Change in benefit

Many of us have already had to go through the transfer from DLA to PIP - even though our DLA awards were for an indefinite period.  

Assume you've now got the How Your Disability  Affects You form?  If you need extra time to fill it in, phone the DWP and ask for more time.  Don't let them fob you off; say it's a long, complex form and you need to seek help completing it.  They gave me two extra weeks.  Read thoroughly the Disability Rights site's advice on PIP applications, which is very good.  If you need more help, find out if local CAB or similar organisation can help you.  Remember, what matters is how your condition affects you, not the condition itself.  Make a point of listing any aids you use (e.g. adapted cutlery, bath stool) and don't tick the mobility box 'it varies' if one of the other boxes applies over 50% of the time.  You have to not be able to walk more than 20 metres to get enhanced rate mobility.   Submit a diary with your application - Disability Rights give a draft diary.

After you have submitted the form you will be invited to an assessment centre.  You can have a home visit if your GP agrees.  At the centre, the assessor will watch how you walk from the waiting area to the consulting room and if you put any belongings on the floor and pick them up again.  The following documents are the DWP's own advice to assessors.  The first is the handbook about how assessors should assess people; the second is about how to informally observe claimants and how to ask questions likely to make them contradict themselves!  The assessment will probably last about an hour.


After the assessment the assessor will send a report to the DWP.  You can ask the DWP for a copy.  The DWP will send you an award decision letter two weeks plus after the assessment.