Pip assesments

Joshua1959

I am realy nervous about my pip assesment this thursday,yet ive been on dla since 2003,any advice would be realy great.

CockneyRebel

hi Joshua and welcome

have a look at the B&W self test

http://www.mybenefitsandwork.co.uk/pip/indexxx.php

CR

wilko

@Joshua1959
just as  CR says try the self test this will give you a guide on  how you may fair, the scoring for DLA is different to the PIP scoring  as you will see when you do the self test, don't be surprised if you get less points than you thought you should be honest to yourself otherwise you'll give yourself false hope. Good luck.

Joshua1959

Thankyou Lillybelle

Matilda

Disability Rights UK site has a good guide to all stages of PIP.  Points are awarded for how your condition affects your daily living and mobility, not for the condition itself.  Have a good look at the descriptors.

The assessor will be watching you informally all the time from when they collect you from the waiting area, including how you walk.  They'll take note if you put belongings down on the floor and how you pick them up later.  There should be a spare chair for you to put belongings on.

Wear clothes that are easy to put on with few if any fastenings.  Minimal jewellery. Don't dress up.

Probably you'll be asked how you travelled to the centre.  Don't drive yourself, take a taxi if necessary.  Assessment companies will refund taxi fares if agreed in advance.  Phone assessment company's helpline.

Watch out for trick questions like:

For how long can you walk (rather than how far.)?  Always relate time to distance.  Saying for how long on its own could indicate that you can walk farther than you can.

20m = 30 seconds (in the opinion of the DWP)

How far from your front door is your car parked?

If you found half way down the corridor to an outpatient appointment you remembered you'd left something in the car, would you go back for it?

Have you got any pets?   Looking after pets especially dogs could indicate a high level of energy and stamina.

What are you hobbies?  Doing crafts and jigsaws could indicate considerable manual dexterity.

You might be asked how many bad days a week you have.  You have to have at least 4 bad days out of 7 to qualify.  Keep it simple.  I started to say that I had 5 bad days out of 7 on average and the assessor's glazed over.  So I changed it simply to 5 days out of 7 and the assessor seemed happy.

Good luck on Thursday!

Matilda

Don't over-estimate what you can do, either.  Some people do this and of course lose points they deserve.   Assessors might try to lead people into saying they can do more than in fact they can.

Pippa_Alumni

All the best for the assessment, @Joshua1959. You've had some great advice from our community members, and you may also like to check out our PIP FAQs. Do let us know how it goes!