Pip assessment and report

ArtyWitch

Hi there,

I had my assessment and the assessor seemed to prompt me or remind me of answers, for example I explained how I’d be affected (I find it hard to express myself or find the words due to my poor working memory) and when asked another question they’d prompt me and basically give me the answer from what I’ve said previously. Also push me (in a good way) to expand on how one of my health conditions affects me. 

So although I’ve read so many negative things (on a fb group) and I realise assessors can be nice but still score you 0 but I felt like she was helping me. She sounded very knowledgeable medical wise and even said with one of my conditions that the Gp did me a disservice and lied to me after being told there’s nothing they can do by my old GP but the assessor said there are tablets to help. 

Anyway my question is has anyone been assessed and felt like the assessor helped them but still scored 0? 

My call was recorded if that makes any difference. 

I also feel like they didn’t really do a deep dive into anything or ask tricky questions which I’ve read a lot about too. I did have a lot of health conditions down so it took 2 hours.

I felt like she understood or am I just being naive? 

Obviously my mind is working overtime.

I also requested the report to be sent to me, any idea how long it takes to receive or is it a case of how long is a piece of string? 

Would love to hear about some other positive assessments and with a positive outcome. 

Thanks for reading. 

poppy123456

I think it's impossible to predict anything at this stage. As for the FB group then my only advice about that is to leave the group. Past experience from those isn't good and they very often give some terrible advice.

Recording an assessment isn't going to get you a PIP award.

I've had assessors that have been helpful, kind and understanding in the past. Up to a couple of weeks to receive the report but please remember that it's not the decision letter. It's a recommendation only. Whilst they mostly go with it, it has been known for them to go against it. The only thing requesting the report does is cause more anxiety.

Up to about 12 weeks for the decision after the report was returned.

chiarieds

Hi @ArtyWitch - & welcome to the community. I can't give a definitive answer, as everyone & their experience of PIP assessments will be different. In general you hear about people's negative experiences on social media, whereas in fact over 50% of people are successfully awarded PIP with their initial claim.

It does sound like your assessor was understanding & helped you explain more, & they will just ask the questions needed in order to see exactly how your disability affects you. Unfortunately nothing much can be read into this, & I don't feel it being recorded will make any difference; some people feel their assessment went poorly, yet are awarded, & vice-versa.

Once your assessment has been written up, then it would just be how long it would take to post it out, but bear in mind that the assessor is just giving a recommendation, & the DWP decision maker will take this into consideration together with you initial claim form & anything else you sent in. Be prepared that it can take anything up to 12 weeks to get your actual decision letter.

ArtyWitch

Hi and thanks so much!

I feel like it went well but I also felt like I could have explained more/better. I even wrote notes down before the call but didn’t look once so afraid I’ve not put everything across. 

As you say, it’s different for everyone, I’m expecting a 0 so I’m not too disappointed also hoping I’m one of the lucky ones. 

Thanks again for your response  

ArtyWitch

Sorry I’m not sure how to respond to actual comments on here.

Oh yes I’m aware it’s not the actual answer regarding the assessor and they can go against but just seeing the report might give me an idea of what I’m up against. If 0 I’m assuming they then won’t decide to give me points so at least then I know I have to fight. 

Recording the call was more for my memory of the assessment and to back me up if the assessor wrote something different. 

I’m definitely going to leave the fb group, I’d rather just deal with whatever the decision is as people say, no one can call it. 

Many thanks for your response  

chiarieds

You're responding in your initial post, so that's absolutely fine. If you want to respond to someone individually, then you just put the @symbol immediately followed by a person's user name, so, for example, you would put @chiarieds for me. That said, poppy123456, who also responded, has asked people not to 'tag' her as above, as she's incredibly busy on this forum, & will reply if & when she can, but if 'tagged' with the @ symbol you usually receive an email, unless you have such notifications turned off, which she has, otherwise she'd receive way too many, & she doesn't want people to think she's inadvertently ignoring them (which you can see in her signature..... the bit underneath her replies).

Pleased to read you're leaving the Fb group, & kindly let us all know how you get on, as everyone here is very supportive.

ArtyWitch

Thanks so much @chiarieds and I noted not to mention Poppy as I’ve been looking in the forums for a while so I won’t  

I’ll definitely update once I’ve heard something. 

mistakes65

I’d just like to comment because I made the stupid mistake of joining a F/B group PIP related and I learnt the quick way that they aren’t all they seem.

someone actually private messaged me and said that I would be better off speaking to CAB or this group !

I think I only joined for a day or so but the advice being given out was totally not what is the actually reality !!