AIBU to feel totally disillusioned after my PIP assessment this afternoon

[youlooksowell]

I have waited almost a year to see somebody from Capita to review my claim for Personal Independence Payments (the first one nobody turned up and the second appointment they booked for a date I had already told them I was in hospital for!)
Firstly the assessor was half an hour late with no phone call, she then told me she had never heard of my condition - which wasn't a great start. I also have a secondary condition that is difficult to spell so I spelt it for her the first time, fair enough, but then had to repeatedly spell it to her.
I had to prompt her to make sure she had included all of my health conditions (I have two syndromes so is complex)
She then asked for an 'average' day. My condition is fluctuating I have good days, bad days and very bad days. I also work part-time and have a toddler so, like most people, lifestyle wise no two days are exactly the same.
There was no prompting, i.e do you need help dressing, just talk through one day. I kept trying to explain that each day is different but she kept saying an average day. In the end I gave some numbers I thought represented what I was saying but I'm not a number I'm a person!
She then asked to do a physical examination on me, part of my condition is that I am extremely flexible so asking me to perform physical tests is silly as I can do them, it is the repeated actions that causes issues and the fact I have no proprioception of the end of my range. She also asked me to stand up without my stick which I refused to do and push on her arms with force, which again I refused to do.
I see a Rheumatologist, Cardiologist, Urologist, Gastroenterologist, Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist, Podiatrist and have a social worker. Why not just ask them to create a report on me and I can fill in any gaps from there?
She also kept doing little 'friendly' questions like, 'so what's your hobbies?' Do you know what... I sky dive and mountain climb at the weekends!
She was nice enough and was just doing her job but I feel totally drained by it all and upset because I don't feel the system allowed me to explain myself properly. On top of that I have to wait 12 weeks for a decision. Sigh.

Hi you look

Sorry to hear you had to have this assessment first off.

I considered working as a PiP assessor but decided against it as I found out that the assessor so get paid quite poorly ( something like £50/60 for the assessment, report and any travel time) and are under a lot of pressure to complete a high number of assessments etc.

Anyhow, that's irrelevant but just wanted to maybe give you some idea as to why she was late ( still pants not to phone).

Also the staff can't know about every condition but as a professional I would not feel happy to be asking how to spell things repeatedly!!!

Asking what a typical day is is the format of the assessment and again not the assessors call.

The consensus is Pip assessments are fairly crap especially where the issues are 'hidden' I believe they are looking at trying to change that.

Anyway, you are DNBU to feel annoyed and disappointed, and I hope you get a good outcome!!

Thanks very for your reply.
I'm not annoyed at her as I'm aware she is just doing her job, more at the system as it doesn't allow for any fluctuation in your condition which seems ridiculous. I just wanted to be assessed as a person not a tick box.
Just feeling pretty low and is horrible knowing I'll have to wait 12 weeks for a decision.

Typical day is not good for pip. They are meant to be assessing whether you have a particular level of disability more or less than 50% of the time to see if you qualify. Sounds rushed and crap - par for the course at the moment it seems as they have huge assessment backlogs.

Also she was typing as I was speaking but I didn't get to see what she had written. Does anyone know if I will get a copy of this as I felt like at certain times she wasn't really taking in what I was saying?

It's a rubbish system, it's designed to filter you out and catch you out (the hobbies question). And I agree, it would be far cheaper and easier to get a report from the various medical professionals involved in your care.

Sorry it wasn't the best experience OP. I'm waiting for my PIP assessment but am not feeling too hopeful. I have epilepsy and when I'm fine I'm great but when I am having seizures it's awful. There are certain things I can't do at all but others I am fine with. A typical day would be really hard to describe.

Also they asked if I drank? Nothing about smoking just drinking. Obviously I am not disabled if I can lift a wine glass!

I had this when I was on ESA with depression.

Some days I was fine, skipping along like Frauline Maria and other days I couldn't get out of bed.

There were no average days, but for some reason the assessor found that really difficult to understand.

Were you successful King? Hope things are better now for you

Good luck scrambled do you have a date yet?

Ah, things are fine, cheers.

I gave up with the ESA/Jobcentre (having someone looking you up and down and sneering is not an aid in recovering from depression), got an easy job (24 hours a week) and had to get on with it.

Still on medication and have days where it feels like suicide is the only way out but am mostly getting on with it.

:)

It's how they are. DP had to claim JSA for two months when he was made redundant and they reduced him to a nervous wreck. Then they sanctioned him because a phone number for a job application didn't work.

I still get High rate mobility DLA and I have always just had if approved solely on the basis of my GP reports so I've never had to have an assessment or interview about it.
Not looking forward to that for the new pip, I can tell you :(

There was concern a while back that wheelchair users were going to be considered 'fully mobile' and therefore not eligible for anything but that was scrapped wasn't it?

Op, make notes now while you can remember what happened. As much detail as possible. Basically, prepare for an appeal, as then you'll be able to proceed promptly if you need to.

I'll be assessed for pip next year and am dreading it. Currently have a 'lifetime' award for dla and I rely on it completely. I have no savings or back up even if it got taken away then reinstated... I feel very very vulnerable.

My condition is also very erratic, though the good days are still shit. I think I'll have to get a wheelchair to keep in the room for the assessment as current situation will not be understandable to the tick box and trip em up culture.

I have a long way to get to the lifts (maybe 10 m) which are too small for a wheelchair & door handles too high up. Then another long walk to where I'm allowed to park my scooter. I cant sit up for more than a few mins without agony/ injury/ fainting, so a wheelchair is very bad for me, better to be able to move legs and straighten spine than that.

So basically, I'm trapped in my house (bed) and try and force self out maybe 2 times a month, and do myself an injury in doing so and weeks to recover. BUT I bet an assessor wouldn't be able to grasp this. I suspect it will be no wheel chair and long corridor = can walk more than 10m just fine.

Oh and the 'examinations' are just ridiculous. If you're flexible you're healthy???? No logic at all.

These assessments are not designed for real illness and disability. More the mp fantasy version.

Thanks Miscellanous That's a good idea about making notes. Do you have POTS as part of your condition? No worries if you'd rather not answer but just wondered due to the fainting part? POTS is one of the conditions I have.

You should always tell them in advance that you want a tape recording of the interview. By law they have to provide one if you state before the interview you want one.my husband had a stroke after his assessment , which was stopped when they took his blood pressure !!! Not a good or fair system