How long for a decision?

Hi everyone, I was invited to apply for PIP in January 2016 (I had been on DLA indefinite award before this). I completed the form and returned it along with 32 pages of medical evidence by the requested date of 16th February. I have multiple medical conditions hence the amount of info sent.

I then received a letter for a face to face appointment on 8th April. A letter from the DWP arrived last week (dated 23rd April) saying the following:

'We've now got the information and reports we need about your condition and how this affect you for your claim to PIP. We're sorry it's taken longer than expected to give you a decision on your claim but we'll contact you as soon as we've made a decision'.

As of today I still haven't heard anything. Is this usual? In actual fact since the application form was completed I have had another MRI which has showed even more degeneration of my spine and also a bulging disc causing a nerve impairment. I am going for a nerve root block next week. I now have the two letters from the consultant regarding this and wonder if I should send them in or should I wait and see what the decision is first?

I haven't been in touch with the DWP since the start of the process as I don't want them to think I am harassing them. I am normally a quite calm person but the stress of this is really starting to get to me.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi Justice

Sorry you're having such a worrying time. It does happen fairly frequently that decisions are delayed; maybe your case is complicated and needs input from different medical professionals, or maybe there is a backlog of cases in your particular area.

There is little you can do other than wait for a decision to be forthcoming; you could phone the DWP (I can't see that they would consider it harassment, unless you phone every day!!!)

Once you have your decision (hopefully a good one) you have to decide where to go next. If you get the number of points you feel you should get, then that's an end to it, otherwise you have to decide whether to go to Mandatory Reconsideration. If so, your new evidence should be admissible since you're not trying to a change in your condition, merely confirming what you already knew but couldn't, at the time of your application, prove.

Wait and see what happens and decide from there. If we can be of any help, let us know. If you bookmark/favourite this page then you should be able to get back to us without it looking like a new query. Good luck.

Hi Justice and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

PIP decisions are currently taking upwards of 8 weeks following the face2face assessment.

Good morning all,

I received my decision yesterday. I got 13 points for daily living and 10 points for moving about. As I know the moving about part is wrong I have called the DWP this morning to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. The assessor has said that I was observed to walk unaided at a slow pace and did not appear to be breathless or dizzy. He also said that I said I could walk for 1 minute before resting. This is completely untrue! I was using a left handed fisher stick and leaning heavily on my husband for support as I was in acute pain due to a bulging disc which is impinging on a nerve! I always have difficulty in walking but the fact that I was in so much pain made the situation even worse.

Any suggestions as to what I should write in my reconsideration letter? I will be sending the consultants letter in and I have asked my GP for a letter as ATOS did not contact him previously.
Thanks.
Justice