make the request in the form of a letter, as long as you make it clear that you are making a formal SAR under The Data Protection Act 1998.

Address the envelope : FAO The Data Controller, at the Benefits Office dealing with your PIP.

Write DPA 1998 SAR in front, top, left corner of envelope.

Once received, they have 40 calendar days to comply.

You should not miss your one month deadline if The PA4 has not arrived.

You can make comment that you have requested this and will submit further evidence if applicable when you receive it.

You can then pose any counter arguments to the PIP Assessors recommendations, for example if they are stating that you can carry out a particular PIP Activity, has it been taken into account that to be classed as being able to carry out a PIP Activity, you must be able to do so Reliably and Safely for The Majority of Days

If the Assessor has stated that they witnessed you Walking a set distance have they taken into account the above, the time it took you to do so, and any pain, discomfort and breathless, etc that you may have suffered whilst doing so ? etc, etc, etc !!

You should be aware that when you request an MR, any current PIP Awards, Daily Living and/or Mobility, that you might have, can be increased, reduced or taken away altogether, as they will look at the whole PIP Awards afresh.

Obviously if you have no current PIP Award, there is no risk involved.

See : PIP MR/Appeals Guidance.

Mandatory Reconsiderations Explained

&

Disability Rights UK Factsheet - Appeals and Mandatory Reconsiderations.

You should concentrate on reiterating where and why you should have scored the extra points with respect to the applicable PIP Activities and the appropriate scoring PIP Descriptor for that Activity, whilst cross-referencing to any medical evidence that you have, or may have already provided which indicates that you should have.

See also : PIP Self Test

PIP Points Scoring System

&

PIP Claims Guide. (2nd Link down the page)

You should Bookmark/Favourite this page in your Internet Browser now. That way you can return to this topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have by replying to the topic.

See : This Topic also !

Thanks in anticipation of your future co-operation in keeping all your PIP related queries to this topic !

bro58

Dear bro58
I would first like to thank you so very much for the help and advice you and this site offer to people who really need it, Without it we would be lost in our own turmoil. It is so nice to get true correct advise that can be relied upon.
Please can you help with the following;-
My husbands PIP came back warded living standard 11 points, mobility standard 8 points, to be reassessed Feb. 2018. We did not have an appointment or home visit after the doctor sent a letter to Atos explaining my husband could not attend an appoint they said they had enough information for our claim.
When the award came back it did not sound like there were talking about my husband some of the boxes were wrong.
However our PIP form was taken away and filled in by someone else on our behalf, (this was supposed to be a reputable agency who was contacted to help us, and it is not just the form that seems to have gone wrong with this agency). This person said they did not have a copy of our PIP form they filled in for us! So I really don't know were that leaves us in this mess.
I did telephone the DWP and asked for a MR, saying we did not have a copy of the form and did not know what was on it, and could they please send us a copy of that, the letter from the doctor, (also acquired by the lady on our behalf), along with a letter of how they came to the decision.
The trouble is we do not know what we can do at this stage to correct the information on the PIP form it the person did not fill it in correctly in the first place?
I have read your section here on how to appeal but this area is not covered. Also I have read somewhere that if a person cannot use public transport buses, trains or taxis they may be able to get a hirer score is this correct please?
Additionally, although I do not know if you cover this at all we also have a home visit tomorrow by the Health Assessment Advisory Service for my husbands war pension, This is also carried out by the DWP, and seems to be the same as a PIP. Do you know if they will be comparing the two PIP and this before making a decision, enabling them to make a lower decision?
Thank you in advance for your help.

Thank you Gordon

As already mentioned we got our PIP letter giving points 11 and 8, on 18 February. We asked for a MR, taking your advice on asking for them to send us the correct paper work as someone else had filled in our form. We received this on March 17 I telephoned DWP informing them of this and that we would like to send in more information. DWP informed me they had already completed their MR on the 15 March, even though we stated we could not add anything until we had received the information from them. The DWP said they had awarded us the same points but had said we were no longer entitled to PIP!
They said they would get someone to ring us back to explain, hopefully in the next 24 hours but could take 5 days. We explained that we wanted to add more info, but they said they had already done the MR.
The telephone call never came. We received another PIP letter dated 24 March saying they had reviewed the PIP again and they had awarded 11 and 8 points.
However we never got the chance to add the additional information. Can we do anything about this? And if we appeal, can we still add the additional information. The person who completed our form did not do it properly and left out information?
Thank you