PIP claimant 'worried' after being asked four questions in 'unscheduled' DWP call

A person who is in the process of claiming for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has revealed that they are 'worried' after receiving an unplanned phone call from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Taking to Reddit, they shared that a nurse had called them up to ask four specific questions. This was on a 'preliminary' basis before the person was passed to a consultant, they said.

In a post on the site, they said that the interaction left them "a little worried" as they were asked if they are in work, if they can drive, if they went to mainstream school and if they had A Levels.

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As the person's answers were all yes, they are now worried that they will not qualify for PIP which helps people with long-term health conditions or disabilities with extra living costs.

The post read: "I have just received an unscheduled call from DWP regarding my PIP application. Following the call I am now a little worried. She said she was a nurse and seemed really nice, she said the reason for her call was to ask some “preliminary questions” before passing me onto a consultant to book me in for an assessment in a couple weeks.

"The questions she asked were as follows: She asked if I am in work and whether it is full time. I answered yes full time. She asked if I have learned to drive in the past. I answered yes.

"She asked if I went to a mainstream school or a specialist school (I am diagnosed autism for reference). I answered mainstream. She asked if I done GCSEs or A Levels. I answered yes I done up to A Level.

"The reason I am worried is because I thought they only phone unscheduled to ask a few questions to get a bit more info, before ultimately performing a paper based assessment, but she said a couple times I will get a letter/text about an assessment, so I’m guessing it won’t be a paper based? But then why the unscheduled call?"

They continued: "Following the call they might think I’m completely fine because I work, can drive and done A Levels, which is far from true. She seemed in a rush so I couldn’t really give many details, which is frustrating as that may have saved a dreaded assessment.

"The lady definitely said she was from DWP. She didn’t make any reference to Igneus, who are the assessment provider in my area, does that make any difference? Has anyone had this before/can anyone in the know help me please?"

In response, one person said: "That will have been the assessor calling to see how best to proceed."

However, another added: "[sic] I feel that what they will do is, You have managed to keep and maintain a job You can drive You went to a non specialist school You Was able to to sit and take exams upto a level qualifications.

"All of which will make it easy for them to score you zeros throughout." Replying to this comment, to author of the original post said: "These are pretty much my thoughts and exactly what I’m worrying about.

"My work history is quite sporadic, I leave jobs quickly. I’ve only managed to keep this job down because I work from home 4 days a week, I can only manage 1 day in the office. It was very hard to get into a specialist school when I was at school 10-15 years ago, even these days with the increased awareness around autism it’s still really difficult.

"I tried uni several times but dropped out within a year each time due to my struggles, I now have like £50k student finance debt with nothing to show for it. I just hope they dig deeper and take note of the above and not just take the fact I have a job, can drive and have A Levels at face value and assume I’m perfectly capable because I’m not."

A statement on the Gov website regarding PIP applications says: "You might be invited to an assessment with a health professional if more information is needed. They’ll ask about:

• how your condition affects your daily living and mobility tasks
• any treatments you’ve had or will have

"They might ask you to do some simple movements to show how you manage some activities. The assessment can be in person, over the phone or by video call. It usually takes 1 hour.

"You can read Citizens Advice's help on preparing for an assessment." Click here to read more.

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