pip success thank you

This is a bit late so I apologise for not updating sooner as I've been laid up, but I finally got my confirmation letter and the money has come through.

I have been awarded standard care until November 2016 but will be contacted in November 2015 to make sure I'm still receiving the right level of pip. So I guess that means they start the reclaim process a year before it runs out or something.

They said I didn't have enough points for mobility as I could walk between 50-200m, but I am not surprised I didn't get that really with the rule changes, and the fact I managed to get standard care the first time I applied is more than enough to keep me happy for now.

For the short version without all the chasing and waiting :-
I first phoned the first week of august 2013
Forms sent back by 3rd week in september 2013 after a delay with the forms being sent out.
atos assessment on the 3rd week in november
award letter is dated 14th Jan, but arrived on the 19th and the first payment including backpay was the 20th Jan.

So in total 23 weeks end to end.

Here is a link to the long version of my claim.

This was the first time I had applied for anything like this, as the horror stories had always put me off. If I had known at the start it would take 6 months I probably still would have been put off. I guess I am one of those people the last few years would have been in the unclaimed statistics though, as it felt too hard and I was worried I wasn't deserving enough, or worse I was deserving enough when I don't like to admit to what I can't do any more.

By doing this application though it gave me the confidence to also get help from adult social services, by contacting them as well while I was waiting for the atos assesment, as it was taking forever. They have been a great help, and even if the pip hadn't come through they have been very accommodating, by arranging things like getting the bin men to get my bins out and put them back, which I can't do by myself but is a huge help and one of those money can't buy things.

So I just wanted to say a huge thank you to the mods and everyone on the forum who has posted. Normally I am lurker on sites like these, but the help and confidence it gives you seeing other peoples real stories has helped me greatly to try and get the help I need. I am very much I don't want to bother people type person, and fiercely independent but it seems silly, but just by getting the bins moved each week like that was the best christmas present I have had in a long time.

I am waffling I am sorry, I just want to say to anyone else reading this and thinking they aren't ill enough, or deserving enough, and to stop being lazy. Maybe you aren't just lazy and you really are ill and people with invisible conditions (eg not obviously in a wheel chair) are just as much as entitled to this help and support. So yes it has taken forever, and lots of photocopying of doctors notes etc, but no one is going to just turn up and help you unless you can explain just how much you struggle. It is very hard filling in those forms, as the guides here show you, because it is facing reality and admitting you're not able to do the basics like cook or eat or wash or go out etc. You can't just put your conditions as the dwp and atos etc don't understand them. So you have to decide do you want to keep living like this where you can't wash or eat properly, or do you want something better for yourself. It might take 6 months to a year to sort out, and I'm sure they will change the rules again soon enough, but no one else is going to wave a magic wand so do apply, or get people to help you to if you can't do the forms, but don't think I'll just wait till I'm a bit worse or other people deserve it more. This might just be the thing to help stop you deteriorating by getting some extra help, and also to help manage your health by really trying to notice what skills you have lost, this might help you get phsyio or aids to improve your day to day life for the better.

I know some conditions are forever, I have one of those, but it is something that gradually deteroiates so it is people like me I am trying to talk to. So please don't flame this saying I won't get better, it won't help me etc etc, I hope my story will help give someone else the courage to apply and get the help they need.

So thanks again for all your help and I'll be back in 2015 for the renewal.

Hi Womble

Well done and thanks for letting us know. It will be very useful as so far we've dealt with only a few PIP claims.

Also, thanks for the link back to your earlier posts.

Best wishes.

Jim

Thank you so much for posting this. I am waiting for a decision and although I have been prepared for it to be a while longer yet, seeing your timeline is a great help and guide. I applied in September, after winning my ESA appeal (which had taken a year) then had the ATOS assessment Jan 14th. No idea if I'll get anything and trying not to be too hopeful but even though I was really worn down with the whole ESA process and didn't feel like filling in more forms and being judged all over again - I was encouraged by a local advice centre in Brighton, who were wonderful and thought - what have I got to lose (paranoia nearly stopped me as I was scared they might call me back fro another ESA assessment if I applied for PIP too). Whether I get help or not, I don't regret applying.

The guide from this site was invaluable and helped so much with it's clarity, detail and suggested ways of answering the questions and describing problems.

I'll post the outcome when I get the decision. In the meantime, thank you again for all you wrote.