Assessment tomorrow morning. Do I stand any chance?

Bingo

Deleted, double post (bat gateway or something)

Bingo

Applied for PIP, got a date for two weeks time but asked for it to be changed and its now tomorrow morning.

Long story short, I have severe Arthritis in both knees, Decaying Facet Joints in my back and chronic long term gout.  I was also diagnosed with depression in January although anti depressants did not work.  

Been self employed for 18 years but can no longer really work apart from remote stuff or easy access clients on a good day but its all gone now really as a result of me not being mobile.  Cant put my own shoes or socks on and on bad days cannot even get downstairs.  On occasions I Can be laid up for days and even weeks and spend most of my time just laid in bed.  I Can however with care get out to the car on good days, drive no problem and the one exercise I can do on good days is swim if I can get in the pool and arrive in Flip Flops. 

Not much wrong with my mind or remembering stuff etc.  Have no idea if I am eligible but just wondered what my chances were and if there was any other advice members might offer.  My wife wants me to go on my own while she goes shopping but it seems the advice is to have someone with you. 

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Bingo and welcome to the community! The PIP assessment will be based on your abilities and how a condition affects you, rather than a diagnosis that you have. It also can be beneficial to have someone with you for support. It's important to note the assessor would be interested if you can do things safety and repeated. Just be honest, expand on points and try to relax

I hope other members will be able to offer some more advice. If I don't have chance to reply again then I wish you the very best of luck for tomorrow and please do let us know how you get on

wilko

@Bingo, hello and welcome. PIP is about your abilities not your diagnosis or illnesses to cope and manage the PIP descriptors in relation to the two components daily living and mobility. Bingo wait a week after your assessment and phone DWP  and request a copy of your assessment report then you can see what your award may should be but you still have to wait for the official notification letter. Good luck for the assessment. 

zakblood

good luck and only time will tell, stay positive until informed otherwise 

Bingo

Thanks for the replies.  Ill take that on board. I dont have a problem with confidence which may work against me I dont know but I certainly have a problem with mobility and safety.  Ive lost count of the number if injuries I have had from trying to move around this place (home) and I just cannot get out and work in the field anymore (I work in IT).  I lost a big job recently on a large estate simply (I am sure) because it was clear I was not able to walk around and assess what was required properly.  Cant say I blame them but its a bit crushing really to realise your career is basically over because of your disabilities. I could never hold down a full time job again either as I have no idea from one week to the next how mobile I will be but I also get the impression from reading through on here and various other forums that there are people with far worse conditions than me that have been turned down.  I am 53 years old.

What happens to all these people? Do they just eventually starve?  Its all new to me really.  Ive always been able to work, earn and save but not anymore.

Thanks again.

poppy123456

Hi,

PIP isn't about not being able to work. It's about how your conditions affect your ability to carry out daily activity based on the PIP descriptors. No one can tell you whether your claim will be successful or not because we don't know how your conditions affect you.

Wait a week after the assessment and ring DWP to request a copy of the assessment report. This will give you some idea what the decision is likely to be because they mostly go with the report.

If you're not successful then it's Mandatory Reconsideration first then Tribunal.

Good luck for the assessment.

zakblood

iv'e never gone for Pip, and was on incapacity then ESA for 20 years, just failed my last WCA 57 days ago, and yes sent in and had it get lost after being sent recorded del, so yes that happens also, they sign for it and still lose it, but did another and sent it on Monday this week internally at the job center and just had the DWP phone to confirmed it's arrival, so another 12 to 14 days more now to wait for the MR decision, then when i hear no, and fully expecting it, then onto Tribunal, so yes "starve" is as good a word as any on what can happen regarding the DWP for those using the system, so add in 57 to the 14 or so on top, and that's how many days now months i have received £0 from them, so until i get the appeal date after the MR says yes or no, i don't get a bean, welcome to the modern DWP care less world

Bingo

Thanks again.  Maybe work is relevant as I do still occasionally have to go out to work and its really difficult. Should I mention it or not?  I dont hold out much hope to be honest. Seems you have to be practically dead by the sound of it.

Sorry for being dim but what is "MR" everyone keeps mentioning please?

poppy123456

You'll most likely be asked if you work or not as this is part of the assessment and the things they ask you. People work and claim PIP but if the work you do contradicts the reasons for your PIP claim then this can go against you.

Remember we only ever hear the bad stories on an internet forum. If someone receives an award they're happy with they have no questions to ask, so we don't hear their story. Lots of people claim PIP successfully first time without any problems at all. My daughter and myself have never had any problems.

MR is mandatory reconsideration and this is the first step to an appeal if you're not happy with the decision.

Bingo

Thanks. Will see how it goes in the morning and report back.  Im fairly relaxed about it to be honest.  Ive pretty much decided I wont get it after reading up but as you rightly point out Poppy thousands probably dont post if they do with no problems.  I just had nothing to really compare my conditions to until I started reading online recently.

zakblood

good luck, you never know unless you ask and try

Chloe_Alumni

Very best of luck with your assessment this morning @Bingo!

Bingo

Thanks.

Well I think it went very well, in terms of it being nothing to worry about really or remotely stressful.  The lady I saw was lovely and I didnt get the impression she was trying to catch me out on anything or ask leading questions but then again what do I know?  Was in there just under an hour but it flew to be honest.  Sad as it sounds I actually quite enjoyed most of it. Human contact!  I live in the middle of nowhere.  She reckons I will get to hear in 4-6 weeks.  I asked about seeing a copy of her report and she suggested I contact the PIP people in about a week.  

Towards the end though having gone through it all it did leave me feeling somewhat down having spent an hour describing just how restricted your life has become but hey ho, there are a lot of people worse off than me.  Cheers for all the advice, will update on the outcome as and when.

zakblood

glad your sorted and yes there's always some more worse off, which is what keeps me smiling also, as no matter how down you are at any given moment, someone somewhere is worse, so i feel as much for them as i do for myself and all stories good or bad does help people so they know there not alone, thanks for sharing

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Bingo, I'm so glad the assessment went well and you found the assessor to be supportive! It's also great that you asked about seeing the report. Like she said, if you ring up in about a week they will be able to send this to you

I have had a PIP assessment and can completely relate to feeling a bit rubbish afterwards due to the topics that were discussed (even with a good assessor) but I guess this is due to often not thinking about our lives in this way. I hope you have a relaxing afternoon and are able to do something nice

We have a lot of discussions in the coffee lounge if you would like to talk about other things on the community besides PIP.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and please do let us know how you get on

Bingo

Thanks Chloe for those kind words.  I dunno about "doing something nice".  I scoffed a corned beef slice my wife bought for me while I was in the assessment, went home and laid in bed with a hot water bottle (its freezing here). 

I seem to spend most of my life horizontal due to various conditions, cant sit for too long and standing is out. Im pretty bad at the moment though so hopefully will get out when the weather improves but yeah the whole thing has driven home to me just what a crappy state Ive become.  Im not skint though (yet) and have a roof over my head so all is not lost.

Chloe_Alumni

No problem at all @Bingo! Even peacefully lying down and relaxing can be a nice way to spend the afternoon. Do you read at all? When I have to lie down I find audio books really nice

Bingo

Chloe_Scope said:

No problem at all @Bingo! Even peacefully lying down and relaxing can be a nice way to spend the afternoon. Do you read at all? When I have to lie down I find audio books really nice

Funny but that was one of the questions I got asked today "Did I read much".  I used to, a lot.  These days I find I Cannot concentrate on a book and end up reading stuff over and over again (other stuff going on in my head I guess) so I tend to read about 20min before going to sleep.  I spend half my life on social media to be honest either larking about with friends (I run my own forum) or debating politics.    Other free time is spent making music.  My office which is no longer really necessary is now pretty much a music studio.  I think its that (music) thats kept me sane(ish) really.  

zakblood

ability to read for 20 mins, ok your fit for work, failed 

then again i had on my report i can open a door with my right hand, never mind the left hung limp and was found fit for work, and as im dyslexic every pages can sometimes feel like reading the last one more than a few times tbh

poppy123456

zakblood said:

ability to read for 20 mins, ok your fit for work, failed 

PIP isn't about not being able to work. That's ESA and this thread is about PIP, they are 2 totally different benefits.