Zero on my PIP assessment... something that confused me

Paladin20

Hi there, I'm not sure what to do here, or whether I even have a basis to attempt to get this decision changed, but there's some things that seem off. (I'll skip the stuff I agree with and just list the bits that seemed wrong in my PIP assessment letter). Just so the following makes sense, I don't have any physical disabilities, but I have a fairly severe anxiety and panic disorder. It's triggers by illness and germs, which means I avoid other people and situations that can cause 'contamination'. (A lot of fun during a pandemic as you can imagine.)

Interact socially face to face : So the question specifies that this part is about interacting 'face to face' in a social setting, which I have not done in a long time (well over a year now... and on average even before that I was only able to do it maybe once every couple of months or more). When I'm in a social situation, I get strong feelings of anxiety, which after a period of time will progress into feelings of severed sickness and a requirement for me to just leave and go home (and I often then continue to feel sick for several hours even after I get home). However the assessment says "You are able to engage with your friends online and on the phone". So... is this part of the requirement? I have not seen anywhere that a phone conversation (which I'm capable of) counts as "interacting face to face" (which I am mostly unable to do). 

There's a few other things that didn't seem right on my assessment either, but mostly it's a matter of scale (eg. they say I'm fine being able to plan and follow a journey, which I am physically capable of doing, but I don't actually ever journey more than a short distance from my house because I get panic attacks if my 'safe' place is too long a distance away. Not sure if this gets taken into account though.) 

poppy12345

Activity 9 (engaging with others face to face) if this is the activity you're asking about then this is face to face only, not telephone.

Activity 7 communicating verbally, includes telephone.

Planning and following a journay, if you can plan a journey then you may not score any points here. Have a read of this it may help answer your questions. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-the-assessment-criteria

For the MR request, you should avoid mentioning any lies/contradictions then may have been told in the report because they won't be interested in any of those. What they will be interested in is where and why you think you should have scored them.

Add a couple of recent real world examples of what happened the last time you attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to you will also help a lot. Was there anyone with you, where were you and what exactly happened.

Paladin20

Well I got zero overall, so while the comment they made may have been referring to the 'telephone call' part of things (which is fine) they seem to not even mention the 'face to face' part specifically (and I got no points, despite being unable to do it). Hence why I found it strange/confusing.