I had a home assessment for pip some 18 months ago. Again un-requested. I previously had a DLA lifetime award from the age of 8. I am now 44. I have spina bifida and work full time. I am a parent etc so was very skeptical due to the horror stories i had heard. However…………… I could not fault the assessor. She was an ex nurse so had a qualified understanding of my disability and the fact i won’t miraculously become able bodied any time soon as a birth defect is a birth defect! I was myself and hid nothing. I did not over egg any aspect of my difficulties and as such I had no expectation other than i would be losing my entitlement. Upon receiving the dreaded DWP brown envelope i was flabbergasted to have been awarded higher rate in both areas. The assessor had interpreted my difficulties in the most sympathetic/realistic way possible. She genuinely highlighted to me a number of things i was doing and what the risks/detriments that was directly having on my well being.
So in summary i am probably one of the lucky ones and it clearly shows that the whole process is dependent on the assessor you are assigned. Her parting words were that she felt i was the type of person whom was NOT abusing the system and that she would be recommending that i received the award!
RichieP