Had my pip assessment yesterday. — Scope | Disability forum
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Had my pip assessment yesterday.

Eadiesmummy1
Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
I recently bit the bullet and after a 9 week wait i finally had my pip assessment yesterday. I have hemipilegic migraines, benign intracranial hypertension, trigeminal neuralgia on the right side, blepharitis and facial hypesthesia which is unexplained at the moment on my left side and my periphial vision is also damaged, im only 22 so was reluctant to put myself down as "limited" in the things i can do. the assessor was nice, tried tripping me up a few times and strangely found no reflex in my left leg (strange). i sent in loads of evidence. the assessor told me her daughter had benign intracranial hypertension and got better without medication, and that some of the medication i take (pregabalin) is the same as she takes herself. i do take many other meds that i wont bore you all with. 
my question is how long did you all wait from the assessment period to the decision? and how can i obtain a copy of the assessors report? 
many thanks, Laura x 
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Comments

  • pixie61
    pixie61 Community member Posts: 67 Courageous
    I phoned up after 10days & got my report 2days later. The whole thing was packed with lies & she twisted my words. I’m contemplating making a complaint against her. She described me as of average size for 61, not unkempt, and didn’t look tired or ill. What relevance is all that anyway. I’m 5ft & weigh 6st 7ibs, is that average size for my age??? It’s rubbish. She put down things she didn’t get me to do as well. Whole system is a farce
  • Eadiesmummy1
    Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
    Wow pixie! i do hope that you are going to ask for a reconsideration as she sounds like a very opinionated and unprofessional assessor! To be honest im not quite sure what average is but she also asked me if id lost weight since the trigeminal neuralgia diagnosis (probably due to pain when chewing so i cut meals down to 1 or even half when its too agonising to carry on) I cant believe the system penalising people by what they look like and to call you just "average" to be labelled in that way. disgusting. 
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 118 Listener
    My assessor did the same. They c cut and paste" in their minds information given so that it looks like you said something that you didnt. They say you dont look tired when you feel exausted. They say you have normal hand strength when squeezing their hands ...when actually you know you cant squeeze with force due to painful joints! Also stated i could bend to reach  my knees but no further when i was sat on my scooter the whole time....iof course i could touch my knees i was sat down 
  • April2018mom
    April2018mom Posts: 2,882 Disability Gamechanger
    My son’s assessment report was full of inaccuracies. My only piece of advice is to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. I took a highlighter pen and I carefully spent several minutes circling any errors in the report. My next step was to ask politely for a mandatory reconsideration. Good luck. 
  • pixie61
    pixie61 Community member Posts: 67 Courageous
    It’s discrimination I think, so I am going to complain. I was on DLA enhanced on both care & mobility. Now I’m on middle rate for care & norhing for mobility, I’m cured!!!! So I’m doing an MR as well. We don’t need this stress, it makes our conditions worse!! 
  • Eadiesmummy1
    Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
    lets hope we all get the decision we want when we ask for MR! she was just comparing me to her daughter. im not her daughter, i have many other neuro problems which make the others symptoms heighten. i could have punched mine lol x 
  • Yadnad
    Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
    pixie61 said:
    I phoned up after 10days & got my report 2days later. The whole thing was packed with lies & she twisted my words. I’m contemplating making a complaint against her. She described me as of average size for 61, not unkempt, and didn’t look tired or ill. What relevance is all that anyway. I’m 5ft & weigh 6st 7ibs, is that average size for my age??? It’s rubbish. She put down things she didn’t get me to do as well. Whole system is a farce
    The assessor will have made assumptions as to how you appeared. Not looking ill or tired and that you look after your appearance is generally seen as not really having any medical or other issues. 

    The report is generally made of opinion and conjecture. Saying that the assessor is a liar cannot be proved. If they say you did something but didn't, again, only you know the truth - there is no evidence that you can produce that will show it to be a lie.  
  • pixie61
    pixie61 Community member Posts: 67 Courageous
    My husband was with me! However if we think that about liars, we’d never challenge anything! In my mind she was discriminative! Also most people who have had Assesment’s have experienced the same treatment from their assessors. It’s about time we stood up & complained about the treatment of disabled people
  • Yadnad
    Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
    pixie61 said:
    My husband was with me! However if we think that about liars, we’d never challenge anything! In my mind she was discriminative! Also most people who have had Assesment’s have experienced the same treatment from their assessors. It’s about time we stood up & complained about the treatment of disabled people
    You can only hope for the truth to come out if you want to make the complaint official if you can provide independent evidence that the assessor has told lies. Having a family member support you will not be accepted as independent evidence. 

    As for the DWP, they will under normal circumstances accept what is in the assessor's report  as being the truth and will make a decision based on it. 
    If you are not happy with that decision then it is up to you to prove that the assessor and the DWP are wrong.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,333 Disability Gamechanger
    When you say "most" people receive bad reports with lies and untruths etc, is not exactly correct.

    Lots of people claim PIP successfully without any problems at all but we rarely hear their story. Naturally when reading stories on the internet we'll only ever hear the bad ones. If someone has had an award they're happy with then they have no questions to ask, therefore we don't hear their story.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Eadiesmummy1
    Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
    pixie61 said:
    My husband was with me! However if we think that about liars, we’d never challenge anything! In my mind she was discriminative! Also most people who have had Assesment’s have experienced the same treatment from their assessors. It’s about time we stood up & complained about the treatment of disabled people
    she definitely sounds it to me! all in all i think its the not knowing thats getting to me. ive heard a lot say they think they will be scored poorly but they end up with lots of points etc, only time will tell i imagine. xx
  • Eadiesmummy1
    Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
    When you say "most" people receive bad reports with lies and untruths etc, is not exactly correct.

    Lots of people claim PIP successfully without any problems at all but we rarely hear their story. Naturally when reading stories on the internet we'll only ever hear the bad ones. If someone has had an award they're happy with then they have no questions to ask, therefore we don't hear their story.
    i agree, theres hardly any positive stories online. my mum claimed and had no issues whatsoever x 
  • pixie61
    pixie61 Community member Posts: 67 Courageous
    I was on ehanced for care & mobility for 11years on DLA transferring to pip, I’ve lost my mobility part &  down graded  to standard care! They don’t even look at the DLA award form. Not even my claim for pip form I had to fill in, which was exactly the same as the one I did for DLA was taken into consideration. It was the assessors opinion of me from a 45 min appt. she told lies & made an opinion of how I was as a person! I was very poorly that morning, in excruciating pain! I was deemed to look well & I could hold a conversation with her & I wasn’t unkempt! So we disabled people have to be dirty, stupid & thick. Huge discrimination there I feel. Sorry for going on, but this is affecting lots of disabled claimants!
  • pixie61
    pixie61 Community member Posts: 67 Courageous
    I have been told that Dwp are not taking DLA claimants into acct. we have to make a new claim!! Our past ex amount of years in the system means diddly squat. I feel very strongly about this, because I’m reading other people getting the same treatment as myself & the struggles they are going through, it’s heart wrenching. We are dealing with our health conditions, we don’t need this fight!! 
  • Eadiesmummy1
    Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
    pixie61 said:
    I was on ehanced for care & mobility for 11years on DLA transferring to pip, I’ve lost my mobility part &  down graded  to standard care! They don’t even look at the DLA award form. Not even my claim for pip form I had to fill in, which was exactly the same as the one I did for DLA was taken into consideration. It was the assessors opinion of me from a 45 min appt. she told lies & made an opinion of how I was as a person! I was very poorly that morning, in excruciating pain! I was deemed to look well & I could hold a conversation with her & I wasn’t unkempt! So we disabled people have to be dirty, stupid & thick. Huge discrimination there I feel. Sorry for going on, but this is affecting lots of disabled claimants!
    Dont apologise! Everyone needs to vent sometimes and i genuinely understand your frustration. i had my hair up in a top knot (my sister did it) she said, did you get your hair up like that? i said no my sister did it, i have had the same hair style for the past 3 days. I thought really? why is my hair do even relevent? haha x
  • Eadiesmummy1
    Eadiesmummy1 Community member Posts: 90 Courageous
    Why is it that people with permanent health conditions on need to make a new claim to PIP after already recieving their DLA? i personally think its just very very strange. 
  • pixie61
    pixie61 Community member Posts: 67 Courageous
    I don’t really know. I’ve heard stories of people being on DLA for 20years & refused pip. It’s awful, just wish I was well enough to really fight for all of us! 
  • Yadnad
    Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
    When you say "most" people receive bad reports with lies and untruths etc, is not exactly correct.

    Lots of people claim PIP successfully without any problems at all but we rarely hear their story. Naturally when reading stories on the internet we'll only ever hear the bad ones. If someone has had an award they're happy with then they have no questions to ask, therefore we don't hear their story.
    Not too sure if that reply Poppy is being directed at me? In any event I have not said 'most'. 

    On the other hand it is naïve to think that most reports are accurate and that people claim PIP without any problems. Many people do accept the award made even though the report in parts may well not be accurate. They don't want to rock the boat or are simply happy with what they have been given.

    I would imagine that there are not that many reports that are totally accurate in every respect.
     
  • Yadnad
    Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
    pixie61 said:
    I was on ehanced for care & mobility for 11years on DLA transferring to pip, I’ve lost my mobility part &  down graded  to standard care! They don’t even look at the DLA award form. Not even my claim for pip form I had to fill in, which was exactly the same as the one I did for DLA was taken into consideration. It was the assessors opinion of me from a 45 min appt. she told lies & made an opinion of how I was as a person! I was very poorly that morning, in excruciating pain! I was deemed to look well & I could hold a conversation with her & I wasn’t unkempt! So we disabled people have to be dirty, stupid & thick. Huge discrimination there I feel. Sorry for going on, but this is affecting lots of disabled claimants!
    Well I didn't feel discriminated against after receiving three PIP decisions over the past 5 years offering me 0 points! I actually ignored the contents of those reports as they are nothing more than opinions and not statements of fact much the same that our window cleaner could have given his opinion.
    It isn't the intention of the assessor to discriminate against the disabled. It certainly isn't a personal issue either.

  • Yadnad
    Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
    edited November 2018
    Why is it that people with permanent health conditions on need to make a new claim to PIP after already recieving their DLA? i personally think its just very very strange. 
    Because you are being assessed in a totally different way - DLA assessed it one way and PIP does it a different way.

    Over the years (from 1992) DLA and the way it should be awarded had been watered down so much by the courts. So much so that by 2013 it bore no resemblance to what the government intended it to cover back in 1992. Some DLA awards were being made without any real evidence being submitted and certainly without be assessed on a face to face basis. On top of that once a DLA award was made it was highly likely that you would never be asked to re-prove your entitlement. Some claimants of DLA had been receiving it for over 20 years with the DWP relying on the honesty of the claimant to tell them that they felt no longer eligible. Because of this the cost of DLA had to be reduced by 20% so as to save money.
    The government wanted to start afresh with a new idea on how the impact of a disability can be measured. They decided on descriptors and allocated points to those descriptors much the same as the new ESA system was working.

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