Hi, my name is ola_! I recently had a PIP assessment

ola_

I recently had a PIP assessment, it was a telephone one, l received the outcome today, according to the report, the assessor was very dishonest, more than 70% of what was in the report was the exact opposite of that what I explained to her during the assessment, in the end, l was awarded 0 points in all categories but 1 where l was awarded just 2! I am extremely upset and disappointed 😞 so how does mandatory reconsideration work and how does it fit in with the appeal process? 

chiarieds

Hi @ola_ - & welcome to the community. I'm sorry your decision letter obviously wasn't what you'd hoped. First may I say that many people are very upset with their decision, so you're certainly not alone. Secondly, that your assessment is to find out more about the problems you face, but the assessor isn't there to write down what you say word for word, rather form their own opinion, & yes, they sometimes get it wrong. For now, please put all this behind you, & concentrate on where you should have got points & why.

A Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) is the first stage in appealing, & another decision maker will look at everything again. Please put your MR in writing & remember PIP isn't about any diagnosis, but rather how your disability affects certain activities of daily living &/mobility the majority of your days. Have a look again at the activities/descriptors that are looked at with PIP: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/personal-independence-payment-descriptors-and-scores-april-2023.pdf
Try & give a couple of recent, detailed examples as to the difficulty you face for each applicable descriptor, i.e. when did it happen, where, what happened, did anyone see this, & were there any consequences to attempting/doing an activity such as pain, fatigue, or breathlessness?
Say if you can't do an activity 'reliably,' i.e. safely, to an acceptable standard, repeat as often as one would reasonably expect, or if it takes you much longer than someone without a disability. See this mentioned at the end of the link above.

If you do your MR as a letter, ensure you put your name & National Insurance number on each page. Keep a copy, & get a free Certificate of Posting from your Post Office when sending it off.

poppy123456

I wouldn't expect the report to say what you said word for word. It will be their opinion based on everything you wrote in the form, any extra evidence you sent and what you said during the assessment.

The first step to appeal is the MR. You should put this in writing stating where and why you think you should have scored those points. When you filled out the form if you didn't give a couple of real world examples of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each descriptor that applies to you then you should do that. Adding detailed information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were.

You shouldn't concentrate too much on the report because this isn't going to get you a PIP award. It's fine to mention a couple of obvious errors/contradictions but then put it to one side and forget about it.

Timescales for MR decisions are up to 12 weeks. Once the decision is made if you're not happy you can proceed to Tribunal.

Was this a review of an existing claim, or a first time claim?

ola_

Dear Scope, l am certain that my accesor sadly definitely did put in the report the exact opposite to what I said at my telephone interview, l know this for a fact because I made notes as l was being interviewed and most of what is in the report does not match up with my notes. My question is do l simply go ahead and challenge what was said in the report point by point and do I post this to PIP as the mandatory consideration or do I need to phone PIP beforehand and seek further advice from them directly as to how to proceed? Thank you, l look forward to your response. 

poppy123456

ola_ said:

Dear Scope, l am certain that my accesor sadly definitely did put in the report the exact opposite to what I said at my telephone interview, l know this for a fact because I made notes as l was being interviewed and most of what is in the report does not match up with my notes.

I wouldn't expect it to match up with exactly what you said. If that were the case then there wouldn't be any point in having the assessment.

ola_ said:

My question is do l simply go ahead and challenge what was said in the report point by point

No, absolutely not, that's not the way to go about the MR request. Doing this isn't going to get you a PIP award. Please see my advice in my previous comment.

ola_ said:

 do I need to phone PIP beforehand and seek further advice from them directly as to how to proceed?

No, you do not need to ring them for any advice because when ringing PIP you're speaking to someone from a call centre. They are not benefits advisors.

Please put your request in writing, as advised in my previous comment.

Hannah_Alumni

I'm so sorry that you went through the assessment and it wasn't the outcome you wanted @ola_ Have you thought about reaching out to Citizen's Advice for additional support? They have a page on the Mandatory Reconsideration process you may find helpful to read  

ola_

Good day to you @Chiarieds and I very much appreciate your response, thank you, my decision letter obviously was truly shocking to say the least, my assessment did indeed find out more about the problems I face, I also understand that the assessor isn't expected to write down what I say word for word, mine however formed her own opinion that my health challenges issues that I explained and how they affect my day to day living do not matter because she simply stated that in her opinion, there is nothing wrong with me. I will use a specific example, because of a chronic wrist condition, I am able to hold onto aids to assist me, she stated that because I do not use these aids I am therefore not in need of help! All descriptors she challenged this way too!

I have already requested A Mandatory Reconsideration, what chance do I stand however when my assessor has already ruined everything already, unless they look at my oroginal form again, I stand no chance whatsoever. 

ola_

I appreciate DWP assessors have a difficult job to do however I am beginning to wonder if at all they actually do listen to what claimants precisely tell them when they write reports following an assessment. I say this because the feedback I received following my PIP assessment in form of a written report reflecting nothing that was discussed during the assessment, absolutely nothing at all. Everything I explained during the assessment was completely contradicted, dismissed, it is as if the assessment did not even take place at all. How much knowledge or experience of disability do assessors actually have come to think of it, isn't it about time DWP takes a closer look at the way assessment are carried out and use disability experts instead to carry out assessments to ensure claimants receive a fair outcome? With the way assessments are being done presently, claimants aren't getting a fair deal as they simply aren't being heard. 

chiarieds

Hi @ola_ - & thank you for your kind words. With a Mandatory Reconsideration, another decision maker will look at everything again, including your claim form. It really is best to put your Mandatory Reconsideration in writing giving those detailed examples mentioned above for each of the activities/descriptors that applies to you. Don't forget to say if you can't do any activity reliably.

poppy123456

ola_ said:

I have already requested A Mandatory Reconsideration, what chance do I stand however when my assessor has already ruined everything already, unless they look at my oroginal form again, I stand no chance whatsoever. 

Did you put that request in writing as advised or did you ring to request it? It's always best to put it in writing and this way you can give fulls details and include the advice i gave above.

I totally understand how frustrating it is when the reports are so different to what you told them but that's not what it's about now, that's in the past and you need to move on from that and concentrate on those real world incidents.

ola_

I called and actually did ask if l needed to put anything in writing, the call handler said definitely no, no need for me to do that, this is really bad isn't it😔😑😢😔😑😢😔😑😢😔😑😢😔The call handler however went through each and every descriptor in turn and asked if I wanted to challenge them, she then acknowledged all the ones l decided to challenge, PIP has also since acknowledged this mandatory reconsideration via SMS. 

ola_

Even though the mandatory reconsideration has already been 'done over the phone' l can still write them? Wouldn't they say I am contacting them to provide the same information twice? 

poppy123456

ola_ said:

I called and actually did ask if l needed to put anything in writing, the call handler said definitely no, no need for me to do that, this is really bad isn't it😔😑😢😔😑😢😔😑😢😔😑😢😔The call handler however went through each and every descriptor in turn and asked if I wanted to challenge them, she then acknowledged all the ones l decided to challenge, PIP has also since acknowledged this mandatory reconsideration via SMS. 

You need to be aware that it's a call centre you're ringing and not PIP itself. They very often give very poor advice. I did advise you to put it in writing and not to ring.

Yes, you can still send a letter but they don't need to wait for the letter to arrive before making a decision. Once you ring to request it the timescale starts.