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Are all Pip interviews bad?

Moderator.... Could you delete my other repeat threads started. For some reason when trying to post I kept getting bad gateway error message, yet it went ahead and posted it anyway. Sorry.
Hi Guys,
I have joined your community today so Hiya to everyone 🤘😁
My discussion is about the stress and anxiety I had to suffer, before, during and after being told I needed to attend a pip face to face interview. I suffer with borderline personality disorder and social anxiety disorder. Both illnesses leave me not being able to cope with strange places, new people and stress bought on by the not knowing.
So I attended my interview, I missed the first appointment because my support worker was ill, as she attended with me, and left the interview breaking down because I couldn't take no more questioning. I did manage to see the interview through to the end.
I waited weeks for my decision and I scored zero points on everything. The interviewer twisted all my answers to make it out I lived a normal life. As far from the truth as it can get.
With the help of my psychiatrist I appealed the first stage. Put correct everything that had been twisted by the interviewer and got a decision in my favour. I scored 12 points to get full enhanced rate for mobility and 9 points for daily living. So from zero points to a total of 21 points. How do they justify that?
So why put me through all that stress and anxiety, get me to attend a interview, in which the lady clearly never understood mental health issues, and to then drag it on further with appeal processes?
Clearly, degrading sick people this way must be the norm as it is the first time I have ever claimed benefits and if I had known the process I would not have bothered claiming it.
I look forward to your views on this? Thanks.
Hi Guys,
I have joined your community today so Hiya to everyone 🤘😁
My discussion is about the stress and anxiety I had to suffer, before, during and after being told I needed to attend a pip face to face interview. I suffer with borderline personality disorder and social anxiety disorder. Both illnesses leave me not being able to cope with strange places, new people and stress bought on by the not knowing.
So I attended my interview, I missed the first appointment because my support worker was ill, as she attended with me, and left the interview breaking down because I couldn't take no more questioning. I did manage to see the interview through to the end.
I waited weeks for my decision and I scored zero points on everything. The interviewer twisted all my answers to make it out I lived a normal life. As far from the truth as it can get.
With the help of my psychiatrist I appealed the first stage. Put correct everything that had been twisted by the interviewer and got a decision in my favour. I scored 12 points to get full enhanced rate for mobility and 9 points for daily living. So from zero points to a total of 21 points. How do they justify that?
So why put me through all that stress and anxiety, get me to attend a interview, in which the lady clearly never understood mental health issues, and to then drag it on further with appeal processes?
Clearly, degrading sick people this way must be the norm as it is the first time I have ever claimed benefits and if I had known the process I would not have bothered claiming it.
I look forward to your views on this? Thanks.
Replies
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I would say it depends, anecdotally from on here and my friends I would say 90%, yes but it depends on how well prepared you are.
It will always be stressful while waiting for your interview, and after the interview, while waiting for the result, however, if you are well prepared and stick to your guns you can lessen the stress of the actual interview itself.
1 - ensure you fill in the forms as if it is your worst day and you have them 4 days a week.
2 - photograph, scan or photocopy it so you have a record of what you wrote, so they cannot claim you said something you didn't.
3 - get as much supporting evidence as possible, medical professionals, social services, friends and relatives (they see how your health affects you day-to-day).
4 - ensure every time to speak to or write to the assessment centre to tell them you will be recording the session and don't let them bully you into an appointment without recording it no matter how long it takes to find an assessor willing to be recorded - if your recorded they cannot say something happened or was said that didn't.
5 - ensure anything you say in the appointment matches what you said on the form.
6 - act as much as possible as if you're having the worst day so your look as you claim on the form.
7 - take an independent witness.
If you follow these steps you are more likely to have a positive outcome when you receive your results letter.
To suggest that claimants "fill in the forms as if it is your worst day and you have them 4 days a week" and 'Act as much as possible...so you look as you claim on the form" is clearly fraud (and it's a criminal offence to suggest this)
Personally I'd recommend keeping a diary so that you can say categorically how much/ how often your condition affects you. If you are affected most of the time then say so, and stick to this even if the assessor suggests otherwise. Mine did - constantly suggesting that when I said 'Most of the time', or 'nearly every day' it meant 'one or two days a week' Stick to you guns.
Best advice in my opinion is to tell the truth - then you don't have to remember what answer you gave! Or do any acting.
My f2f assessment went well. The assessor was pleasant and I was myself.
I got the full award, but not the full points for each descriptor. 2 of them were inaccurate.But I didn't dispute it as the award was good.
Yes, we do read more bad stories than good. But the good ones are there.
I have been assessed f2f this year for PIP the assessment/assessor were fair, the report was balanced and the result better than expected.
It is fair to say that most people don't reach for their keyboard when all goes well, but are quick to complain when it doesn't, I think that overall considering the numbers involved that most people are treated with respect and the assessors do their level best to write a true account.
That isn't to say the system is perfect, its far from that, but we have to work with what we are offered, hopefully this will improve over time.
Thank you for all your comments and advice.
Firstly, after reading the advice on, your worst day, my own psychiatrist told me to go along those lines. Not that I had to because with my anxieties I was already a wreck in the interview. So was he wrong to say that? And yes my worst days are self harming, suicidal tendencies, anxiety attacks and isolation.
What I don't understand is that they had the same information given on my pip application form as they did on my first appeal. So why go from scoring zero points to scoring 21 points?
Anyway, it seems a lot of unnecessary stress could have been avoided if they just made decisions based on GP, mental health workers, support workers and my physciatrist reports.... Which they did in the end. Cut out the middle men I say.
Thank you again to all who replied.
The very best advice given by @Jean Eveleigh is to take and retain copies of your claim pack and to ensure the latter is consistent with what you say on the day.