Pip assessment

Hi Denise 15811 I phoned them to explain as my mum can't talk on phone as she gets nervous and panic attacks, her support worker is on holiday till 16th of next month, that's the day support worker starts back to work but my mum has all morning appointments with her but do you think I could phone pip and ask if she could get the 16th in morning as her support worker can go that morning, it's sad to see her in such a mess due to the assessment, what kind of questions will they ask as she's in a daze all the time, it's like my mum doesn't take anything in but that's down to ptsd, thanks Denise x

It wouldn't be PIP you would ring it would be whoever is doing her assessment. You could try asking for that day (16th) but i think your chances are very slim to get that exact date because they're always extremely busy with backlogs etc. Could you go with her instead? or someone else to go with her? Problem is she can only change it once so please do remember that.

As for the questions it will be exactly like the first assessment she had. The questions will be based on what she put on her form. Did she send in more evidence to support her claim? I had me PIP review last year. They do watch you from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave so be aware of that also xx

Sorry it was atos I rang , no she won't let me go with her because she can't talk about it infront of me , I offered to go with her but she said no , she haven't cancelled before, when she first got put on pip , she was in her assessment for about 15 minutes and the lady told her it was ok to leave, the lady seen how bad this was effecting my mum , it's heartbreaking to see her like this, I just wish it was over and done with, thanks Denise, your a great help, it was effecting her back until about 6 months ago and it's down to ptsd, I'm really worried as she tried to take her life a year ago, my mums only in her early 40s , so sad , thanks xx

I'm sorry to hear that! Is there anyway your mum could talk to her support worker before ringing to change that appointment date/time? Maybe to discuss some extra dates that he/she is available? Ringing to cancel an existing appointment and only having 1 available date is very risky. If she doesn't turn up for the new appointment her file will be returned to DWP and they could possible refuse her the PIP. Good luck and i really do hope you can get this sorted! xx

She can't get intouch with her support worker till she's back from holiday and that's the 16th of October but I just called atos just now and they said call them on Monday to see if they can try give her that appointment, honest their a joke putting people through this when they know exactly what's wrong with her but I know it happens to a lot of people, it's all the things you read that people say that atos are liars and all sort of things about them, weather it's true or not but some stories are scary, thanks Denise, you've been a great help xx

Fingers crossed for her that she gets that day. Yes it's scary all the stroies that we read but there are some good ones out there it's just we never hear about them. If a person has a decision in their favour that they're happy with they don't have any questions to ask, therefore we never hear their story.

I've had 2 PIP assessments in the last 3 years and 1 ESA assessment in the last 5 years. I can honestly say that all mine were good. Truthful and 100% honest report. Very nice assessment providers too. Infact in my PIP assessment review last year when i went into the room i was freezing. The lady actually turned the heating up in the room for me my assessment lasted 10 minutes and she said she'd seen and heard enough. I went from Standard to Enhanced mobility with daily living staying the same at Standard. It was exactly what i was hoping for.

Always my pleasure to help anyone that posts here! Please do come back and let us know that outcome and if you have anymore questions in the meantime please just ask. xx

Aww thanks Denise, you have made me feel a lot better and hopefully she does get appointment for that date and hopefully she gets someone like you did at assessment, I will definitely let you know how she gets on , I've let her read your post and thanks to you she's thinking more positive, thanks and speak to you soon , take care xx

I forgot to tell you, her support worker put more on her claim form about her back pain she's been having for 6 months now and the doctors are saying it's a nerve thing at the bottom of her back due to having ptsd xx

Awww i'm so happy to read what you just said! I help a lot of people on here and for 1 person to say that, this makes all my efforts even more worth while!! Mine was October last year and was a review. Decision was made 5 days later. xx

She's on very strong painkillers to control the pain xx

What award does she have now? You say high rate so that would be Enhanced but is that for daily living or Mobility? As she's reported changes did she send in evidence to support that?

I take morphine twice a day along with out medication too.  Helping people here takes my mind off a lot of my health problems. xx

She's on enhanced rate for daily living and mobility, no her support worker just wrote it on the form she got xx

OK then she can't get a higher award but it's important she answers those questions with as much detail as possible. Tell her not to answer with a yes or a no. If she can't answer some questions then her support worker will be able to help her. Hopefully she'll get to keep that award. Good luck tell her. xx

Having said all this i have 1 question. Does she claim Enhanced mobility because of her PTSD? If she does then there could be problems keeping that Enhanced mobility. They changed the PIP descriptors for planning and following a journey. This is because they added a part to the descriptor to stop those claiming under mental health scoring 12 points. The descriptor is this..

For reasons other than psychological distress, cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid. What this means is if the reasons she can't follow the route of a journey are becuse of the distress then she won't get those 12 points. If its for any other reasons they she would of course be able to score those points. There's a lot of people that lost their Enhanced mobility for Mental health reason because of this. If her mobility is affected then she maybe able to gain points in the "moving around part"

I'm sorry i completely forgot they changed this descriptor. xx