PIP Review

born_again

saints1996 said:

Hi,
When completing my new form I listed all my medication and how all evidence on my disability was listed in my G.P. notes ( have to see G.P. every few months ) so i expected before any review my G.P. would have been contacted, is this not correct? All my hospital notes including my operations, Physio, Pain Clinic, Mental Health Team would have been detailed in my medical record. I provided all hospital addresses, Surgeon Details and Hospital staff details. Yet the only evidence the assessor seemed to have was a copy of my first PIP assessment from 2022. The assessor on the day didn't even know what medication i was taking.

When i completed my form with all details of who need to be contacted to prove what i was saying was fact, who compiles all this information for the assessor?

Can I put it like this.
Does your GP, specialist etc know how you are effected, & then be able to this fit into the question asked on the form? (which they will never see)


My Wife hardly see's GP (waste of time) & they would have zero idea how her conditions effect her in daily life. Exactly the same as the specialist's she see's on a regular basis.

It's seems totally strange not to answer any of the question posed on the form & could be the major reason for 0 points.

saints1996

No I answered all the questions on the form. I thought you meant did i send in any supporting evidence. I expected they would have contacted the people i put on the form that they asked for. Sorry for the confusion.

saints1996

Hi,
Thanks for all your replies.

I have no doubt explained myself wrong, I did fill in every part of the PIP form detailing what I could do or not do. In the form it asks for the names and addresses of those you want contacting who can provide the relevant evidence to back up what I am saying in the form. They just didn't seem to have any of this evidence and that baffles me because how do they prove I am not lying. It's clear she didn't believe me and gave me zero points, though my medical history shows how much i do suffer day to day.

Muttleythefrog

saints1996 said:

Hi,
Thanks for all your replies.

I have no doubt explained myself wrong, I did fill in every part of the PIP form detailing what I could do or not do. In the form it asks for the names and addresses of those you want contacting who can provide the relevant evidence to back up what I am saying in the form. They just didn't seem to have any of this evidence and that baffles me because how do they prove I am not lying. It's clear she didn't believe me and gave me zero points, though my medical history shows how much i do suffer day to day.

Thanks for confirming... yes you did the right thing. But in terms of contacting others they typically will not. In terms of proof.... it comes down to evidence and opinion... and for the most part a claimant is going to believed if their information makes sense and is consistent with other information like medical reports, treatments, assessments, diagnoses. It's not clear what has 'gone wrong' in this review but it does look like getting the report and filing a MR are next steps.. get copy of previous report too if not already held as that could in this case be particularly useful.

Spoonie_Turtle

While they do ask for details of people to potentially contact, unfortunately the burden is usually on us to supply relevant medical evidence where it backs up what we're telling them on the form.

Anecdotally I've only really heard of them contacting medical professionals when the claimant has severe cognitive or intellectual disabilities or is otherwise severely incapacitated and doesn't really understand the process at all, where a claim wouldn't even exist if they didn't have anyone to do it on their behalf.

It could be that assessors do contact medical professionals in other circumstances and I just haven't heard (or don't remember hearing) about it but it is certainly rare anyway.

saints1996

Well i have spoken to the assesors and they confirmed in my case they never asked for any additional evidence other than i provided in my form. Why i have got a few days until i recieve the relevant reports before I lodge my appeal i am going to get all my medical evidence from G.P. and Hospitals. The reason I changed to a face 2 face assessment was so i could show the issues i have and my daily struggles, though I shouldn't have bothered. I honestly thought a pack would have been provided to the assessor on the day containing all relevant medical information the claimant had requested. I understand individual assessors wouldn't have time to do this because they see so many different people but I would have thought a department would have put all evidence together.

Thanks again for all your replies.

peteuk

saints1996 said:

Hi,
When completing my new form I listed all my medication and how all evidence on my disability was listed in my G.P. notes ( have to see G.P. every few months ) so i expected before any review my G.P. would have been contacted, is this not correct? All my hospital notes including my operations, Physio, Pain Clinic, Mental Health Team would have been detailed in my medical record. I provided all hospital addresses, Surgeon Details and Hospital staff details. Yet the only evidence the assessor seemed to have was a copy of my first PIP assessment from 2022. The assessor on the day didn't even know what medication i was taking.

When i completed my form with all details of who need to be contacted to prove what i was saying was fact, who compiles all this information for the assessor?

PIP assessors have no access to your GP records.  So its pointless reffering to them during the assessment. 

If youve sent evidence of your conditions then this would be reffered to in the assessment. 

For example if you have a letter from orthopeadic consultant that states "I saw this person in clnical today, they have been under my care for the last 5 years, two years ago i undertook a total knee replacement however this has failed to improve their mobility, today he knee remains swollen, unable to bend more than 20 degrees and struggeled to walk the 20 meters from the waiting area to my office...." 

It says more than 30 entries from a gp  which may state problem knee pain histroy as before, treatment X prescirbed Y. 

As I have said before an assessor gets 30 minutes prior to the assessment to prep for it.  if your assessor was a subsitute then yes your right she might not have had the 30 minutes to do the prep, but your medication would be on the system if you provided them in the questionaire or provided an up to date repeat prescription.  Without you providing this, how do you think they are going to know what you are taking?

Only in rear situations does the assessor contact anyone other then the claimant. 

ayupmeduck

saints1996 said:

Hi,
When completing my new form I listed all my medication and how all evidence on my disability was listed in my G.P. notes ( have to see G.P. every few months ) so i expected before any review my G.P. would have been contacted, is this not correct? All my hospital notes including my operations, Physio, Pain Clinic, Mental Health Team would have been detailed in my medical record. I provided all hospital addresses, Surgeon Details and Hospital staff details. Yet the only evidence the assessor seemed to have was a copy of my first PIP assessment from 2022. The assessor on the day didn't even know what medication i was taking.

When i completed my form with all details of who need to be contacted to prove what i was saying was fact, who compiles all this information for the assessor?

Does any of that report on your day to day function, GP would rarely do that. GPs are not routinely contacted for this reason. How old was this FE, how did you present at the assessment etc etc

peteuk

For others viewing this thread I can't  stress enough that it’s vitally important to fully understand the process whilst applying for PIP and going through the review process.

This way you avoid some of the issues you will be faced with when applying, you’ll be able to answer the questionnaire fully and if you cant do that then please seek help in doing so.  Read the activities, read the expectation and then the descriptor, base your answer on the descriptor that best describes your limitations.

I remember on claimant during a telephone assessment advise me to read his Gp notes for the answers.  Over and over again, he didn’t understand the process and so got zero points.  He failed to engage with me, not because of a condition but due to wrong info, lack of understanding and attitude.