PIP

[fandjango]

I've just got off a phone call for a PIP assessment. It felt a bit brutal.

The lady had a nice enough manner to start with but then kept saying I needed to just answer the question and not give her any background "i thought" she might need! Plus reiterating we didn't have much time and then taking an age to go over again how she wanted me to answer.

I'm not an imbecile I know how to answer a simple question but I have many overlapping issues where a yes/no just isn't possible.

I tried to explain why I was giving more detail and she snapped at me and I snapped back.

I don't think this is going to go well for me is it?

It doesn’t matter how you answer, they do everything in their power to reject a claim. I know someone severely disabled who was awarded higher rate for life, but when DLA was changed to PIP they were reassessed and rejected, despite their condition getting worse. They were finally awarded the lower rate for 3 years. They have a life limiting condition FGS. These people don’t care.

I have just have my mandatory reconsideration rejected. My assessor lied on the initial report, the extra information I’ve given them pointing out the lies has been rejected also.

That's absolutely outrageous. I have heard some horror stories before. My pain management nurse said to prepare for them declining it and having to appeal and she also said it shouldn't be this difficult for people who genuinely need the help and support. Thank you for replying to me. I'm still quite het up about it now. I hate "going on" about my issues to anyone in normal life as there are so many of them but she did make me feel like I was talking for no reason. Towards the end I did say to her that I am sorry I snapped at her but I had to be given the opportunity to give some background to answer the question and then she apologised to me and again said it was due to short appointment times and she had felt overwhelmed with the amount of issues I have and the details she was trying to get down. I meant to record the call but I didn't which I am also annoyed about

I sat with my neighbour when she had her assessment- brutal is a good word for it.
My neighbour has significant mental health and medical issues, takes so many medications she rattles.
It took two applications and a tribunal where she was helped by CAB and a local Legal charity
It shouldn't be like this and I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience as well.
All you can do is follow the procedures but get some help if you can - when people show they are aware of their rights it helps
Good luck

That's so kind of you supporting your neighbour. I said to my husband that I really feel for anyone that is mentally vulnerable having to go through that phone call and having to try and advocate for themselves. I was in tears and I am usually quite well held together, but I think it was anger and frustration that caused my tears. I've never me been able to separate the two! I feel a bit calmer now getting it off my chest a bit. Thanks for the reply

I had phone assessment on 27 Feb. it was brutal, they keep on drilling it and wanted you to answer "I can do the task". They kept asking what happen if my wife is not around helping me and wanted me to say "I can do it myself".

I fell for one that I could walk to GP for a couple of mins by myself. oh well.

Honestly these pip assessors really don't care. My dad is in the later stages of heart failure. He can do literally nothing. He also has many many problems with his back, legs etc including trapped nerve in his back which they can't operate on, due to his heart failure. He is in agonising pain 24/7. He can't walk, or do anything for himself. He was turned down and we are still fighting it many many months later. It's a joke but really not funny

I've just received my refused letter in the last two days after making my initial claim in Feb. The letter was dated 4th May but only arrived 2 days ago. It says you only have a month to request a mandatory reconsideration so the math doesn't add up. I called them, sat on hold for 1hour, finally got through, the lady made me go through all of the questions again and explain why I disagree with the decisions and now I have to wait a further 8 weeks to hear if I have to appeal.
My scores were zero on nearly every section. It's like the assessor wasn't even listening to anything I said.
This is such a shaming, demoralising system.

I'm currently being reassessed (my pip doesn't run out until March next year) and am dreading the phonecall or visit. They usually do it at my house without me asking but my last one was pre-covid.
I will say that all of my other PIP awards have been given following the face to face appointments, with no need for MRs or appeals, enhanced on both parts. The assessors wrote a true reflection of my illness and the way it affects me. I do have ongoing specialist input from five hospital departments and I think being able to provide a lot of current medical evidence has helped.
I feel sorry for my friend who I'd say suffers day to day the same as me but as she's been discharged by hospital departments (there's nothing they can do for her). It looks like it's just her word for it. She suffers from fibro and says it's like they don't believe her.

Aww handhold OP, it’s an awful process. Hopefully you will get the right result, but if you don’t take it all the way, wishing you all the best.

What happened in the end

It's a dreadful system. I had a letter from my GP stating I'd had to attend appointments in a wheelchair when my back trapped nerve was so painful I didn't know what to do with myself and a list of painkillers I was taking daily. I had a report from my consultant who had done 2 MRI scans and said the disc bone was pushing on nerves in my spine and a detailed physiotherapy report for my frozen shoulder stating how I couldn't move my shoulder arm so everyday tasks like putting on a top or coat I needed help with. The assessor said to me "is that all the evidence you have"? I said there is a witness statement from DH stating what he had to do to help me with. What else would I have?

I know this post is old but I have had the exact same experience. My assessor repeatedly told me how long it was taking and that it was a good job she did not have another appointment otherwise she would end the call. This made me so nervous I kept forgetting medication details so she had to go back on her form. I kept apologising because ahe made me feel so bad it. I got a copy of the report and she said Ilin it that I kept apologising and did not need to and I kept getting distracted. I was not distracted I was panicking because of what she was saying. She also wanted yes and no answers and because I could not give just a yes or no answer she was getting more frustrated with me. The assessment took 3 hours in total, I was exhausted.

OMG. I'm dreading this. I'm waiting for a PIP assessment for chronic fatigue and I can't spend ages talking to someone with a shitty attitude. It will absolutely wipe me out and my brain will freeze. Can you not complain about their manner? It sounds really unprofessional. Most people dealing with members of the public are expected to be polite and pleasant!

My brother won't apply. He is riddled with issues and, because of the constant pain he is in, he has mental.health issues on top. He was such a hard worker until he got sepsis and was in ICU for an age, and then later was later made redundant. All.of this adds to his mental.health struggles.

There is no way he should be turned down but he simply won't apply. He says he cannot cope with any more and it would likely push him over the edge (which he regularly gets close to).

It's wrong. Really wrong.

The PIP assessments are awful, awful things. I've lost count how many I have sat through with both my dds. The last one, a phone assessment, took over 2 hours, and one of the questions that drove me up the wall was "hypothetically, could you do xyz?" I said how on earth can we answer that! She said that is one of the questions and need an answer to. I mean, hypothetically if my dd didn't have chronic pain she could do all sorts. How ridiculous.
The other was at least four times my dd was asked which arm was it that had recently started having the chronic pain in, as if she was lying and they were about to trip her up.

Think I'd ask what does "hypothetically mean"?

I have my assessment, feel nervous! @fandjango did you get it ? So my gp gave info, do they ring work for info? Cc

I receive enhanced mobility and standard rate daily living for Fibromyalgia and when I had a phone assessment recently, I had a lovely lady. It's honestly not always as bad as you think. There's always going to be horror stories

@BetrayedAuntie

I've said to my brother that he has so much going on that they may well be OK with him. Not saying it should be like that, but he has so many physical issues that it's blindly obvious and then, on discussion and doctor evidence, they will see his mental health issues (PTSD from a long spell in ICU and depression not surprising given what he lives with on a daily basis).

He still isn't applying. He says he cannot face it. He goes to the edge regularly anyway.

What can I do? I'll pass him your experience but he knows people who have applied and I think they will trump anything I say from the Internet. Its really sad. I'll keep trying .....

@Starrrz

Yes I did get it. As far as I know they didn't contact my employer but if they had they would have been told how my illnesses are affecting my work.

I contacted my GP to ask them for a copy of what was sent to DWP and it was a pretty basic form with a list of my conditions.

Have you had your phonecall?

It's a bad system. My husband had his leg amputated in a work accident. Literally crushed to mush at the scene. Struggles everyday, with pain, blisters, raw skin, fatigue, ptsd. Yet declined for PIP. Apparently it's not a Permanent Disability!

I put off applying for a number of years because of all the horror stories. The physios and support nurses at the clinic I attend kept telling me to apply but I was really put off. I applied just over a year ago and although it was a difficult process, I got help with the forms and had a genuinely nice assessor (on the phone) and was awarded the low rate for both first time. 5 year award so don't have to worry about it again for a while.

I know there are lots of people who the system hasn't worked for but there are some, like me, who it has.

@fandjango well done on getting it :) i have my phone call next week.
they contacted my gp but i dont want all my work place i get pip as its private. If it was just my manager but things always get said to others.
ive never had help with anything and i am very private . But well see .
fid u get a nice person ring xx

@Hotpinkangel19 thats awful! Im so
sorry! Your poor husband must struggle everyday! That’s appalling! Xx

@Hotpinkangel19 that's outrageous. Can you appeal?