I’m a PIP assessor, happy to advise if I can

[Impr90]

Hello all,

If you’ve got any questions you think I might be able to help with, please let me know

All the best for the New Year

Yeah this.

And they ask a question and get an answer, and then ask it over and over in slightly different ways, (throughout the hour long assessment,) to try and trip people up.

Also, I have known people completely fail the assessment because they said they have a pet.

Many assessors will try every trick in the book to try and get people off PIP/not allow them to have it. There's a financial bonus for every claim rejected. And you can't tell ME that the assessors aren't rewarded somehow.

Of course, not everyone has a bad experience with their PIP assessment, but many people do.

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I don't think it is just MN. Many people have had horrible dealings with PIP assessments. Imagine trying to convince people you are ill to be repeatedly told 'You're not ill enough' despite having evidence. A lot of people spend years effectively being gaslit until they are finally 'believed.'

Don't presume to be the voice for people with disabling conditions.

I’m afraid I can’t

If someone has an indefinite award of DLA - will there ever be a reassesment for PIP ?? or will DLA continue indefinitely (claimant has diagnosed autism)

OP what's the point of this thread
You haven't actually answered a single question or explained anything or given us any understanding of your job that would be useful
Just lots of posturing answers and a few factually inaccurate statements
Im intrigued

We don't know that's why I'm asking op . I just keep reading in the media that there is likely to be a big review of disability benefits ( as well as the Uc work capability process) in the new year. I don't know how true it is. The last government put out a consultation and the new government possibly rejected that but said they would be looking at things in due course ? I just wondered if op may have any inside knowledge as to what this would look like?

Absolutely. Changes have been happening with the assessment process in Scotland and the DWP have agreed to make similar changes, in terms of the training of staff and how assessments are conducted. There needs to be a trauma-informed approach and more understanding of mental health, including how anxiety provoking these assessments can be.

Can you apply for PIP to help fund private MH treatment that's not available via NHS? If so, do you need to have the treatment set-up first and show receipts or would proving that its necessary but not available on the NHS be enough?

This.

I had someone score zero points on an element of care, because she had her nails painted. Her friend had done them for her as a treat, literally at her bedside, because she'd been confined to bed for over a year. Apparently this rendered her completely able bodied in every way, ignoring the reams of medical evidence, the OT assessment, the fact that she'd been moved into supported living and her actual experience.

Agreed. There's not a great deal of 'advising' going on.

This seems to have been the tactics used in my relative's assessments too. Bamboozle you and trip you up. I had to sit in on one of the phone calls and take over (with permission) as a result.

Hi, you’re able to spend your PIP money on whatever it is that you like. Be it treatment for your condition or for a holiday! You wouldn’t need to have the treatment already set up

Sorry if I’m slow to answer questions, I’m doing my best

I am disappointed that I haven't learnt anything that I can use when I am up for reassessment. Anything to make sure that the assessor records the assessment accurately and doesn't write lies. Or how to make them stop when I'm having a panic attack/incredibly distressed.

I genuinely don't understand why they did it and I am dreading the reassessment so much it makes me feel sick. I know I'll have to go through the whole humiliating process all over again and be disbelieved and have to appeal and my condition is never ever going to get better, as they'd know if they read the report from the specialists involved in my care.

I don't. HTH.

Also, we're disabled people. Person first language went out with the ark.

This is so bizarre

They'll need to be reassessed for pip

They’ll be reassessed though may again be given an award which won’t nee be reviewed

I have to agree. I have been supporting people through PIP assessments in various jobs for a while now. It's getting more and more ...the only word is spiteful. Current examples are a lady with cancer who absolutely ticks every box who has been turned down twice and is now being forced to go through an appeal and a deaf, bi polar man whose needs absolutely demand more financial help, again waiting for (18 months plus) a disgusting scary appeal.

I'm sure there are 'nice, honest' assessors around but I've yet to meet one whose 'assessment face' isn't the biggest bloody mask ever

All PIP assessors have medical training of one kind or another.

Being able to drive can also go against you!

I accompanied someone to an assessment, he had a form of dementia, he got nothing and the assessor lied, claiming he could access public transport, go for walks and prepare healthy food. If he went for a walk or got on a bus he’d get lost. As for preparing food, he can peel potatoes but then doesn’t know what they’re for.
i let rip at the tribunal and he was awarded higher rate on both counts.
my point is that this should not have happened, writing up an interview, which didn’t happen is the lowest and nastiest part of DWP shenanigans.

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Cunt assessor. Basically. And I believe you.