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Pip - did I fall into the friendly assessor trap?

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6 years 11 months ago #187493 by Twinkle
Oh dear...... it was my first ever pip face to face yesterday afternoon at 4.55pm.
My husband attended with me - to say that I was a bundle of nerves was an understatement.
Having both said let's prepare for the worst and hope for the best...... the assessor was very, very friendly and put me at ease straightaway, I think that I felt so relieved by this and
now i'm wandering if I fell into his trap and became too relaxed and let down my guard too much, he was coming out with things like "so is it because of your fatigue due to ME and your lack of motivation due to depression that you can't cook? In the replies that I gave I don't think that I was forceful enough, I was expecting him to ask me why I can't cook and to ask me if I could cook with a microwave etc - he didn't go into details like I was expecting him to.
On reflection he wasn't asking me that many questions and was whissing through things and skimming over things.
Now this sounds at odds with my next statement as the f2f did last
about 75mins - he wanted me to go over each symptom of my ME/CfsFibro, RA, Depression,
Damaged nerve in foot, Impingement in right hip and shoulder, chronic insomnia & migraines. (This was already in my application). In fact my application had 42 extra pages of info including letters from GP, Rheumatologist, Psychiatrist etc

He never asked me about my typical day & this info hadn't been put in my application but I had prepared something for yesterday should the question have come up.
I've just got a bad feeling about it - I can feel an appeal coming up.

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6 years 11 months ago #187507 by Gordon
Twinkle

PIP Decisions are taking about 2-4 weeks at the moment.

You should be able to request a copy of the assessment report at the end of this week or the beginning of next.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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6 years 11 months ago #187544 by TK19
I know how you feel Twinkle – I had similar experience. Very friendly young lady who did put my at ease but my history is so extensive spanning 30 years that I felt after I missed so many really relevant points on certain questions. It lasted 1.5 hours and I was mentally drained.

The other thing is that some of the points I mentioned about my disability might seem to someone inexperienced in the medical field as being exaggerated and I felt I should have said please refer to internet forums on this illness and you will see the issues are quite common!

However, I wish you every success. Best to get on with life and deal with what to do after decision arrives.

TK

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6 years 10 months ago #189007 by Twinkle
I'm so happy to have been so wrong - I've been awarded enhanced rate for daily living & mobility, an ongoing award with review unlikely for about 10years according to the DWP.
Can I please thank this site for all the brilliant infomation - without B&W I would never have been able to properly convey how my conditions affect me sufficiently enough to have been granted the enhanced rate.
Thank you so very much.

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6 years 10 months ago #189009 by Gordon
Twinkle

That's terrific news, well done.

Gordon

tags: @RESULT @PIP

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