@tierraJ
It's never easy to know how the face to face interview has gone, but the DWP rely on that even sometimes in the face of contradictory medical evidence.
You must request a copy of your assessor's report, only then will you be able to read their comments and know how they have awarded points for each question.
I hope you've had a fair assessment, if not, you'll need to challenge every part of it that's wrong, sentence by sentence if needs be.
Some assessors use chit-chat phrasing to obtain information, then they make a load of assumptions based on your single answer, for example, they'll ask if you have a dog. That's all, just the simple question 'Do you have a dog?'
When you see their report and if you answered yes, then the report can say things like 'Has a dog therefore walks it at least twice a day, so no mobility issues at all. Score 0 points for the mobility section.
Can feed the dog so is able to bend down to put dog's food bowl and water bowl on the floor. Therefore no problem with upper body movement, flexibility of arms and and no back problems.
I helped a relative and the amount of wrong assumptions like the example above was staggering. The assessor took one answer to a question and then just assumed a whole load of things from that and presented the assumptions as facts in her report and the DWP backed her all the way.
We went to Tribunal and it was successful.
Some people have a competent and understanding assessor and sail through the PIP process and are given a fair award at that point. I hope your assessment was one of those.
However, if it wasn't do go all the way to Tribunal if you need to, it's a long demoralising slog, but in the end you will be given a fair and independent hearing.
Graphista
When you fill in the form, it's best to assume the person who will be reading it knows absolutely nothing about your condition, so you then explain in detail how it impacts your everyday living, specifically with regard to the questions on the form.
I see the Hertfordshire advice pdf file says the same thing "Provide plenty of detailed information about your condition and how it affects
you.
The person who decides your claim probably won’t have specialist knowledge of your condition, and people with the same medical condition can have very different needs and difficulties.
Things that seem obvious to you may not be obvious to the person who decides your claim. It is the effect that your condition has on you that matters, not what the diagnosis is."
I found it easier to prepare the answers in a word document, I like to write and review quite a lot, so for me that worked as I could edit it until I was satisfied I'd written the best description for every question.
On the form I wrote in every box 'Please see attached information'
and I'd numbered and typed the questions, same as the form then added the typed answers.
Also be prepared for "sneaky" techniques used by the DWP.
Relative received a letter saying the reply had to be "within one month of the date of this letter" yet the letter had taken over 2 weeks from that date to arrive, so the "month" you think you have to respond is suddenly less than 2 weeks. And there's a Bank Holiday in that time.
I sent all replies to DWP by tracked mail, it's about £7, but I think it's worth it.
That meant when they wrote to me saying my reply had arrived outside their time limit, I was able to print the screenshot of the Post Office's website showing the name and signature of the person who had signed for it at DWP and also the time and date it arrived there, which was four days before their "one month" deadline.
As baldpate said "It’s a horrible system designed I’m sure to make people give up"
I agree, but as long as you familiarise yourself with the system you have to engage with and try to remove as much emotion as you can and deal with them factually, you'll have an easier time.
It's absurd that we should be wishing people good luck whilst they are trying to attain some help with their disabilities to make their lives a little easier. It needs a much better system than this one, but unfortunately this is currently all we have, so for everyone that's going through PIP assessment right now, Good Luck 