Assessor Report

Hi R J Bar

The assessors report (I am assuming we are talking about PIP, PA4) is an opinion made by the assessor when you had your assessment.

When you have the assessors report, you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and you will now be able to argue against them.

I usually use a highlighter to highlight any inaccuracies, once you have gone through the report you then set out why you are applying for a MR and go through each descriptor one at a time why you disagree with the assessor and try and match it with any supporting documents you may have sent in.

Understand that the assessor is offering an opinion when they say 'in my opinion' you can do the PIP activities, tackling these head-on is unlikely to be successful, you need to show that the basis of that opinion is founded on incorrect information, so try and refer to your evidence to undermine what they have said, remember they are just an opinion which is not based on fact.

Also, try and stick to issues that lead to your scoring points, I often hear members referring to the assessors spelling, as an example, whilst it may show a lack of professionalism, raising it as an issue isn't going to help you get an award.

Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation.

Lastly, make sure that you understand the criteria that you are being assessed against you can put the best case forward that is possible but you won't score points if you do not meet the PIP Descriptors.

Have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide; benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/pip

Yes, the assessor will recommend what points to award based on their opinion, they will also give a summary, which quite often is a cause of contention, as I stated at the start of my post highlight any inaccuracies and write down WHY it is inaccurate, the why part is the important part.

Gary

Hi R J Bar

I don't think she will make anything of your response - because that was such a clumsy question.

BIS

Hi R J Bar

I'm sorry to hear of the possible outcome. Only you can decide whether to put in for a Mandatory Reconsideration if the decision letter confirms the reduced award. I have only ever heard of a couple of people having their awards reduced at the MR stage and they were unusual cases. The majority of MRs remain unchanged - only 27% of them are successful, so you probably have nothing to lose apart from the obvious stress in challenging the decision if you want to.

BIS