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Will my son be able to answer PIP questions for me?

Susie55

I have Pip assessment tomorrow my son is coming with me will he be able to answer questins for me as sometimes i get confused and overwhelmed .Thankyou

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Pippa_Alumni

Hi @Susie55, and a warm welcome to the community!

Wishing you all the best for your PIP appointment. It's good that you'll have your son there to support you. I imagine you'll be required to answer questions yourself, but hopefully some of our other community members will be able to clarify this. Do let us know how you get on!

Sam_Alumni

This is from the CAB website on preparing for your PIP assessment:

You can take someone with you into the actual assessment if they’re 16 or over. This could be anyone who makes you feel more comfortable, like a friend, relative or carer. If you want, they can take part in discussions and take notes for you.
You should be prepared to talk about how your condition affects you even if you’ve already detailed it on your PIP claim form. It can be hard to do this but it will really help if you can talk about:

the kind of things you have difficulty with, or can’t do at all - for example, walking up steps without help or remembering to go to appointments

how your condition affects you from day to day

what a bad day is like for you - for example, ‘On a bad day, I can’t walk at all because my injured leg hurts so much’ or ‘On a bad day, I’m so depressed I can’t concentrate on anything’

It’s a good idea to take a copy of your PIP claim form with you. That way you can refer to it in the assessment and make sure you tell the assessor everything you want them to know about your condition.
Don’t let the assessor rush you and try not to just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to their questions. Always try to explain how doing something would make you feel afterwards and the impact it can have on you if you had to do it repeatedly in a short period of time.
Download the PIP assessment help sheet - to take with you to your assessment [ 97 kb].
Print it out and take it with you. It includes tips on what to take to your assessment and dos and don’ts during the assessment.

I would agree with Pippa that I think they would expect you to answer the questions yourself, but that doesnt mean that someone else couldnt support you and remind you of anything in your notes.

Susie55

Many thanks for replying i will leave yoy all knowhow i got off not looking forward to it at all

Sam_Alumni

We also have this video on preparing for a PIP assessment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq5QV_SnkJs

Susie55

Thankyou for your reply

Susie55

That video u just sent very useful.Thanks

Yadnad

Sam_Scope said:

Don’t let the assessor rush you and try not to just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to their questions. Always try to explain how doing something would make you feel afterwards and the impact it can have on you if you had to do it repeatedly in a short period of time.

The above is good advice but the reality for most is that the assessor will not be interested in wanting to hear a song and dance of an explanation as you suggest.
Yes they should do, but after 3 assessments/re-assessments they were clearly more intent on getting to the next question leaving no time for explanations.

They tended to suggest an answer and ask if you agree or not. The way the question was worded the answer was normally yes.

With the last assessment, I did tell the assessor to listen to me and to slow down - that was when I was warned that she could stop the assessment there and then for not co-operating fully with her..

Susie55

Omg that's made me more nervous now.?

atlas46

Hi

My wife came with me to my assessment ( she is my Carer), at the beginning I asked if it was OK for her to prompt me.

The assessor was very kind and said whatever was best for me.

My wife prompted a few times, but I was able to answer most on my own.

It took over an hour, but was done in a very calm and kind manner.

The lady was an Occupational Therapist and even prompted me on the aides and equipment I use!!

I was awarded enhances rate for both, for 5 years.

Hope this helps and good luck.

You will be fine, only you know about the issues you face.

Susie55

Thankyou i have my birth certificate as 1 form of identity will my bus pass be acceptable as well

Yadnad

Susie55 said:

Omg that's made me more nervous now.?

Don't be. My post was of my experiences. Many others seem to have better experiences. It obviously depends on the assessor on the day. Some are good, some exceedingly good, some are bad and some exceedingly bad.

You can only work with what you are dealt with. Just concentrate on answering the questions and try to remain calm & pleasant. I must admit that when I told the assessor to slow down it wasn't with the best use of words or tone that I used.

Susie55

I see that makes me feel a bit more relaxed.Thankyou

poppy123456

Hi,

No, your son won't be able to answer the questions for you, they will want you to answer in your own words how your conditions affect you.

I've had 2 PIP assessments for myself and both times i had an Occupational Therapist. I was able to answer those questions with as much detail as possible and i wasn't rushed in giving my answers either, although i do understand that it's not like this for some people. If all the information was put on your claim form then being rushed shouldn't matter too much because the assessment will just be to add any extra information they need.

I am my daughters appointee too and during her assessment i was able to answer all the questions for her because i'm her appointee. I wasn't rushed for this either and was able to answer the questions in full, in fact her assessment was well over 1 hour because of all the information i gave. Never had a problem here either and the assessment went well.

We're all nervous for assessments like this doesn't matter how many times you have them, it's perfectly natural to be this way.

Don't read too much on the internet because you'll only ever hear the bad stories and very rarely the good ones. Both my claim and my daughters claim were successful and i claim Enhanced mobility and standard daily living. My daughter claims Enhanced for both and we both claim for completely different things.

Good luck!

atlas46

Hi

Has your bus pass got a picture of you, if yes it will be OK.

Susie55

Yes it has got a photo of me on it si that will be fine then.Thanks

Susie55

Well ive just come back from my PIP assessment not as bad as i thought not pinning any hopes mind that i will have benefit its a waiting game now can anyone tell me when can i phone Works and pensions to have a copy of my assessment report.Have i got to wait until ive recieved my decision from them or can i have it sooner.Thanks

poppy123456

I'd leave it a week and then ring them. If you live in the UK then yes you can have a copy of the report before a decision is made. If you live in Northern Ireland then you'll have to wait until a decision is made. Good luck.

Susie55

Aw great thankyou?

atlas46

Hi @Susie55

You can now relax and put it behind you.

Was your son able to assist you?

Susie55

He did answer a question and apoligised to the assessor and she said it was ok i answered the rest to be honest the questions were short she was typing mostly i had to do a lit of different movements about 9 in all some i told her i couldnt do which she said was fine my son asked her if i would be penalised for that but she said no its just a waiting game now.