My PIP tribunal at then 68 years old was the worst thing to ever happen to me in my life time and will never ever forgive them for what they put me through but I feel lucky I got through it.
I just couldn’t face a tribunal. I was 2 months away from my kidney transplant feeling completely wiped out and far too stressed to fight the decision.
The assessment was a complete joke. The thing that lost my mobility element when transitioning from DLA to PIP was the fact that the assessor said she “couldn’t” read my application form and wouldn’t give me time to answer questions fully. She kept prompting me that she was going finish late as the cases before had run late (I’d already realised this due to the fact I’d been waiting well over an hour, feeling dreadful and in a lot of pain).
She wrote in the report that I said I could walk none-stop for 60 secs and she saw me walk at a normal pace. Both untrue. I said 12 footsteps and I certainly walk at a very slow pace.
I only scored points for things relating to my hands. This actually gained many points as almost all the physical tasks in the “care” component involve using hands. I received high care component.
The crazy thing is, when I received the requested report, it showed that it was the receptionist who had noticed the poor use and shakiness of my hands when she offered me a plastic cup of water so I could take my pain killers.
Basically the application form and assessment gave me 0 points, yet being offered a glass of water gave me 15 points.
Just goes to show how ridiculous these assessments are.