Pip Telephone Assessment

Hi Daisydream,

I think the most important thing now is to focus on what is important. That is not what did or did not happen at your assessment but what is written in the report. Yes, make your very justifiable complaint to the DWP about the assessor going in blind, but that will not win you any PIP points. What might, is rebutting the assessor’s recommendations in the PA4.

What I do, and I admit that I have the advantage of a nice big office photocopier for the job is copy the PA4 and go through it with two high lighter pens. I go through it with the first pen and mark everything which I believe is wrong. I then go through it again with a pen of a different colour and mark up which of those things I marked the first time through actually make a difference to how many points might have been awarded. Not everything which is wrong, however frustrating it may be to the person who has been assessed will make a potential difference to the award, and these are things are best put to one side so that they don’t dilute your strong important points.

You then need to open a document on the computer and start typing. Start with Activity 1, Preparing a Meal. Do you agree with what you were awarded. If so, say so, and why. If not, what do you think you should have been awarded. Pull out the justification the assessor gives for assigning you the wrong descriptor and give, possibly again, examples of why a different descriptor applies. If possible direct the person reading it to evidence.

E.G. Activity 1. Preparing a Meal. I was scored 0 points for this activity. I believe that I should be scored 2 points because I cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but I am able to do so using a microwave. The arthritis in my hands and wrists mean that I cannot press down on a knife to prepare the ingredients for a meal. I have tried using a knife with an adapted handle, but it is still too painful for me to cut raw vegetables or meat. Although I am able to pick up a saucepan half filled with water, my wrist will regularly suddenly give way, so it is not safe for me to do this. It is recorded in the PA4 that I said that I could make myself a drink by boiling water in a kettle, and it was therefore assumed that I could safely use a saucepan. This is not the case. I have a special aid which means that I can pour the kettle without having take the weight of it. My GP has referred to the arthritis in my wrists in his letter which I enclosed with my original application.

Activity 2. Taking Nutrition. I was scored 2 points because I needed assistance to be able to cut up food, and I agree with this. Again, the arthritis in my wrists means that I cannot push down with a knife.

Then by all means include some paragraphs under a general heading that says that you believe that HP did not gain a full understanding of the impact of ME and Lumbar Spine Degeneration. Although she correctly recorded that there is a variability in my condition, on 5 days out of 7 I am housebound if not bed bound. This is recorded by my GP in his supporting letter dated xx/xx/xxxx. What is more if I do do something on one of my good days that exhausts me so much that I am not able to even dress myself for the following 2 days etc etc

Now, I have made that up, not knowing your condition or how it affects you. But I hope it gives you an idea.

I know how angry you are about how the assessment was carried out, but I do want to get the message across that the key thing is to respond to the recommendations in the PA4.

As to the other documentation which the assessor referred to. I see no reason why you should not ask for a copy of it, but don’t let it delay you writing your response to the PA4 and getting it off in time. A PA1 is just a note which has been put into the file. I am pretty sure that CQ is Claimant Questionnaire – the form which you filled in.

I suspect that she asked you about your schooling with regards to the reading and budgeting activities.

A last point – from the DWP’s point of view it is theoretically possible that your previous awards were too high, and this one is right. So yes, do point out that your condition is no better than it worse, or is actually even worse in some respects, but the key thing is to demonstrate which descriptors apply to you now, not that you are simply the same as you were last time you were assessed.

I realise that some of that may sound hard, but I am trying to give you my best advice, together with a reminder to read the guides about MR and Appeals.

I wish you success.
Catherine

Hi Daisydream,

Seems as if you have covered all points in your complaint letter, other than what you would like them to do about your complaint. Just start it with Dear Sirs, I would like make a complaint about my recent PIP assessment and then go from there.

BUT get it done, send it off and then put your efforts into your MR, which is the important thing!

Catherine

Hi again,

If you need help doing something and you don't tell the DWP then it is reasonable for them to assume that you do it unaided. So it is important to tell them.

When you are doing your MR it is important to focus on how your condition affects your Daily Living and Mobility. Anything else you put in will only distract from the good stuff. You have made your complaint about the assessor, and this it not the place to bring it up again.

I gave examples in a previous post - the one where you said I described your condition well, of how I would tackle this. You might also want to re-read our guides to Appeals and MR.

PIP Guides

Catherine