PIP review without support, feeling overwhelmed and anxious

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Ej1502

I have my pip review phone assessment on Tuesday and I have no support and I don't know what to expect which is making feel overwhelmed and anxious. Any advice would be much appreciated. thank you 

chiarieds

Hi @Ej1502 - & welcome to the community. The assessor will ask you questions about how your disability affects you based on the info you put on your claim form. If you've kept a copy of this, then read it through before your assessment. They may only ask about certain of the activities/descriptors that you said you had difficulty with, & there may not be the time to go through them all anyway.

 - Ideally you should have given 1 or 2 recent, detailed examples of the difficulty you face doing/attempting each applicable activity/descriptor, i.e. when exactly did this occur, where, what exactly happened, why did you have difficulty, did anyone else see this, & were there any consequences to this, if applicable?

 - have a look at the PIP descriptors in this link, reading the notes at the end. The word 'reliably,' which is so important, isn't mentioned as such, but it's if you can't do an activity safely, to an acceptable standard, if you can't repeat it as often as would normally be expected, or if it takes you longer than a person without your disability. If you can't do an activity 'reliably,' say so, explaining why. Please see: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/personal-independence-payment-descriptors-and-scores-april-2023.pdf

 - see if there were any gaps where you didn't give those important detailed examples for each applicable PIP activities/descriptors in your initial claim form. Try to include these in your assessment if asked about any

 - you may be asked questions which you feel don't directly address the PIP descriptors, but they will, sometimes looking across a few, e.g. do you drive, do you have a pet?

- if you're unsure about any question, just ask for it to be repeated. Take your time in answering, & don't just answer yes or no.

- make sure your phone is fully charged, & have a drink in easy reach. Good luck.