PIP Initial Call & Mental Health Questions

I have just received the dreaded letter from the DWP. I have been 'invited' to claim for PIP.

I was aware of the questions they would ask me after reading the guides on this site. However, I was surprised to be asked as to whether I had mental health issues, psychiatric issues, or depression. They didn't ask what my physical disability was so it made me wonder why they were singling out these disabilities. Or perhaps they were not, this may be a standard set of questions, but as I'm sure you know, we none of us trust the DWP.

I would be interested to hear from other parties as to whether this is happening to them, or is there a new rule on the horizon?

Hi C,

This is a routine question. I think it is meant to try and assess whether the claimant should automatically be given extra time to complete the form.

I was asked the same questions when I phoned Monday along with lots of others. Also had to give my name address & contact numbers (which I was struggling with due to poor memory) quite a few times during 30 min call. I was worn out by end of it!

Yes, they asked me - actually my daughter, who was helping me call - about these things too. I was wondering if the guidance on here could actually be changed to reflect the actual question regarding depression as DWP say it is depression requiring hospitalisation, not just depression

I agree more warning of this telephone question would have been very helpful. It was not covered in the guidance and took my husband, who was calling on my behalf, by surprise. Rather than offering extra time for applications for those with mental health conditions, it seemed more a crude tickbox attempt at assessing risk of harm due to future benefit removal.

The person taking the DLA to PIP call wanted my husband to confirm that my online dwp records were correct in stating that I had never been hospitalised for depression. He replied, correctly, that I had in fact been hospitalised in my teens, a long time before DWP were involved and had had extensive community treatment for forty years since.There was no further question to clarify the circumstances of the hospitalisation. (a failed suicide attempt) and no offer to extend the time for the application.

Is this question being asked of all those with mental health conditions, or only women, who your website revealed a while back are now arbitrarily considered by DWP to pose less risk than men for harming themselves or others?