Tough PIP Video Review Assesment

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sticks72

Hi everyone,
i Had my video assesment 2 weeks ago and it was the toughest thing I’ve had to do! Talk about under pressure, I felt
like I was in a crime novel accused of a serious  crime. 

When asked about cooking and I said the last time I tried I dropped a pan of boiling water with pasta in so we decided I don’t do it any more, she asked if I could make a sandwich, I don’t understand what that has to do with making a simple hot meal. She already knew my wife did the preparing and cooking. 

Asked about hobbies, I said I used to play the drums, guitar, darts. 

Now I listen to audio books as I can’t do any of it any more. 

She didn’t want to know about the pain I was in walking and moving, she said we understand you are in a lot of pain, we’ve established that, but what about walking to the toilet at work? How far is it? How many times do you go? I said 10m maybe twice with my sticks in a lot of pain! Describe your walk, I said it’s a kind of hobble. The pain is completely relevant I would have thought as it is excruciating. She just seemed to bat that off. 
I said I tried to walk out side once a week on my sticks just to get some air just for 10 minutes on the street but when I got back I was out of breath and sweating hard, I’d flip on the couch and fall asleep exhausted, she didn’t look bothered. 

It all felt very patronising. 

Ive had a text to say, “the health professional has sent the report and it should take 6 weeks.”
Ive had full mobility payment for a couple of years and this is my first review things have gotten worse which I explained in the forms I sent in great detail. 

To me it felt like an exercise in trying to contradict my issues. 

Anyone got any thoughts or similar experiences? 

Kind regards, Sticks72. 

 

chiarieds

Hi @sticks72 - & welcome to the community. It certainly is difficult talking to a stranger about the problems you have, but well done for getting through it. The impression I got was that they did understand you were in pain, but were trying to find out how far you can walk, but, if you're in pain the moment you attempt walking, that does seem almost irrelevant, altho they should also take into account the manner in which you walk, which you've described.

With my PIP claim I said I'm in pain the moment I'm upright, but that got mistranslated into I could walk more than 20 metres, tho it was acknowledged that I was in pain. I challenged this (successfully) with a Mandatory Reconsideration.

As you say, asking if you can make a sandwhich isn't any part of the descriptors. Again you described how you couldn't make a simple meal safely, so points should be gained there.

It sounds like you gave detailed replies with your review form, & this will be taken into account together with the assessor's report. I hope you do get a decision within 6 weeks, tho it seems generally speaking that it can take anywhere between 2 & 12 weeks.