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PIP Assessment in Person Face to Face at assessment centre with no support
- Dalglish60
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1 year 5 months ago #281220 by Dalglish60
PIP Assessment in Person Face to Face at assessment centre with no support was created by Dalglish60
Hi mods
Long story short finally got my face to face in person pip assessment at local assessment centre after DWP confused matters.
Its listed for Monday 10/7/23. Thing is my companion who would have supported me is out the country till 14/7/23 and I can't rearrange appointment again as the type/style of assessment's already been changed from phone, video call, to this in person one they granted in April.. Plus my MH team discharged me back to care of GP last month and they are snowed under with reduced staffing resources etc.
Sounds daft I know but any thoughts on how I should approach the assessment as arriving alone is to be avoided if possible as the B& W guides suggest having someone with you is better.
I have so many issues to get across to them but without support and assistance in explaining the descriptors I'm likely to become either totally frozen, or worse aspects of my cptsd will be triggered etc.
Sorry for the rant but I can only expect the worst given no support available.
d60
Long story short finally got my face to face in person pip assessment at local assessment centre after DWP confused matters.
Its listed for Monday 10/7/23. Thing is my companion who would have supported me is out the country till 14/7/23 and I can't rearrange appointment again as the type/style of assessment's already been changed from phone, video call, to this in person one they granted in April.. Plus my MH team discharged me back to care of GP last month and they are snowed under with reduced staffing resources etc.
Sounds daft I know but any thoughts on how I should approach the assessment as arriving alone is to be avoided if possible as the B& W guides suggest having someone with you is better.
I have so many issues to get across to them but without support and assistance in explaining the descriptors I'm likely to become either totally frozen, or worse aspects of my cptsd will be triggered etc.
Sorry for the rant but I can only expect the worst given no support available.
d60
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- BIS
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1 year 5 months ago #281226 by BIS
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by BIS on topic PIP Assessment in Person Face to Face at assessment centre with no support
Hi Dalglish60
I'm glad you have the face-to-face appointment that you wanted, but sorry you won't have someone with you.
The best advice to give is 'to be yourself'. So often, claimants try and make an effort to hide symptoms, partly out of embarrassment or because they are meeting a total stranger for the first time, and it feels like the polite thing to do. However, this could be costly if the assessor doesn't observe things which would normally be very obvious.
You've said that without support, you are likely to freeze. There's probably very little you can do about that. You could go with a sheet of things that you want to say if that would help.
Make the assessor aware at the beginning that you are without your normal support.
I hope it goes well for you.
BIS
I'm glad you have the face-to-face appointment that you wanted, but sorry you won't have someone with you.
The best advice to give is 'to be yourself'. So often, claimants try and make an effort to hide symptoms, partly out of embarrassment or because they are meeting a total stranger for the first time, and it feels like the polite thing to do. However, this could be costly if the assessor doesn't observe things which would normally be very obvious.
You've said that without support, you are likely to freeze. There's probably very little you can do about that. You could go with a sheet of things that you want to say if that would help.
Make the assessor aware at the beginning that you are without your normal support.
I hope it goes well for you.
BIS
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- Dalglish60
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1 year 5 months ago #281228 by Dalglish60
Replied by Dalglish60 on topic PIP Assessment in Person Face to Face at assessment centre with no support
BIS
Thanks for offering some advice and how to perhaps approach the assessment.
d60
Thanks for offering some advice and how to perhaps approach the assessment.
d60
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- denby
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1 year 5 months ago #281230 by denby
Replied by denby on topic PIP Assessment in Person Face to Face at assessment centre with no support
Dear Dalglish60, their limits on booking take no account of the real lives we and our supporters live.
Please call ASAP and insist you must have the assessment recorded by them. This will be the defence against an assessor taking advantage of you being alone. And be sure they do not con you with 'oh the equipment isn't here/has broken' when you get there. If you've got an old school cassette tape machine I guess you could ask to use that too, after all if you have Mh conditions you are entitled to 'be paranoid' about theirs getting "lost" !
Let us know how you get on,
Denby
Please call ASAP and insist you must have the assessment recorded by them. This will be the defence against an assessor taking advantage of you being alone. And be sure they do not con you with 'oh the equipment isn't here/has broken' when you get there. If you've got an old school cassette tape machine I guess you could ask to use that too, after all if you have Mh conditions you are entitled to 'be paranoid' about theirs getting "lost" !
Let us know how you get on,
Denby
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- Dalglish60
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1 year 4 months ago #281652 by Dalglish60
Replied by Dalglish60 on topic PIP Assessment in Person Face to Face at assessment centre with no support
Hi
Had my in person Pip face to face this morning without my companion or mh support worker. 1 hr 35mins. Absolute hell....i was an emotional wreck and mentally distressed throughout....waited outside b4 receptionist and assessor called me inside and convinced someone was covertly observing me from some concrete steps from an elevated position!!
Had to get assessor to activate my Dictaphone for me and even asked me if I wished to go home cos of the extreme distress, anxiety etc I was experiencing but stayed. Dropped some paperwork on the floor on leaving and the assessor offered to help me put back in carrier bag but couldn't handle that and said its ok I can do it. Sure they were trying to look inside for any contradictions allied to my pip application. Of which there were none. Was even asked what type of school i went to and what "form" I was in...
So after 1 hr 35m of hell what's my next move in terms of med report decisions etc?
D60
Had my in person Pip face to face this morning without my companion or mh support worker. 1 hr 35mins. Absolute hell....i was an emotional wreck and mentally distressed throughout....waited outside b4 receptionist and assessor called me inside and convinced someone was covertly observing me from some concrete steps from an elevated position!!
Had to get assessor to activate my Dictaphone for me and even asked me if I wished to go home cos of the extreme distress, anxiety etc I was experiencing but stayed. Dropped some paperwork on the floor on leaving and the assessor offered to help me put back in carrier bag but couldn't handle that and said its ok I can do it. Sure they were trying to look inside for any contradictions allied to my pip application. Of which there were none. Was even asked what type of school i went to and what "form" I was in...
So after 1 hr 35m of hell what's my next move in terms of med report decisions etc?
D60
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- BIS
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1 year 4 months ago #281656 by BIS
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by BIS on topic PIP Assessment in Person Face to Face at assessment centre with no support
Hi Dalglish60
Poor you. I can only imagine what a dreadful experience it was. I am sorry. I rather feared it might not be good when you said you were going alone. Let us hope the assessor was a reasonable person. As for being observed - you probably weren't being paranoid - too many people have had the same experience.
So your curveball questions were: "What type of school did you go to?" and "What form were you in?" Those types of questions make me cross - they have absolutely zero relevance to the PIP criteria. What does it matter what form you were in? I assume if you went to school - between the ages of 11 - 16 or 18 - you'd have been in different forms yearly! I think they use these as some sort of memory test - but whatever answer you gave, they would have no way of knowing whether it was accurate, and the answer would have told them nothing. Madness! (That's my rant for today)
As for what happens next, you can ring the DWP after 48 hours and make a request for your assessment report - it's a PA4. Don't let anyone tell you that you have to wait until the decision letter comes out - it isn't true. If you're unlucky to get a call handler who doesn't know the rules, simply put down the phone and try again. Some of them are very helpful and know the system.
The report usually takes 7 to 10 days to arrive. You should get an idea of what you might have scored. Let's hope that you get a better outcome than I suspect you are expecting.
BIS
Poor you. I can only imagine what a dreadful experience it was. I am sorry. I rather feared it might not be good when you said you were going alone. Let us hope the assessor was a reasonable person. As for being observed - you probably weren't being paranoid - too many people have had the same experience.
So your curveball questions were: "What type of school did you go to?" and "What form were you in?" Those types of questions make me cross - they have absolutely zero relevance to the PIP criteria. What does it matter what form you were in? I assume if you went to school - between the ages of 11 - 16 or 18 - you'd have been in different forms yearly! I think they use these as some sort of memory test - but whatever answer you gave, they would have no way of knowing whether it was accurate, and the answer would have told them nothing. Madness! (That's my rant for today)
As for what happens next, you can ring the DWP after 48 hours and make a request for your assessment report - it's a PA4. Don't let anyone tell you that you have to wait until the decision letter comes out - it isn't true. If you're unlucky to get a call handler who doesn't know the rules, simply put down the phone and try again. Some of them are very helpful and know the system.
The report usually takes 7 to 10 days to arrive. You should get an idea of what you might have scored. Let's hope that you get a better outcome than I suspect you are expecting.
BIS
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