Phone call to PIP at DWP

Hi all, just thought Id let you all know about a phone call I made to DLA office today.

On September 26th, I attended a WCA. I have been in the Support Group for 3 years and the Healthcare Professional said she didnt know why they had called me in. I received my letter from ESA on 6th October telling me that I would remain in the Support Group. However, in the letter it gave rates for ESA but where money amounts for DLA are written, there was nothing there. This worried me so I called DLA, pressed the button for 'other issues' and eventually spoke with a female who answered the call. I quickly explained my problem and she told me that ESA and DLA are seperate entities and the letter was only concerned with ESA. Fine, I said. She then said, give me your details and I will check for you. She went through the security questions and when she got to How much is your payment each month, I told her that I couldnt remember, dont deal with cash, and that I had had help with the form, 3 yrs ago. She pressed me to remember which level Mobility and Care I was getting, off the cuff I said again that I couldnt remember and added ''I probably get more care now than I did 3 years ago so its hard to remember."

Immediately she jumped on me saying ' Right, you are reporting a change in circumstances, I am going to send you out a PIP form so that you can switch and reapply. I told her that that was never my intention and that I had only called because my DLA was not written in the ESA letter and I was worried and repeated that I didnt want to re-do my claim at the moment because I was still traumatised from the travel, waiting etc., from the WCA on 26th and needed to recouperate. I said that i would look on the website to see the criteria for the differnt levels of payment and familiarise myself with that, before I went any further. She absolutely refused point blank to let me go at that and repeatedly told me that I had told her I had a change in my needs and that she was going to send me a PIP application form. I said, hang on, Ive just explained, at length, that all I wanted to know, was about my ESA letter and the missing DLA amounts. That is when she got really nasty and was TELLING me that I WAS going to get a PIP form because I had reported a change.

I asked for her supervisor eventually because she continued to argue with me about switching my claim. She went off the line for some time and then put me through to someone who said he was a Senior Manager at the site. I calmly told my story, to which he replied, 'Well the lady you spoke to has a lot of experience with you people so I doubt that she would have arbitrarily say you had reported a change. I said, she must be badly mistaken, I only wanted a 2 minute conversation to set my mind at rest re DLA. That is when he got nasty and said that he believed her and that I would be getting a PIP form and if I didnt fill it in I would get my claim stopped. The conversation went on with me asking him why he felt the need to turn a conversation into a war, insisting on TELLING ME what I said to the staff member. He was terribly rude to me saying "Well the way you are reacting tells me there is something wrong." I asked him if he was calling me a liar and queried why he was interrogating me like a criminal, when I am a very sick 62 yr old woman who had just attended a WCA and been put in the support group. He said that I am very suspicious. I told him that I had traveled 2 and a half hours for the medical, waited for two hours and traveled back in agony. He said 'thats what you have to do if you want to claim benefits."

At that point I asked for his supervisor. He said I am the Snr Manager. I said so you say but you report to someone senior to yourself, please give me that persons name. He got very rude and when I would not back down, he hung up on me.

I calmed down for half-an-hour or so and then rang back. I spoke with a much nicer lady who asked if I wanted to make a complaint, checked my file and said that no action had been taken by anyone and not to worry, you wont get a form, everything will remain the same and I will report your complaint for you. She gave me a reference number and said that the phone calls would be listened to by the Customer Service team and if inappropriate, the staff would be dealt with. She could hear how upset I was and reassured me that no action would be taken and she apologised profusely and repeatedly for the conduct of these two bullies.

I guess I will have to wait for a letter from Customer Service now but I wanted to let people know what happened because it was a horrible experience for me, I felt like a murderer being interrogated by the CID, it really upset me.

I know that they are desperate to get people to switch to PIP but honestly, those conversations were ridiculous, abusive and threatening. These are not medical people, nor are they qualified to judge my reaction to their horrible interrogations as 'suspicious' and they are certainly not mandated reporters. I hope that this helps anyone thinking of calling in to the DLA office. BE VERY CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY.