Phone assessment out of the blue. Any advice?

pamela1962

My daughter has severe mental health and applied for pip about 9 weeks ago. Out of the blue she had a phone call from someone saying they were phoning on behalf of the dwp this morning asking questions. It lasted 9 minutes and she said my daughter would get a decision in 6-8 weeks.
Was this an assessment?
If so shouldn't they give you forewarning ? And 9 minutes? 
I have pip and have never had this. 
Any advice?

calcotti

It sounds as if they are doing a paper based assessment but wanted to clarify a couple of points. That being the case they would not make an advance appointment.

pamela1962

It that a good sign or bad one ? 

calcotti

pamela1962 said:

It that a good sign or bad one ? 

In general I would take it as a good sign. It can take up to 12 weeks for a decision.

pamela1962

Thank you 

Tori_Scope

I hope the above replies have put your mind at ease a bit @pamela1962  

I was just wondering whether you feel as though your daughter's receiving enough support to help her manage her mental health at the moment? 

pamela1962

No she definitely isn't getting support. She has OCD , BPD and social anxiety. Possible Autism too. There is no help for her on a one to one basis through the NHS . I am paying privately at the moment and struggling .

Tori_Scope

Do you mind me asking whether she's had a needs assessment from your local authority @pamela1962? That sounds really tough.

pamela1962

She wouldn't agree to that ☹️. 

pamela1962

Thanks Mark

poppy123456

Mark_Norville said:

2) Record everything, write everything down, video everything if you can

No need for that in this case because the daughter had a paper based assessment.

Tori_Scope

Expect the worse as they should be listening to Doctors & Nurses, rather than ATOS or ISA as they are called now, because they killed so many people.

I thought it might be worth mentioning that assessors are medical professionals, such as nurses, physiotherapists, or paramedics @Mark_Norville. 

You've mentioned that you feel the assessment providers have "killed so many people". I was just wondering whether you'd be able to explain a little more about what you mean by that? 

calcotti

Tori_Scope said:
You've mentioned that you feel the assessment providers have "killed so many people". I was just wondering whether you'd be able to explain a little more about what you mean by that? 

I assume the rederence was to claimants who have died having been refused benefits.

Tori_Scope

Me too @calcotti, but I just wanted to check  

poppy123456

I’m sorry but I think shouting down the phone during your assessment isn’t going to help at all.