PIP telephone assessment

ET22

So I applied for PIP in November and was asked t ogo to a telephone assessment today. For one hour solid it felt like i was being barked questions at and i tried to tell the assessor she was firing questions at me with no pause for breath. She just said it was because she needed to write it down? Yes she needed to write it down so wouldnt it make more sense to undertake the assessment in a way which takes into account the applicants disability. Im very annoyed at how I was treated and cant believe assessors are able to do this. 

I was told i would hear back in 4-6 weeks. Do people have any other experience of differeing time frames?   

Muttleythefrog

I reckon you'll get a decision within a few weeks.... and possibly much sooner... maybe a couple.

I would contact the DWP... PIP number... and ask for a copy of the assessment report... they likely will get that within hours at the DWP from the assessment company unless it gets held up by auditing... and it will give you a decent idea of what decision is likely given Decision Makers tend to follow the assessor's advice. Come back to us when you get that in hand if you need advice.

Yes these assessments are typically under some time pressure.... key is trying to remember it is your assessment and to give suitable information rather than be bullied. Experiences vary enormously from very positive to very bad and sometimes the resulting report can mismatch how the claimant felt it went. 

peteuk

Prior to Covid all assessmets were face to face, during Covid they switched to telephone assessments.   The assesments are the same, except you can not do the physical exam over the phone. 

Each assessment is given an hour to complete the assessment and 30 minutes to then complete the assessment.  So as they are asking the questions they are typing your answers.  The report is then based on the assessment, your PIP questionaire and any evidence provided. 

The decision marker will then make a decidion, this is the time frame youve been given (4-6 weeks) however within a week or so youll be able obtain a copy of your assessment, this will give you the scores provided.  I usually suggest waiting until the decision maker has rules on the assessment before obtaining the report.  I say this because the DM can choose to ignore the points on the report, although unlikely. 

If you feel that the decision is wrong youcan ask for a mandatory reconsideration.

ET22

@Muttleythefrog, thanks, I will ring them tomorrow and ask for a copy of the assessment. I sent my claim form back mid november and so I havent had to wait many months for an assessment like i have read some claimants do. 

I understand they have to get through lots of assessments but its no wonder people worry about them. 

Muttleythefrog

ET22 said:

@Muttleythefrog, thanks, I will ring them tomorrow and ask for a copy of the assessment. I sent my claim form back mid november and so I havent had to wait many months for an assessment like i have read some claimants do. 

I understand they have to get through lots of assessments but its no wonder people worry about them. 

Yes you seemed to get a pretty quick assessment.

Just a warning to be prepared to spend maybe over half an hour waiting on the line for agent... but could well be worth it to get that report sent to you early.

ET22

@peteuk, thanks for responding. I will ask for a copy of it tomorrow. It sounds like they are undertaking and completing an assessment within 90 minutes, then submitting it to get rubber stamped straight away good or bad. 

I would imagine that due to the volume of cases they are writing them up straight away or within 24 hours. x 

peteuk

ET22 said:

@peteuk, thanks for responding. I will ask for a copy of it tomorrow. It sounds like they are undertaking and completing an assessment within 90 minutes, then submitting it to get rubber stamped straight away good or bad. 

I would imagine that due to the volume of cases they are writing them up straight away or within 24 hours. x 

The report will have been written within the 30 minutes of the end of the assessment, depending on the assessor depends on if it goes for audit or straight through to the DM.   The DM is 4-6 week delay.  

ET22

great thankyou. At least i will know where i stand with it all. I appreciate that doing it by telephone means more people's applications are dealt with on time but the speed at which they are undertaken and written up must impact on the quality of the icontent x 
 

Spoonie_Turtle

ET22 said:

great thankyou. At least i will know where i stand with it all. I appreciate that doing it by telephone means more people's applications are dealt with on time but the speed at which they are undertaken and written up must impact on the quality of the icontent x 
 

You would think, but PIP reports were already often … divorced from reality, shall we say, even with face-to-face interviews.

You might be fortunate to have had an assessor who fills it in accurately and recommends appropriate descriptors, despite their brusque attitude.  It does happen.  But if you don't and the report comes back as a load of nonsense, it's not personal in any way (even though it can feel it is!) and it happens to loads of people no matter how well or not their assessment seems to go. 
Mine weirdly was a fairly accurate reflection of the assessment and what I'd said (not fully, but mostly), yet the assessor simply decided she didn't believe me regardless of what I'd said.  Having the report helped me see for myself exactly what had happened and thus helped me approach challenging the decision in a methodical way, knowing what exactly it was I needed to refute.

While the DWP DM can go against the report, that's very rare.  Having a copy of the report can be helpful if it comes ahead of an unfavourable decision, potentially giving you a little more time to draft a mandatory reconsideration (MR) request than if you waited for the decision.  It can also help put your mind at ease if it does recommend the appropriate descriptors.

ET22

I just looked at my phone and I got a text from DWP two hours after the start of assessment saying they had received it. 

Im sorry you experienced that @Spoonie_Turtle and i hope they rectified their poor practice and you were able to get it sorted. Yes at least if if I have the information sooner rather than later it will help me if it wasnt assessed properly. x

ET22

Quick update. I received a copy of the assessment back and from what I can make out , scored 11 in daily living. 

I haven’t been through the assessment properly yet but at first glance there are a few things that need to be challenged. 

Can I ask if anyone has challenged them verbal communication and understanding? 

Can anyone tell me how long a review under mandatory consideration would take? 

Thanks x