Scored 0 on PIP, assessor contradicts self. Please help.

Razdva

Now, I've seen a lot of posts about PIP discriminating against mental health, and DWP deliberately not recording conditions that have been mentioned. But I was hoping these were old posts or were a small number of cases.
I have been scored 0 in every single category. The assessor talks about how I have difficulty in many of the categories such as: preparing meals, managing my health conditions & medication, going to therapy, washing/bathing, dressing, engaging with people face-to-face, planning and following journies. I soley rely on others for all of these or don't do them at all. BUT scores me 0 in every one of those categories and says that I can do all of those unaided, when actually I rely entirely on others for that.
Also the report says there is no evidence of cognitive and memory issues just because I have video games as a hobby and can SOMETIMES drive. Even though I had a 15 minute conversation on the call explaining how little my poor memory stretches and is non-existant (we went back to this several times).
The report details me having good rapport with the interviewer (apparently it's a crime to be charismatic, I also wasn't sober), and I apparently did not appear aggitated, anxious or tense. This is incorrect, as I had to get substance abuse to even attempt the call because of my anxiety, I was talking at super speed, and I was tripping over my words. 
She also says that anxiety cannot be used as an excuse for not leaving the house, is this right? She goes on to outline that I have no psyhical issues stopping me from moving about, so no problem there.
I am right on the border of stopping functioning as a person. Please tell me if I stand a chance to win a review, if you guys think I'm eligible?

janer1967

Hi there 

I an sorry about your PIP assessment have you had the decision or just the report ? 

We hear of this happening so if you think you are eligible for more points then you need to submit a mr if you have had the decision 

Its not easy for us to say if you should be awarded or not as we dont see how you are affected 

With your mr could you get a supporting letter from who it us that helps you detailing all they do for you 

Also go through each descriptor and give real examples of what happened when you tried to do tasks if you cant do them why cant you 

There is lots of advice on here to help you 

Good luck and let us know how you get on 

Razdva

Hi,

Yes this is the decision, declined with 0 points in every category. I have come up with a lot of examples to counter what the assessor has said I am able to do in her explanation section. A lot of the statements she made are just incorrect, and some not even considering information on condtions that I have already supplied.
Thanks for the help, I'll try to be more descriptive and a letter from my carer's, hopefully I will get a different outcome

janer1967

Try not to focus on the assessor and what they have put as accusations of lies wont get you anywhere 

Remeber it is the assessors OPINION  on how you are affected not necessarily reality 

Just concentrate on giving factual real life examples for each descriptor 

Success at mr stage is quite low and often you get same outcome but the success rate at tribunal is much higher 

shandogthecat

OP, the exact same thing has just happened to me, you're certainly not alone, as depressing as that is.

ASDIBS

Exactly the same thing happened to my son. He's great at everything because he said that he plays video games and guitar in his spare time. He can remember everything even though he clearly asked me the answer to most of the questions that were being asked. I applied for an appeal before joining this forum and therefore concentrated on the reasons why the assessor's report was wrong. I didn't necessarily accuse her of telling lies but I did put reasons why the information was incorrect and I also added in bits that she failed to include. We're now waiting for an appeal date. 

anxiousbird

In the same boat. In the process of writing an MR myself. Best of luck! 

Razdva

I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone, as sorry state as that is! I have never been more afraid for my future than i am right now, I hope we all get through this safe & sound. Wishing you all the best.

berry123

@anxious and @Razdva I'm in the process sending my MR on monday  there is hope good luck guys 

charliebear10

I'm in the same boat 😔 I asked for the assement report tobe sent to me and the nurse scored me 0 on everything .. and it's not true all because I can scratch my head and sit in a car .. I have a scarcoma lump that's stops me doing my day to day stuff through pain and have to  ask people to help and need a chair just to be able to cook tea and I can't even wash my bottom half with out help in the bath and she still scored me 0 .. but I can't  Challenge anything yet as had a text message today saying that they still havnt made a decision yet 😔

Becky93

Wouldn't worry too much about such an assessment. Your conditions sounds different to mine, but there's a lot of similarities to mine which was for OCD and anxiety. To give you an idea the DWP assessors scored me 0 points for both, yet on appeal I was awarded 32 points for daily living and 10 points for mobility.

Your assessment actually sounds very similar to mine too. I was given the reasons about not sounding anxious on the phone, and talking well about my condition, but as I argued at tribunal this was complete nonsense for assessing how I am when all assessments took place as a phone call from my bedroom. The concept of anxiety isn't a reason to not leave the house is not true either. The DWP have made this argument many times over the years in tribunal and lost, where they try to argue issues like this are a personal choice, but lose on the basis they aren't a personal choice and are down to a health condition.

In fact what you say the DWP said is sort of eerily similar to what they said to me, as they tried to use my ability that I can drive against me too, saying if I was as bad as I was saying I should have handed back my license and there was no evidence I had. This was just a bizarre argument as they were using to argue I had the cognitive ability undertake tasks, yet I was claiming on the mental ability to undertake the tasks, so it was completely ignoring the point. The reality is I have the ability to drive but only drive a couple of times a year due to the general anxiety around leaving the house, rather than anything to do with my ability to drive.

As for whether you are eligible to claim, it will come down to a few things. Firstly, do you have medical records/opinion backing you up. I would make sure you do in your evidence. It doesn't need to be pages, I simply used 1 letter and a letter of medications. I would also have a letter from someone you says supports you in your life, to give an idea to the assessors/tribunal what you are like in your every day life and the needs you have. Secondly you then need to relay exactly why your health condition stops you being able to undertake the tasks in the descriptors. So for me, this related to the time it would take me to do the activities primarily. The DWP scored me 0 points saying I could complete the tasks unaided, however the regulations are quite clear you need to be able to undertake the tasks "within a reasonable time period" and "repeatedly" to qualify as being able to undertake the tasks. For me this quite clearly wasn't true when depending on the task it would take me 5-10x longer to complete the task than someone without a medical condition, which for some of the tasks also makes it impossible to carry them out repeatedly as it becomes impractical.

It will help if you can point to something in the regulations like that supporting your claim. I would start with regulation 4 2 (A) as it also has areas to do with completing tasks safely and to an acceptable standard that may apply to you, but I would also research your condition online with regards to PIP, and often you will find there is already case law or others pointing towards the exact regulations that would make you eligible for PIP.

charliebear10

OK thankyou just had my hospital on the phone to me today and they are giving me aids for my bath and a chair in the kitchen and a couple off walking sticks I've just rang pip with the change and they said they will send it across to the case manger will this help my case before a decision is made ? Thankyou 

Becky93

On the point about DWP lies. People are right to say btw that you don't want to turn it into a slanging match, just saying the DWP are lying will not help your case. You need to be tactful than that. From my experience I imagine the DWP make a lot of own goals in cases, and you want to calmly point them out and address them rather than just turning it into a slanging match which will not help you, and will detract from your case.

The DWP had the cheek in my case to claim the work capability assessment I had taken a year prior broadly agreed with their assessment and came to the same conclusion that I did not meet the threshold. The problem with this was it was a work capability assessment that had also been overturned by tribunal, and the person who wrote my report did not seem aware of this fact. I also thought it a bizarre thing to use to begin with when the DWP constantly tell you that LCWRA does not automatically entitle you to PIP and vice-versa. It actually really demonstrated how my condition hadn't really changed at all (given the DWP in my PIP report were claiming I was exaggerating my condition), but the DWP had made the same mistakes around hypotheticals of me being able to undertake tasks rather than the practical reality of undertaking those tasks as a result of my condition.

Becky93

charliebear10 said:

OK thankyou just had my hospital on the phone to me today and they are giving me aids for my bath and a chair in the kitchen and a couple off walking sticks I've just rang pip with the change and they said they will send it across to the case manger will this help my case before a decision is made ? Thankyou 

From what you have said your case specifically sounds very different to mine as it does sound like it relates to your physical ability to undertake the tasks rather than mental ability.

Having said that it won't hurt your case having that information sent to the case manager. Whether it will influence the decision I don't know, especially as from what you said it sounds like your case is on the verge of an initial decision. But even if it doesn't, it is information you will be able to point to and use down the line in a mandatory reconsideration and appeal.

charliebear10

OK thankyou .. if I don't get it I havnt gained anything and I havnt lost anything I don't think I've got the energy to deal with a appeal .. thanks anyway guys for all your help 🙂

rebel11

You need to do a Mandatory Reconsideration in writing, bear in mind that only 23% MR's are successful, but 73% of Appeals are successful, so you might have to do more after the MR.

Give 'real world examples', to counter the assessors report, use the correct form. you'll find it in the link -

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/appeals/mandatory-reconsideration-pip/

    

poppy123456

charliebear10 said:

OK thankyou .. if I don't get it I havnt gained anything and I havnt lost anything I don't think I've got the energy to deal with a appeal .. thanks anyway guys for all your help 🙂

It's always better to challenge the decision than it would be start start another claim anytime in the future (even if that's not your plan right now) to constantly reapply using the same evidence you previously used will likely see another refusal.

When you filled out the form, did you explain in full detail why you can't complete an activity to the required standard? Just telling them you can't do something isn't enough. Real world examples should be given for each descriptor that applies to you. Giving detailed information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were.

If you're not awarded and you proceed with the MR try not to focus too much on the report or the decision letter because neither of those will get you a PIP award. If there's any obvious contradictions then you can mention those but then put it to one side and forget about it.

The most likely outcome of the MR will be the decision remains the same, if this happens you can proceed to Tribunal.