Is it normal to be asked questions around social media, TV, hot drinks, and PJs during assessment?

c2208

Hey I had my pip assessment after she arrived at my home early, I had some questions asking if I used social media watched tv, made hot drinks also asked how many times I changed my pj’s a week and pants? Do you no what this was relating to ? 

c2208

also asked how many times I bathed.

Chloe_Scope

Hi @c2208, this will be just be asking about the daily living component of PIP and will assess how independent you can be. I hope you found it okay.

If you'd like a copy of the report then you can ring up and request it a week after your assessment. This should give you an indication about what points the assessor gave you. It is rare the decision maker goes against the report.

Very best of luck!

c2208

@Chloe_Tear hey thanks for reply yeah I said I don’t use social media as I don’t and I don’t really watch tv, I dress about 3 times a week and wash a couple a week due to staying in, do this go against me or do u score points on this as I’m not sure what it falls under on form

Chloe_Scope

Unfortunately it's not possible to say if these would go against you or not as it is up to the assessor. I appreciate how stressful this can be and I hope you don't have to wait long for a decision. Please do let us know how you get on.

wilko

hello and welcome, being asked the questions you posted suggests the HP was trying to find out how you managed personal hygiene, bathing and changing cloths. As for watching TV and using tablet or a PC to use social media could also suggest your abilities to use technology and understand its usage.  Ring DWP and request a copy of your assessment report and on receiving it you will be able to work out what your award maybe but you have to wait for the official award letter notification.

c2208

Hey thank you for reply I had the assessment Tuesday am I best ringing next week for report ?

poppy123456

c2208 said:

Hey thank you for reply I had the assessment Tuesday am I best ringing next week for report ?

Yes, waiting a week is best just to make sure both copies have been received. If you put a mobile number down on the form they will text once the report has been received back.

mehey

Hey have u heard anything 

mehey

Has anyone had assessment Jan and had decision thanks

BrettW

Had my assessment on 18th and requested my report two days later after the DWP messaged me to say they had received it. Received the report on 22nd. Just waiting for a decision now

mehey

I had mine 11th the wait is so long 

MarkN88

Most people wait about 6-8 weeks for a decision but it varies from area to area and there are no set timescales. 

Have you requested a copy of your report? That will give you an indication of what the outcome is likely to be as the majority of the time the decision maker will go with what’s recommended. 

mehey

No I have tried to ring but on hold to long will try again today thanks 

MarkN88

Yeah. I find the best time to contact them is as soon as they open in the morning. 

mehey

Anyone had news 

BrettW

Nope @mehey. To be fair I'm not expecting to hear anything until at least February but who knows DWP may surprise me. A lot of the time successful applicants find that their first payment goes into their bank before they receive a decision.

tricky69

Any one had word from pip yet 

mehey

No nothing when was ur assessment 

tricky69

My asses was 22nd jan got a text saying they got report just a waiting game now I aslo phoned them today and was told it could take up to 8 weeks hope not 

mehey

Yes mines was 11th need to ring for report really 

BrettW

I got my report 4 days after having the assessment. The assessment was on the 18th Jan, Got a text on the afternoon of the 19th to say DWP had the report so I rang the following day on the 20th to request the report. It dropped through my letterbox on the 22nd.

If you receive a text from DWP to say they have received your report you can request it then otherwise its a case of you might have to wait 7 days.

MarkN88

BrettW said:

I got my report 4 days after having the assessment. The assessment was on the 18th Jan, Got a text on the afternoon of the 19th to say DWP had the report so I rang the following day on the 20th to request the report. It dropped through my letterbox on the 22nd.

If you receive a text from DWP to say they have received your report you can request it then otherwise its a case of you might have to wait 7 days.

That’s quick that. 

I remember my mum waited nearly 3 weeks for hers to be sent back to DWP, hers was chosen for audit. 

BrettW

The only difference to my claim over others @MarkN88 is that I chose to do everything electronically. I didn't fill out a paper form instead did an electronic one that was then uploaded to DWP via an upload site.

Maybe they are fast tracking these types of applications to see how well the system is working because I think its a new system they are testing out. Who knows?

lisathomas50

@BrettW a few people i have helped have done it electronically  mainly new claims its alot faster 

BrettW

How many people have you helped with the electronic system @lisathomas50 and how fast has their application been processed? What did they have to say about the system overall?

MarkN88

Yes I remember you saying you had done it electronically. 

lisathomas50

@BrettW so far only 10 people   8 of my clients  didn't need much help uploading or filling everything in and managed to send it off without much hassle 

2 of my clients found it difficult to upload their evidence I think the uploading is difficult if you had to do it on your own  and the sending it because you have to move things around 

If they did it the same as universal credit it would be alot easier when I had to upload a document for a client they sent me a link and it was done no messing around 

It varied eith my clients they had notifications of receipt of everything and a phone call  and messages 

Regards the time it took to get their award back was quite good 4 of my clients came back within 5 weeks  3 of my clients within 6 weeks  the others were only done three weeks ago thst was hard trying to help someone on facetime doing it 

lisathomas50

@BrettW did you think it was straightforward  your good at computers and things though  

As I said I think if it was done like universal credit it would be alot easier 

BrettW

Oh sounds like they might have different systems in place then for electronic submission. They way they did mine was like Universal Credit. They sent me me a text with links for both the form and the submission. Didn't have to move anything around just had to select the file like you do on here with an image and then it uploaded. 

Must be using a different submission model in Wales to England 

lisathomas50

@BrettW it was a trial thing I think I had to write a report after but I suggested it would be easier to do it like universal credit 

I let you know I got two more to do in two weeks   

lisathomas50

@BrettW thats similar to how they uploaded but it was on another screen so then to submit you had to go to the second screen 

Would it make a difference to the device thst someone uses and thst why it was on two different screens ???? 

BrettW

Actually made a mistake with that last comment it was an email they sent me not a text

BrettW

To be fair I wouldn't recommend filling it out on a smartphone but it is possible to do so. You have a lot of information to put on your form and using a proper keyboard makes the task a lot easier to type it in.

Can't understand why it would need 2 screens to be honest. The link I had took me right to the upload section of the site

lisathomas50

@BrettW it was done on a smart phone with a couple of my clients 

It all worked and went off  only 2 found it a bit harder 

mehey

Just ringing dwp now they said someone looking at my form now but cant see decision 

MarkN88

mehey said:

Just ringing dwp now they said someone looking at my form now but cant see decision 

It will be with a decision maker and therefore no decision has been made yet. 

mehey

They said if I ring mon will have decision had my assessment 11th xx

mehey

Got a letter today after telephoning to say they have all info they need 

BrettW

@mehey did the person say what made them think they would have a decision on Monday if they couldn't see a decision on their system today?

mehey

@BrettW they said a decision has just been made she spoke to case worker who said letter wont b uploaded till tonight 

BrettW

Thats great @mehey I hope its the news you want when you get it

mehey

@BrettW me to but didnt think assessment went very well 

BrettW

Its hard to gauge these things until you actually see either the assessment report or the decision letter itself.

I've seen people post on here who have said that they thought their assessment had gone really well only to receive a report or decision letter awarding them a lot less or even nothing against what they were expecting. On the flip side there have been plenty of people who were convinced that their assessment had gone horribly wrong only to receive an award far in excess of what they expected.

(edited for grammar error)

mehey

@BrettW fingers crossed will keep u all posted 

lisathomas50

@BrettW the DWP work in mysterious ways 

mehey

@BrettW got my report back sent yesterday looks like am getting all 0 

BrettW

I'm sorry to hear that @mehey. Bear in mind though that until you recieve the decision letter nothing is set in stone. Are you going to apply for a MR if the decision letter goes with the assessment report recommendations?

mehey

@BrettW yes I have a lot at min and theres loads of lies in  

BrettW

What do you mean by lies?

mehey

@BrettW it says in report am not on pain meds when I sent lost of meds of gp she states o was crying I was but in the next sentence says I seemed to enjoy the conversation and I she has classes the school run as unfimialiar place 

BrettW

Sorry @mehey didn't quite understand what you put there. She said you were crying but said you enjoyed the conversation? What conclusion did she draw from classing the school run as an unfamiliar place?

Did she mention your list of meds in the assessment and go over them with you as to what they were?

mehey

@BrettW states I wasnt hostile but did cry but I seemed to enjoy convo said I was only on over counter medication which is not true as I have sent a list of my meds from my gp 

mikehughescq

The key here is to largely forget the assessment. You will doubtless be able to find many many inaccuracies and it will doubtless make you angry to read it. However, proving a HCP wrong does not generally get you PIP. 

Focus on your other evidence. How good was your claim pack? How many real world detailed examples of not being able to do an activity reliably did you include per activity? And so on. 

You’re kicking at an open door with a tribunal for example. They mostly don’t care how poor the HCP report was and don’t want to discuss it in any detail. They will want to hear from you and will balance that with your other evidence.

BrettW

Well hopefully @mehey the decision maker will go over everything submitted and not just the assessment report and see that there are inaccuracies in what has been stated. Until you get the decision letter, like myself, there's not much you can do until you actually have the decision in front of you.

If you do go for a MR when you state your reasons make sure you highlight where you think there were inaccuracies were and give more examples of your everyday life to reinforce these reasons. Do not accuse the assessor of lying because you cant really prove one way or the other if things in the report were deliberately misleading or just as a result of misunderstanding or miscommunication.

calcotti

BrettW said:

Well hopefully @mehey the decision maker will go over everything submitted and not just the assessment report and see that there are inaccuracies in what has been stated. 

That is what DMs should do, the assessment report should be treated as one part of the evidence base. Unfortunately they rarely do, I assume because they aren’t given enough time. I think that’s is why MRs can succeed, the second DM actually looks at the evidence.

BrettW said: Do not accuse the assessor of lying because you cant really prove one way or the other if things in the report were deliberately misleading or just as a result of misunderstanding or miscommunication.

Agree with that, much better to say “the assessor has misunderstood,...” although sometimes it’s unavoidable to say the report is inaccurate if the report says claimant physically did something which they didn’t. When it comes to appeals there is no need to expend much time on detailing inaccuracies in the report - tribunals know how poor they are.

AFB18

Chloe_Scope said:

Hi @c2208, this will be just be asking about the daily living component of PIP and will assess how independent you can be. I hope you found it okay.

If you'd like a copy of the report then you can ring up and request it a week after your assessment. This should give you an indication about what points the assessor gave you. It is rare the decision maker goes against the report.

Very best of luck!

I had similar questions asked and I was just honest, I wasn’t bothered that what I told them because it’s not made public, I had my assessment over the phone so they couldn’t see me in pain so I just carried on as if no one was there ( when I get a sharp pain because I’ve sat for to long I would say f*** ) and they can hear that your in pain. I called them this week to ask for a copy of the assessment notes and the man I spoke to was very obliging although I got the feeling he didn’t really want to print it out and send it to me, they send it second class so could take some time to get it with COVID effecting the post.

hope all goes well for you