PIP claimants warned to keep away from two well mannered habits throughout DWP evaluation
A Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applicant has revealed the ‘hardest’ part of the process was what an assessor told her after she made eye contact and smiled
PIP is for people living with disabilities (stock)(Image: GETTY)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applicants with depression have been warned to avoid common polite manners during an in-person assessment. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit is designed for working-age adults who are living with an illness, disability or mental health condition.
It comprises two components – a daily living rate and a mobility rate. Depending on your circumstances, you may be eligible for one or both of these components. Payments are typically made every four weeks.
If you qualify for both the enhanced daily living and enhanced mobility components, you will receive a total of £749.80 over this pay period. However, applicants must fill out lengthy forms and pass an assessment before they qualify.
One PIP applicant told Purpl, a money-saving platform for people with disabilities, about the hardest part of her application. Sally said: “My depression. I was told on a face-to-face appointment that as I smiled and had eye contact, it wasn’t that bad!”
Last year, a PIP assessor said Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applicants with depression or anxiety are “instantly rejected” if they are classified as “stable”. Psychotherapist Jacqueline Gozzard, who works in Mansfield, revealed a patient prescribed medication for anxiety or depression is deemed “stable” if they have not been referred for “further care” by their GP.
Receiving therapy, psychotherapy or being referred to a psychiatrist means a patient qualifies as “not stable” and the application can proceed, she told the Dr A Says Podcast.
However, the DWP disputed Ms Gozzard’s claims, saying assessors are “clearly instructed not to base their opinions solely on the situation seen at assessment”.
Ms Gozzard ran through an example of how PIP applications are treated by DWP assessors, saying: “If someone has a diagnosis of depression and anxiety, they see the GP and they are on anti-depressants.
“They are monitored by the GP for the side effects of that medication for the first six weeks, and then they go on, and in essence, they are discharged from the GP.
“The GP will keep checking how they are doing on the medication. They are therefore classed as ‘stable’. Therefore, there is no impairment.”
She added: “If they are referred for talking therapy, psychotherapy, or they are referred to a psychiatrist, then they are deemed as needing further care. Therefore they are not stable and it has an impact on their life.”
