What will Capita ask a 16 Yr old applying for PIP

[Spanglemum]

Posting for traffic. My child has ADHD and psychological/mental health problems. They were awarded DLA which stopped 16th birthday and we applied for PIP.
They have a telephone interview with Capita this week. What are they likely to be asked?

Thanks,

Louise

If you appoint yourself as your childs guardian, you can answer the questions on their behalf. The questions themselves are pretty standard so you really just need to say what you put on the application form and maybe elaborate a little further for more specific issues your child may have.

This website

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk

has extensive and superb guidance on PIP. Become a member and carefully read their members-only guide. It's a long read unfortunately. I'm pretty sure there's info on what they ask at the medical. They also have guides on how to appeal if you have to.

Good luck.

My 16 year old has recently been awarded PIP. I requested to be his appointee as he wouldn’t be comfortable answering questions or managing the money himself (he is autistic)
I had a phone interview and the lady asked me about a couple of things on the the form in more detail. Mainly travel. She asked ‘so what would he do if the bus route changed?’ And things like that. I answered honestly and said that he would either get off the bus and call me or he would stay on the bus hoping for the best and get off at the end if he didn’t see his stop and then call me etc.
She was really nice and friendly. She said that he had lots of ‘points’ and although she didn’t make the decision it looked positive to her that he’d get it. He was awarded high rate not long after.

Benefits and work are Brilliant - there are also free guides at www.a1benefitsupport.com (you need to sign up through Facebook) which are helpful

I also sat with my daughter, though encouraged her to answer questions. They didn't seem to mind if I elaborated or if my DD froze and I had to speak for her.

A lot of the questions seemed to be what was asked in the pip forms so we did note key points to make sure we covered all aspects (as recommended in benefits and work website. AMAZING resource)

Not what you asked, but request the conversation is recorded. Just so if there's any discrepancies in what you said vs what the report says, they can be proven.

I hope it's straightforward for you. Ours was over 18 months ago but I remember how stressful it felt explaining everything. I think my DD felt extra low after it, having to go over all her difficulties and how she's not like others her age. I wish I'd been better prepared to handle that.

Ours was over 18 months ago but I remember how stressful it felt explaining everything. I think my DD felt extra low after it, having to go over all her difficulties and how she's not like others her age

It's really hard. I'm 61 and felt quite depressed after an hour of what I can't do when I almost always focus on the things I can. I remember thinking oh god, am I really this bad 😬

Without knowing your child's problems, I would recommend not saying anything like "he is mostly fine/he's fine most days" because that is an instant black mark (I used to work in a call centre like this). My advice would be to think of his worst days and worst experiences and say that he is going through this on a daily basis, all the time, and make it sound more extreme than it is, as harsh as that sounds.

Worst day every day advice is really bad, it's fraud. What you need to do is quantify it so describe bad situations and state how often this happens.

OP, you can choose to take "holier-than-thou" advice from someone or choose advice from someone else who knows what the particular system entails and knows what it takes to say to get the support that you need.

We didn't talk about worst days at all with Ds's application or make things more extreme. For example he has no needs around using the toilet independently, so I left that blank.
I just told it exactly like it is and he was granted enhanced daily living and enhanced mobility.

OP, do NOT take this person's "advice" under any circumstances.

My daughter's experience was very similar to @EdHelpPls and @Hermanfromguesswho in that questions was an elaboration of what's in the forms themselves. My OH was with my daughter for her online video call which took hour and a half, I think. It was done in June. Now been awarded PIP which was backdated too, so she was very pleased with the outcome.

I agree with PP you need to focus on the worst days and only the worst days to get anywhere. One wrong word and that's it, you've blown it!

Absolutely do not use 'worst day'. Be honest. If needs are variable, say, 'On a good day x, on a less good day y, on a bad day z. DD1 has 4 good days per month, 23 less good days, and and 4 worst days per month.'

I did this and DD1 was awarded enhanced care and enhanced mobility just based on her application form and evidence I sent in. No interview of any sort. Having said that, she had extensive recent evidence of her needs because I had insisted on reassessment of her needs during her EHCP annual review, so she had a recent ASD diagnostic report, recent SALT assessment, recent Educational Psychology report, psychiatry letters and learning disability letters, etc.

It's not holier than thou advice (wtf) it's honest advice @Keyansier from someone who also knows the system and has obtained higher rate pip multiple times without having to commit fraud. Pip is evidence based - I doubt very much that anyone would have reports to corroborate every day being a worst day but would have reports detailing issues and problems that you can then annotate and expand upon with how often it happens

Thank you! I can't remember their levels for DLA but it was c£300 a month they received.

@TheStarsDontShine

I've done this direct job. It's a points system. If you say one "wrong" thing, points are deducted and claims lessened. If you say you can walk on "good" days, then you can walk and not classed as needing help in that area, and so on with other areas/questions.

That’s called fraud and it’s people like you who contribute towards our social care system failing

My advice would be to think of his worst days and worst experiences and say that he is going through this on a daily basis, all the time, and make it sound more extreme than it is, as harsh as that sounds.

Don't, whatever you do, don't do this.
It's fraud.

There are plenty opportunities to honestly describe how a condition affects someone's daily living over a week or a month. Benefits and Work suggest submitting an honest diary showing how different conditions affect the person over a period of time.

@MissMaple82
I agree with PP you need to focus on the worst days and only the worst days to get anywhere. One wrong word and that's it, you've blown it!

That is fraud.

Don't do it.