Why did my DWP decision maker call me?

Thankyou, this is helpful. I called today and they told me that it has been decided that I continue to be eligible for the standard rate of care and also now I am eligible for enhanced mobility of which I had none before. I'm happy with this decision and now need to investigate what this allows me to do with it.

I've apparently been awarded this for 5 years...does this mean I am reassessed at that time?

Hi Jodie.  Really pleased for you.  Yes, a five year award means that around 12 months before the award expires, the DWP will send you a review form to complete.  This will ask about your condition and whether it is better, worse or the same as when you were awarded PIP.  Depending on how you complete it, and any supporting evidence you send, there may also be a repeat face to face assessment.  For now, just relax, knowing that you have a fair award. Well done.  I also think this kind of explodes the myth that the DWP are out to reduce every award.  Fair decisions CAN be had - I think the DWP need to focus on making sure all decision makers are properly trained and reducing any room for misinterpretation in PIP rules and regulations.

Contrary to popular belief, neither the DWP or any of the assessment providers have any 'targets' for getting people off benefits - this is an urban myth.

?I would agree, but from actual personal knowledge they do 'flag' individuals up on their systems as special cases that do warrant a more thorough and closer look into their benefit eligibility.

?This can be earlier/more frequent re-assessments than the norm, more attention to the quality and validity of any evidence offered.

I think the DWP need to focus on making sure all decision makers are properly trained and reducing any room for misinterpretation in PIP rules and regulations.

The PIP rules and regulations are NOT actually the rules that the DWP work to.

​They have their own version of what they want the rules and regulations to say. Their own interpretation. You will find these in the various Decision Makers Handbook.

I agree - people who are flagged tend to be the ones who are in receipt of short term awards and are regularly assessed.  But this is usually because their condition is not expected to last unchanged for the whole of the award period, or is expected to fluctuate, meaning a change either up or down of the original award.  The DWP are also now routinely building in what they call a 'timed intervention' to each award.  This means that the claimant will be contacted 12 months before the award ends, in order to start the reassessment process. This effectively means that awards last twelve months less that they say on paper.  

Don't agree Les.  The decision makers handbook is widely available and regularly updated, but in my experience decision makers tend to stick with whatever the assessors say on the assessment report.  There is much criticism following a public accounts committee review.  Decision makers are supposed to look at all the evidence but in practise they are only using the assessment reports - this effectively means that claimants need to get all extra evidence in with their claim form  BEFORE any face to face assessment so that the extra evidence can be considered by the assessor before they write the report. Decision makers have no medical training and are relying fully on the assessment report and rubber stamping whatever the assessor says.  My point is that the assessors are not fully qualified to assess a lot of the complex disabilities they encounter.  For example someone in my support group who has a neurological disability was assessed by a physiotherapist and she had to explain every detail of the neurological effects, as he could only assess the physical effects.  This means that fine detail is missed and the effects on everyday life's are being under scored.  That is what I meant when I said that assessors need to be better trained in order to properly evaluate claimants and avoid any misinterpretation.  If decision makers rely so much on their reports surely this is a logical step to ensure a fair assessment for the claimant and eventually the number of appeals would reduce.

I don't disagree, but in my case being flagged has more to do with their opinion as to my credibility and previous history than the length of an award

As for the DWP handbooks they are written by/for the DWP and are nothing more than how the DWP want to interpret what the law says. They are certainly not legally binding!