Pip/Assessment

pope

Hi posted back pip form in April 2023. Today have got a letter from CAPITA who want to do a phone assessment for next week.

This is the first time I have applied for pip so first assessment. Can any body comment on what to expect? 

Thanks

Alice_Holt

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/your-assessment/

pope

Should I have the the assessment recorded? How long should the assessment last ?

Spoonie_Turtle

The only potential benefit to recording it is if you need to make a complaint against the assessor.  It won't at all help you get the right award.  If you do want to record, you have to let them know.

Capita say they are usually an hour long.  I think mine was over an hour but still nearer one than two hours.
https://www.capita-pip.co.uk/en/your-telephone-assessment
(Has sections to jump to but you can just scroll down to see them all if you want.)

Muttleythefrog

I would add that I think the advantage of (known) recording is it is more likely to keep people... namely the assessor... honest. It might deter or protect somewhat against many of the common reported problems of assessments.

(Consider the parallel of now recording police interviews and the reasons that was introduced alongside the history of problems when there were not recorded)

Charles_Foxtrot

A recording is useful not only to complain about the assessor (which won’t really get you anywhere) but it can be vital in clearing up misinterpretations or misunderstandings in what was said and what wound up in the report should you need to go to tribunal (after mandatory reconsideration). 

In terms of keeping the assessors honest, the assessors are not in the business of outright lying and making things up. A lot of the common problems arise from miscommunications between people who are understandably highly distressed going through the assessment and the rapid turnaround assessors need to interview and write up reports to pass on to the DWP who actually make the decisions.  

A recording would make it absolutely clear what was asked and what was said. 

Muttleythefrog

Charles_Foxtrot said:

In terms of keeping the assessors honest, the assessors are not in the business of outright lying and making things up. 

Oh I think regularly you see cases where this happens.... where interpretation or mishearing cannot explain things in the report. I myself for ESA and PIP have things like observations of my walking to the assessment room by the HCP that could not physically have been made by them. Another example 'he has many friends' when I went into detail to describe my interactions with a single friend - the HCP even got me to confirm I had no other friends I had engaged with over the previous year. How about the wild extrapolations that are clearly conclusions without any credible basis - like 'attended mainstream school' so does not have difficulties reading. We have seen tribunals chuck out the reports as garbage evidence... not even detailing the attendees correctly in some cases. We have seen reports detailing tests that never took place and descriptions of ailments the claimant is completely unfamiliar with and has never claimed to have suffered.

I've got a report that says the purposes of the assessment were clearly explained to me - they were not... she said 'if you've had an assessment for ESA then you'll find this just like it'. In my very first face to face assessment right at the start I asked the assessor if they'd read all the evidence I sent in and they tried to avoid lying by stuttering a bit and then announcing 'there was rather a lot of it, yes' before then clearly demonstrating they'd never read a single piece. I still have a report with my wife's name incorrect on it... the assessor made it up no doubt based on cultural prejudices they hold! We regularly see even on these boards what looks like evidence assessors just made stuff up or wildly extrapolated to the point of fabricating evidence and detailing baseless conclusions. But for me it is the consistent mentioning of the reports saying that events claimed to occur when the others attending say otherwise and same with things said. I have a report that describes me getting out of the chair in the reception room (to go to the assessment) unaided yet 1. I needed aiding and 2. the HCP had solid wall preventing her observation. She claimed to observe me rising from the chair unaided - I have footage to show she has superpowers or is a liar.

I do think the pressure of time does lead to some of the highly unprofessional behaviours and resulting defective reports... but I think we need to sadly be open to the possibility assessors can lie... we've recently even had a thread where the assessor was reported as having lied about making calls to the claimant... if I recall the claimant ended up compensated by the assessment company who agreed.

Coincidentally the only assessment I've had formally recorded was frankly the most accurate piece of work done by any medical professional into my difficulties... quite something when it was just a disability assessment by a nurse and a curtailed one at that due to distress.

pope

Had my PIP assessment today it went on for ever a total of 1 hour 40 min. I had the phone call recorded as I had discussed in my previous post. There are a few questions the assessor asked which I don't no why.

Do I work ?
Do you drive?
Who lives with me ?
Do I socialise?
Do have any hobbies?

Spoonie_Turtle

Those are standard questions they ask, to get a picture of your life for context around the PIP activities.

pope

When can I request the report from DWP ? As assessor said it can take upto 8 weeks before DWP will be in touch.

Muttleythefrog

pope said:

When can I request the report from DWP ? As assessor said it can take upto 8 weeks before DWP will be in touch.

I would be inclined to give a couple days then try requesting from DWP as it often doesn't take long... failing that try next week. The decision though as advised is more likely to take weeks so definitely would request the report to get an idea of what may be to come as the decision often is little more than a rubber stamping of the report.

The questions... yes fairly standard questions to build up a picture of your day to day circumstances and lifestyle. They can reveal facts or imply things that can be used to help determine which descriptors in some activities may or may not apply.... or lead to further questions which could.

Your assessment was a pretty lengthy one so hopefully the resulting report is a good one. (Often the difficulty claimants have is they feel railroaded through the assessment unable to properly explain their difficulties to someone who seems to have lunchtime in mind).