Hi, I'm Cathy5555! Can anyone shed light on some strange questions I was asked during assessment?

Cathy5555

Hi all can anyone shed any light on a strange pip telephone assessment I had today after waiting 8 months for it.
nurse asked me
Did I attend school? Have I ever worked

Do I drink smoke?

Do have social media? 

Do I watch tv or listen to music?
Do I have pets? 

Do I drive? Do I have banking app?
all before she actually got into any kind of medical questions to which was so invasive I feel sick and stressed from and honestly cannot go through again.
any info greatly appreciated.
Thanks 

janer1967

Hi and welcome 

These ars normal questions ti get a feel of how you manage 

Eg if you have pets how do you manage to feed them or take them out 

To be able to drive means you have capacity to operate a car and follow journey and react to road 

Did you go school is about if you needed any special education needs 

All these questions do directly have relevance against the descriptors 

Good luck hope you get a good outcome 

chiarieds

Hi @Cathy5555 - & welcome to the community. Sorry you felt your PIP assessment was a bit strange, however altho they do appear to ask random questions, they do actually illustrate where you may/may not have difficulties as against the activities/descriptors. For example, if you have a pet, do you take it for walks, etc.; if you drive, that may infer you have good manual dexterity, good cognition. Using social media shows you can communicate well, & have no problem reading; a banking app indicates you have no problems with budgeting. Your diagnosis wouldn't be in question, they just need to find out how your disability affects certain activities of daily living, &/mobility. Hope that helps relieve your mind a little, so, you've done it, relax for now..

Cathy5555

Thank you so much for your replies I’ve just never had those questions before at previous assessments.
For some of the questions she asked from the ones I mentioned she did not let me explain for example having a dog yes I do but he’s an old boy now with a bad back and my daughter takes him out for slow walks. 

Would this kind of thing affect the decision of my claim? 

Tori_Scope

It's hard to say whether this will have a direct effect on the decision the DM makes @Cathy5555, but it is something the assessor might take into account when writing their report. In what way were you not allowed to explain your answers? Were you cut off by the assessor?

Try not to worry too much for now, and wait for your decision letter to come through. Easier said than done, I know!

Welcome to the community, by the way