PIP Assessor - Advising my mum to take anti-depres

Just a quick question. My mum who was in receipt of Enhanced Daily Living and Mobility of PIP had a reassessment. This time round she has only scored 4 points for DL component.

Currently writing a Mandatory Reconsideration on her behalf.

HP report stated that no signs of depression and anxiety, yet during assessment, urged her to take anti depressants - this of course was not mentioned in the report. Can a HP do this and are there any regs I could refer to?

Best wishes

Hi js and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I am sorry you and your mum are going through this.

The assessor probably has a duty to encourage claimants to take prescribed medication if they find that they are not. Of course, that comment in contradictory to the statement that your mum does not suffer from depression. Your problem is that in a 'he said, she said' situation, with no proof, the DWP will always take the word of the assessor.

Your mum will only gain PIP by scoring points in the specific descriptors. She will only do that by showing that her limitations conform to the descriptors. Don't spend too much time picking apart the assessor's report and forget to show how/why your Mum fits the criteria!

This is all explained in our PIP guide

PIP help for claimants

You might wish to bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future. That will allow you to return with further questions/comments without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one place = and I hope you will find it useful too