PIP telephone assessment

janeyb22

PIP is not a means tested benefit, nor is to replace income. If anyone is claiming PIP and expects to get it within a month is being unrealistic. It is to give those who struggle a little extra money to purchase help... it is not an entitlement.
Having read a few of these posts, how do you feel about the Health Professional completing them ? Do you know how they feel about it ? Do you think they are there to help you or catch you out ?

poppy12345

janeyb22 said:

Do you think they are there to help you or catch you out ?

definitely not and why would they be? They are there to assess your functional ability to do daily activity based on the PIP descriptors.

Muttleythefrog

janeyb22 said:

PIP is not a means tested benefit, nor is to replace income. If anyone is claiming PIP and expects to get it within a month is being unrealistic. It is to give those who struggle a little extra money to purchase help... it is not an entitlement.
Having read a few of these posts, how do you feel about the Health Professional completing them ? Do you know how they feel about it ? Do you think they are there to help you or catch you out ?

Yes within a month is unrealistic under the current system - but most definitely a system can be created to deliver PIP within a month of application. How do I personally feel about the HCPs completing assessments.. depends on the HCP I guess... my PIP one I thought was a semi literate idiot who didn't know her role (quite frankly she wouldn't know OCD from OMD)... my last ESA one I thought was the most proficient and careful healthcare professional in any setting that I have ever met (this assessment was formally recorded). With my PIP review just starting now... I'm hoping to avoid any assessment with a HCP...lol...the stress of this is enormous..if I lose PIP, my wife (who is my carer) is gone due to immigration rules most likely too. I'll report back here if I get a  telephone assessment. Do I know how they feel about it... I can take a guess based on anecdotal evidence out there. On your last point... many HCPs try to efficiently get an assessment done at cost of accuracy.. and use whatever strategy works to achieve it including failing to follow due process, making up facts, creating wild extrapolations or inferences. I've experienced good and bad.

born_again

I will agree a lot is down the the HCP that assess your case.
While the one that did my wifes was nice, seemed to listen and asked all the right questions. Lots of tapping on keyboard.
On the report that was given, missed out several of our points raised on descriptors that maked the Pip down. So instead of full on both we got lower on both. 
MR agreed with the result (no surprise really, as they are just pretty much going on the same evidence and what extra you send in) Getting anything useful from specialists is very hard as most appointments are over phone and when its physical issues. They can not pass a proper judgement on them.
So now in the tribunal stage. DWp have till 17-08 to submit their evidence. Ours is already in. 
No idea how long it will take from there.
Even if it was on the 17-08  it would be over 9 months from the start.

poppy12345

born_again said:

I will agree a lot is down the the HCP that assess your case.
While the one that did my wifes was nice, seemed to listen and asked all the right questions. Lots of tapping on keyboard.
On the report that was given, missed out several of our points raised on descriptors that maked the Pip down. So instead of full on both we got lower on both. 
MR agreed with the result (no surprise really, as they are just pretty much going on the same evidence and what extra you send in) Getting anything useful from specialists is very hard as most appointments are over phone and when its physical issues. They can not pass a proper judgement on them.
So now in the tribunal stage. DWp have till 17-08 to submit their evidence. Ours is already in. 
No idea how long it will take from there.
Even if it was on the 17-08  it would be over 9 months from the start.

You don't really need medical evidence for a Tribunal, even more so if that evidence doesn't state how her conditions affect her against the PIP descriptors and most medical evidence doesn't state this. Anecdotal evidence is all that's needed.

DWP don't often respond by the date they are supposed to, they very often make you wait longer. Even if they don't respond by that date the hearing will still go ahead as normal but it doesn't mean it will be soon. Although face to face hearings are suspended for the rest of the year, so i heard. If it's this year for the hearing then it will either be a telephone hearing or they will have enough evidence to make a decision without it.

Since Covid19 hearing waiting times have decreased too, with the average wait being 32 weeks, a huige drop from a lot of people waiting more than a year.

born_again

Thanks.
Fingers crossed.

Wakeybex

So I applied for pip over 12 weeks ago rung them up and I was in queue waiting for a telephone assessment and they moved it forward for me to this Saturda y (I got a cancellation) i have ongoing mental health issues heart condition that affects my daily activities such as walking and shopping and (anything strenuous) also struggle with communicating with us can't interact I get severe anxiety and have panic attacks I'm scared that I will not be eligible does anyone here disagree? Thoughts? Also what type of questions will they ask? Not sure how I can prove mobility though 

Wakeybex

Wakeybex said:

So I applied for pip over 12 weeks ago rung them up and I was in queue waiting for a telephone assessment and they moved it forward for me to this Saturda y (I got a cancellation) i have ongoing mental health issues heart condition that affects my daily activities such as walking and shopping and (anything strenuous) also struggle with communicating with others can't interact I get severe anxiety and have panic attacks I'm scared that I will not be eligible does anyone here disagree? Thoughts? Also what type of questions will they ask? Not sure how I can prove mobility though 

6

poppy12345

Wakeybex said:

So I applied for pip over 12 weeks ago rung them up and I was in queue waiting for a telephone assessment and they moved it forward for me to this Saturda y (I got a cancellation) i have ongoing mental health issues heart condition that affects my daily activities such as walking and shopping and (anything strenuous) also struggle with communicating with us can't interact I get severe anxiety and have panic attacks I'm scared that I will not be eligible does anyone here disagree? Thoughts? Also what type of questions will they ask? Not sure how I can prove mobility though 

You have posted on an extremely long thread that's more than 10 pages long. It would have been better to have started your own post with your question because people read the first post and answer that, this means that your question could easily be missed.

To answer your question, no one here can tell you whether you'll be awarded successfully because no one knows exactly how your conditions affect you. PIP isn't awarde based on a diagnosis, it's how those conditions affect your ability to carry out daily activity based on the PIP descriptors.

If you kept a copy of the form have a read of that before the assessment because part of it will be for you to confirm what you wrote in the form. Including any other information they need.

Once the decision's been made if you disagree you'll have 1 month from that date to request the Mandatory Reconsideration.

Spoonie_Turtle

Wakeybex said:

i have ongoing mental health issues heart condition that affects my daily activities such as walking and shopping and (anything strenuous) also struggle with communicating with us can't interact I get severe anxiety and have panic attacks I'm scared that I will not be eligible does anyone here disagree? Thoughts? Also what type of questions will they ask? Not sure how I can prove mobility though 

Lots of people can't really prove mobility in a face-to-face assessment unless they literally struggle to walk a few metres, but a lot of people fit the descriptors on the basis of reliably/repeatedly which one walk into the assessment office doesn't really show.

If you are not already familiar with the descriptors then that's where you need to start - it would have been best to know before you filled in your form, but it's done now, and many people do succeed in their applications without even knowing how it's assessed. But for you to know yourself what descriptors likely fit you and therefore whether you are eligible for any award would probably help your confidence if nothing else. It might also help you to focus on what you need to make sure to tell them, and areas that aren't so important (e.g. cleaning, washing up, etc.)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

https://pipinfo.net/

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/fill-in-form/  - this is designed to help with filling in the form but it gives things to think about for each activity, so you could make notes if there's anything you hadn't already considered.