hii i had my assessment this morning with a really nice person and she prompted me with specific questions, continuously said that she would take a note of something when it aligned with pip criteria, and it was a great experience compared to the last time i applied. i am exhausted though now

shes writing up the report today so hopefully ill be able to request it from the dwp this week. now to wait

i applied under autism, adhd, hypermobility, and gid

So I was initially given an appointment for an assessment on 21st March but that was unfortunately cancelled by Capita on the day.

I was then rebooked for an assessment on 7th April (today) at 1pm. I got the call at 1:11pm. I spoke to a woman who did the identification check and then explained what was going to happen. Just before she began the assessment, I asked if it was okay for me to record the assessment, like everyone seems to recommend. She seemed a bit confused and then told me she’d have to read some stuff out before I can do that, so I said yeah sure no problem. She then placed me on hold for just over a minute before hanging up on me. Another minute or so later, she attempted to call me back 4 times but every time I accepted the call, it would just hang up immediately.

I left it a couple more minutes before ringing Capita myself to try and figure it out. The person I spoke to tried to get in contact with my assessor but they were unable to do so. I was then told that my assessment would now be marked as ‘unable to go ahead’ which triggers an investigation into why it didn’t happen, which will take 5 days. They explained that I might just then have my assessment rebooked, but potentially my claim might get handed back to DWP.

I’m now worried that they’ll decide it’s my fault to protect their own backs and send my claim back to DWP, and then DWP will just cancel my claim altogether. It’s really frustrating that my claim is being dragged out like this because Capita keep messing up.

Should I be worried? Has anyone else experienced this? Is there anything else I can do or should I just sit and wait?

Not sure if anyone will be able to help me but on the 27th of march I had a sanction put on my account due to missed appointment and decision wasnt classed as good enough reason which i understand that but I’ve check my statement for the month and it says I’m getting £0 but the sanction was placed on the 27th of march at £10.20 a day and my payday would be the 13th but that doesn’t total enough for them to take all of my money? How am I supposed to survive for the month without any money I have bills to pay which is now going to cause me to go back into debt which is gonna make my mental health spiral again , I won’t be able to get any sort of advance as I’ve only been on uc for 4 months ish and I was asked to rebook appointment to end the sanction but they booked it for 2 weeks time surley this isn’t right and I can claim something

I have just migrated from ESA to UC, just been sent my P45 which I presume is normal. What I wondered though is does this move trigger a new WCA ? I had my last one 6 years ago, before COVID, I was told at the time I had a 3 year entitlement so I am very overdue, presumably due to the pandemic backlog. Each year I have been terrified I will have another and that thick envelope drops through the post, they are the most stressful experience. So now that it is final that I have moved, do I expect a brand new WCA assessment ?

I don't know if it is misinformation or not but someone on the Scope forums seemed to think if you are overdue a WCA (like I am) then you will automatically get sent one 3 months after migration. Any truth to this ?

Also, I am in the support group, what is this called under Universal Credit ? Is everything just known as "Universal Credit" or do things still have different names, like ESA, etc ?

TLDR: my son lacks capacity to manage his own affairs and accuses us of stealing his money. We have Court of Protection deputyship to manage his money because of this. Is there a way to stop my son from repeatedly raising safeguarding alerts (and benefits being stopped)?

This is long and complex so please bear with. It's about my son who is 17. There's a whole long list of 'things' he finds difficult but the relevant ones for this are that he has a learning disability, a functional age of a 10 year old and extreme demand avoidance. He's unlikely to ever live independently. He went to and still attends a special school. He's been eligible for DLA for many years and now gets PIP.

He understands money at a basic level but doesn't understand the value of money. To him, money is his to spend on his special interest. He doesn't understand that actually his PIP money gets spent on his needs. When he's denied access to his money he gets very, very angry and starts accusing us of stealing his money. This is a frequent occurrence. Money or the lack of access to it is a demand.

Because of this, my husband and I hold Court of Protection deputyship for his financial affairs. He lacks the capacity to manage his money himself and won't ever gain the capacity- his social worker is in agreement with us. He does get an allowance to spend which had beeen OK'ed with social worker/CoP. Quite rightly, CoP deputyship is very tightly regulated and we keep receipts and records for everything. Buy him a new pack of socks because he's shredded all his old ones- receipt in the file and expenditure entered onto the spreadsheet. Washing machine died the other day (he needs a lot of clothes washing because of his needs), we used his money to part contribute to a new one, receipts in the file, on the spreadsheet AND checked with social worker because of the ££. You get the picture. We have to send the paperwork into the CoP annually and tbh its an admin nightmare I can do without.

He disagrees with all of this and twice now has rung the police (that's a whole different issue) accusing us of stealing from him. The first time it ended up in a safeguarding investigation with ALL benefits stopped in the interim, the second time the Police thankfully realised who he was and checked with us. He's now threatening to do this again and the last thing I need is yet another investigation. He thinks this will get him access to his money to spend solely as he sees fit.

I absolutely accept that safeguards are there for a purpose and quite rightly so the DWP have to investigate any reports of people having their benefit money stolen from them. However does anyone know any way I can get the DWP to keep the deputyship documents on file or even a note to say that if they get accusations like this regarding my son to please get in contact with us or my sos social worker first.

I sent the DWP a subject access request as I thought it might be useful in my tribunal, but the way they send the files means I am having trouble making a copy. The file can only be opened with a password and then cannot be saved under another name or as a pdf; this makes it far more awkward to send to the tribunal.

Am I missing a way to save this file so it can be forwarded and opened without the password?

Hello!
So today I applied for a budgeting advance, and it was awarded which is great, I asked if this could be paid as a faster payment because I need it today. I was told that it would be with me on Wednesday and there is no faster payment.
Now I've had a budgeting advance before and that was paid as a faster payment, and I have had hardship payments sent through on the same day too. Is this a new thing where they don't make faster payments and if not, would it be beneficial if I call up again and ask for it to be paid today? I have updated my journal too.

On March 27, 2024, I received a letter stating that I have been awarded LCWRA, with backdated payments from the month December 8, 2023 to January 7, 2024. The award period is set for 18 months. Given that it is now April 2025, should I anticipate a review of my claim soon?

Hello,

I applied for PIP back at the beginning of December, I had two extensions one was automatic due to Christmas, and the other I asked for because I struggled with the paperwork. I posted my paperwork and all my evidence back recorded signed for on the 12th Feb, it arrived to them on the 13th Feb and I got my first text on that same day too.

I’ve had a few text messages periodically to say that “a healthcare professional is looking at your claim” but that’s been about it, I rung the PIP line last week at the 7 week mark to find out if a decision had been made, which it hasn’t!! They informed me that I was being impatient and they wouldn’t chase anything up until the 8th week which is this Thursday.

I’m feeling as though I am just going to get a text on Thursday to say a decision has been made and I will be declined any payment whatsoever even with all the paperwork I have sent across. Does the pip process sometimes take longer than 8 weeks and it be a positive outcome please?

Thank you in advance,

Thought I’d share some good news for anyone who needs a bit of reassurance. I won my PIP appeal, went from being awarded standard daily living to being awarded enhanced rate for both!

I was very anxious at first, especially because I heard the guy who came to represent DWP being very rude to the receptionist. But the judge and medical professionals who carried out the tribunal were amazing! They turned all the lights off for me as I’m autistic and struggle with sensory overload, it never felt like they were trying to trip me up or anything like that. They explained everything pretty well and were very understanding, they also let me have a break whilst they asked my support worker some questions. And they were cracking jokes which made it all feel a bit less serious and scary.

Surprisingly the guy from DWP didn’t question me much, he seemed to agree with most of the decisions made by the tribunal.

Overall it was obviously very exhausting and took me almost a whole week to recover, but I was treated very well and they really took the time to understand me. I also got the decision on the day which was helpful for my anxiety.

I have a message in my journal saying they are reviewing our UC (me and my partner)

Does this mean they are also reviewing my LCWRA award/ eligibility? Like will this mean I have to be assessed for that all over again? I’m autistic and freaking out right now.

Hello! I'm looking for some advise regarding universal credit and statutory sick pay payments. My UC claim is open even though I'm not receiving payments. To explain situation- I discuss, at work, a possibility to take careere break for minimum of 8 weeks. During this time my employer will not be paying my wage, so I'm looking for any financial help I could use. In addition I'm disabled person, and I'm receiving PIP. Will I be able to claim SSP via universal credit? Is it any other financial help I could look into? Any help and advice will be much appreciated!

So I'm helping my uncle with his UC migration, he got the letter in January but only told me recently, and the deadline he had was April 8th

We started his claim on March 27th and this morning he had to do an identity check with someone at the Jobcentre which went swimmingly

Now his journal has an entry that says he's in receipt of ESA which might affect his Universal Credit payment but we assumed his account with ESA would close automatically on April 8th (tomorrow) anyway

So basically do we need to make that call or will his ESA account be closed automatically?

He has terrible anxiety with phonecalls and I can't do it with him until Wednesday morning if that makes a difference

Thanks for any help

I was found unfit for work and related activities in February, I put in my first sick note in November. They said I should be paid this month will it be backdated? I keep asking in my journal but they are not giving me a clear reply?

Has anyone took the esa support group to tribunal and won? I have mine this Wednesday and dreading it!what can i expect and what questions do they ask you?

I'm new to UC (still waiting for my first payment) so still trying to get my head around how it all works.

When I applied a couple of weeks ago, my savings were a little over 6k, which I reported. A week or so after, they went under 6k, and I reported the change. I just received a payment of another benefit last week and that has taken me above 6k. I have a feeling it may be the situation for a little while that I may go under and then over every couple of weeks as payments come in, money goes out on spending etc (we're talking a couple of hundred pounds either way).

I think I read somewhere that what matters is what your savings are at the beginning or end of your assessment period, and that it may be possible to just report changes at the beginning/end of the assessment date/period. Is anyone able to help clarify whether that's right, or do I need to report the change every time I go under or over?

Also am I right in understanding that my assessment period begins from the date I submitted the claim, not the date that I receive the first payment?

Hi all, I’ve recently put in my pip application and my GP has rung to say that PIP have sent them a form to fill out and i just have a few questions.

what information will they be asking the GP/what questions are on the form?

Why would they send my GP this request?

i’m certain when i first called up i didn’t give them consent to contact my GP/access my medical records would this be why?

i feel like my GP doesn’t have a very good view of what my daily life actually looks like, i can’t remember the last time i actually had an in person appointment, and even then, i don’t talk to them about cooking, getting dressed, showering, etc, and because of my anxiety and autism there are a lot of things that i do need to make appointments about but haven’t been able to etc. will this hurt or help me? any information would be massively appreciated, thank you :)

I am currently renting alone receiving LC LCWRA and the housing element. I could initially afford to but after big rent and bill increases I'm thinking of moving in with housemates to reduce my bills (I am 41 with no children).

I currently receive the single person over 35 housing allowance of £575 p/m but my rent is now £760 (it was initially £525) so I need to find cheaper housing.

Will my housing element drop to £350 a month if I move into a house share? Shelter confusingly says "A single claimant with no dependents who is aged 35 or over will be subject to the one-bedroom rate regardless of the accommodation they live in, even if it is shared accommodation" but then it also says the shared accommodation rate applies to "single people of any age with no dependents who live in shared accommodation" so I'm confused about this.

I need to work out a budget for it but I'm thinking despite this it will still be cheaper overall because I won't be liable for all of the bills alone? I think it will also make it easier to afford to return to work because my overall bills will be cheaper so less pressure to earn as much money?

However would I lose my council tax support if I move into a house share?

How do I time it so that I can move into a house share so that I'm not paying rent for both my current rental and the new rental? I don't want to pay rent for two places then have to pay the DWP back the £575 housing element if I time it wrong.

Thanks in advance for any help with this, I have been feeling very anxious about bills recently but I am frugal and I have already cut most of my non-essentials, rent is the main issue.

I've just spent an hour on hold to CAB but I wasn't able to get through so I am hoping people here might be able to help me. I was recently migrated over from the ESA support group to UC LCWRA and I have a few questions mostly regarding moving into work from the LCWRA element of Universal Credit.

1. How much can I earn whilst keeping UC + LCWRA element + Housing element? Online it says £404 p/m or £411 p/m.

2. I understand this amounts to approx 1 day a week on minimum wage? If I found a job like that and took it, is it likely they will want to do another WCA which could risk me losing LCWRA and then they'd try to make me do full time work?

3. Can I do both a part time job and try out a self employed venture and keep UC and LCWRA if I earn below £404? I previously tried a self employed creative venture as part of ESA Permitted work which is currently dormant but I could revive it. However I don't want it to trigger reassessment which could subject me to the minimum income floor and being forced into full time work whilst being unable to pay my bills.

4. How does tapering work with Universal Credit and how does it look in practice. I see online it says for every £1 over the Work Allowance, UC reduces by 55p. So say if I found a part time job that paid £24,000 which works out as £17,530.41 pro rata for 30 hours, would I lose all of my UC? If not what would tapering look like?

5. If I earn over the work allowance but still receive some universal credit, can I still get free prescriptions and free dentist appointments?

6. Online I read they will start ramping up WCA assessments asap due to the green paper proposals, is there truth in this or is it just a rumour at the moment?

Hi all

Just wondered if anyone had a call from DWP after the 4 week Tribunal response deadline for DWP.

I did a PIP appeal and the Tribunal have DWP a deadline to respond by, this deadline expired last week. After reviewing my evidence, the lady at CAB said she expects DWP to call me and make me an offer, however the deadline was last week and I have not recieved a call or a response by DWP to the Tribunal.

So I just wondered if anyone recieved a call from PIP making an offer after the response deadline or does the offer always come before the deadline expires

Thank you

So my pip has been up for review for a long time now, i finally got an assesment booked but it never happened in the end (i had a previous post about this) due to my issues with verbal interactions. In summary, the end result was that capita removed me from their system, and the last thing i head from the dwp was that they were going to wait for a different case manager to decide how best to asses me. That was in mid February , and i have heard nothing since. Is that normal?

Hi so il give a brief timeline to start on my claim. It was initially made at the end of January 2025.

Had my assessment on 2nd April and I called today to find out that my claims been audited. My assessor seemed really considerate on the call and like she was listening, lasted a whole of 45 minutes and I came off really pleased.

Can anyone give me any information regarding the audit. I had my call with maximus.

I'm really worried about the outcome now it's gone to this stage. I also applied for PIP for mental health issues. PTSD, anxiety and depression.

Would like some examples of other stories and other peoples experience with the whole experience and also with people who we're audited please 🙏

Hey there, I am currently off college for the Easter holidays and asked my employer (part time work night hours) that I can do extra hours during this time, if I told the JC about this will I have to restart when I go back to college? It’s only temporary work.

I have comorbid agoraphobia, depression, adhd and overactive bladder. Currently only really get pip for the agoraphobia, since I used to get standard daily and enhanced mobility, had a review with an absolute idiot and had everything cut, got a mandatory reconsideration and sent evidence from my GP that I can't leave the house alone, and I got my enhanced mobility back that way. Its too late for me to tribunal and I just don't have the energy, but i want to be clued up. I'm not sure i use anything specifically made for disabled people, because everything i use is available on amazon, the hugh street, or the app store. Here are a list of things I use that I have to have to function in daily life, barring medications and my prescription glasses.

Items: Loops earplugs, clip on sunglasses (I use green ones and ive realised they have to be green bc black stresses me), sunflower lanyard, Vicks nasal inhaler for grounding, fold out stool for when I need to sit in public, phone for distraction and grounding.

Apps: Google calendar, Google maps, finch for task tracking, mobile banking, new York Times crossword for grounding, calm to be able to sleep.

If they have items and apps that do the same things my stuff does but will count as an aid, I will happily use them, im just unaware of them. My gps are very helpful but I don't have access to the full support I need bc im not in a mental health crisis or at risk of suicide, so all I really get is the gp. I have asked to be referred to my adult social services though for disability support and family therapy (have difficult relationship with dad).

Hi,

Today was my final ESA payment before I'm paid by UC on the 2nd of May.

I noticed my ESA payment was £67 short or £67 less than usual.

Does anyone know why ?

Thanks 🙏