PIP Phone Assessment (IAS)

...yes, I'd figured out that it was my NHS GP who they were requesting further info from. He confirmed when the Practice received it and offered for me to book an appt with him to update him so that he can complete the GPFR.

I've read in your PIP guide about the assessors, PIPAT etc but still have some questions, please, whose answers will help me prepare for my f2f in different ways:

I read that IAS ‘office’ assign an assessor to us. Is the assessor who initially reads our PIP2 and then requests a GPFR (in my case), the SAME assessor who does our f2f (whether at a centre or f2f)?

Do they get paid more if they do a home f2f?

When our evidence is received by IAS ‘office’ (whether PIP2 or GPFR or further evidence from us), it is all scanned on to our file?
So for a centre f2f, the assessor is supposed to read all our evidence before calling us in – do they only have access to our scanned evidence on the day of the f2f…they can’t read it ahead of time like the day before?

So none of our PAPER evidence is sent to or viewed by assessors (whether at a centre or home f2f)?

So for a home f2f where they won’t have PIPAT to use, they also won’t be able to view any of our evidence? But would they have had access to PIPAT and view the scanned evidence either BEFORE our home f2f, or AFTER our home f2f when they write their PA4 report?

If they haven’t read all our evidence before our f2f (whether at a centre or our home) or we find out that not ALL our evidence was scanned onto PIPAT for them to read eg test results, are we allowed to stop the f2f (which I will be recording) because their lack of preparation means an unfair assessment for us?

Do we have the right to refuse a f2f (centre or home) if we notice the assessor has symptoms of infection? My immune system is not working properly so I can catch infections easily, and I’ve told IAS this. Some charities for my illness have webpages written by doctors recommending that those of us who are severe (which I am) should try avoid contact with even our health practitioners for the next while as c-19 cases increase (and ignore if others view us an overanxious or paranoid).

Hi
I can only give my experience of IAS assessor who carried out my home F2F.
She was a nurse ,before we started she gave a synopsis of her qualifications & experience & that she was a full time employed member of IAS assessment team. She also explained she had throughly read my Pip claim & all my medical evidence, as my condition is rare she researched & consulted with a colleague to help her understand further the condition. She was empathetic & really allowed me time to respond , also she was keen to hear from my hubby who is my carer. The whole thing was nearly 3 hours from start to finish. She was very forthcoming regards her role & what would happen after she left sending her report & wait time for decision. I was transitioning from DLA middle care high mobility & have been awarded enhanced for for both ongoing as she correctly noted there is unfortunately little chance of improvement in my health.