I had my pip review and stated 'NO CHANGE' i was still required to attend an assessment. The assessor was rude, condensending and made me feel stupid. I felt i was not heard at all and could not confide in her. I left in tears. I received a copy of her report in which she made assumptions about me, ignored things i had told her and misconstrued information i had given. Due to her report i completely lost all my entitlement. From enhanced care and mobility to nothing! I am currently at the stage of mandatory reconsideration. I feel totally let down.

The Pip forms for claiming any benefits are designed 1) To put people off 2) Worded in such a manner that they confuse people 3) Too many questions that repeat themselves basically the same question been asked 2 or 3 times over to get the same answer These questions are designed to trick you into giving false information Half the information asked for on the form is already know by the department asking for it.

I'm going from DLA to PIP The only way to apply is via telephone. I cannot use a telephone, don't even own one and the process discriminated against me from the start. There's no support services in my area so I was forced to beg to get a stranger to phone for me, who took my money and refused, a social worker eventually rang and there was no way to do the assessment on the phone without it being recorded, yet they will not allow me to record them - it is strictly banned. They read long statements to me I couldn't understand and said if I didn't say yes I couldn't apply so I had no choice. I'm terrified of what I've agreed to under that pressure. The refused to believe I don't have a telephone, kept insisting I gave them telephone number and email - my email is for personal correesspondence only I will not discuss private matters via it as it is not secure and I do not own a telephone. They said I'd have 28 days tor return the form, this is a lie. It's 28 days (including weekends and bank holidays) from the phone call, and they say to allow 21 days for it to turn up - the least it takes is two weeks so 14 days to return, not 28. There's no online form - it's a lie that they are specific questions they are exactly the same they just waste time and money printing a QR code on each page with patient details such as national insurance number (which could easily just be put on the form as it is with other benefits). So two weeks to fill it in. No one to help me with it at such short notice. 2 week extension was supposedly granted to social worker and MP on telephone, except the extension was rejected and my DLA was stopped because I didn't return the form before the date originally given. My MP got my money reinstated. I've heard nothing since. I've ended up in hospital from the stress of what is happening to me, I've begun drinking again and attempted suicide because I cannot live without this money. My post gets stolen and I cannot travel or have anyone in my home for assessment due to abuse. I've been told I'm not allowed to know the details of the assessor - I'm expected to see a total stranger and it's not allowed to be recorded or done via paper and I cannot cope with people typing in a small room. I've been assaulted by a medical professional who I know is allowed to do these assessments so I'm supposed to risk that happening repeatedly. I had an assessment where I was injured by the assessor insisting I subluxed my joints to prove my condition. Tried complaining after being told they were a nurse, they weren't a nurse. The dwp can take months to reply to letters or phone calls but we are expected to fill in and provided medical evidence (at cost because) within at most two weeks. It's rediculous. My GP sees me every day due to suicide risk currently. I have genetic deterioating illnesses (as well as others) which will become terminal yet I'm spending all my time struggling to get benefits (I've been reassessed for ESA several times this year alone). I'm terrified, I cannot work, taking my money away won't make me work. Nothing anyone even my consultants can do can make me work. I've no family or anyone I can fall back on when money stops. There will be no bank loan or credit card to help me meet my needs next time I'm turned down.

My wife who has MS had her PIP consultation at home just over a month ago. We knew it would be difficult. And after the event, it has to be said that it was one of the worst, most humiliating experiences we have been through. The assessor had no knowledge of MS , was aggressively asking leading questions, was making strange and incorrect statements and was putting words in my wife's mouth. Needless to say, she was extremely upset and deflated. And all this 'damage' inflicted in just 1 hour. We sent a letter of complaint but have heard nothing back..it feels like the decision has already been made, a stitch-up. We have not had a decision yet, but should it be negative, we will not lie down withhout fighting this awful and inhuman system.

Like many other claimants, a totally incorrect decision was made both following my initial assessment and the Mandatory Reconsideration. Further there have then been delays by the Tribunal Service, which has yet to decide upon my request for a Domiciliary hearing, and my Submission, which has been accompanied by a very detailed 3-page report from my GP who has treated me since 1998.

I have very recently had an assessment, and been denied the ESA support group payments I have been on for years. I suffer from aspergers, depression, anxiety and agrophobia. It IS very much a disability, leaving me unable to get out of the house a vast majority of days, daily panic attacks are the norm. And yet, I am apparently 'fit to work'.The experience was horrific and has left me with no money to pay for food and I have had to get my mother to keep my medication for me as I am terrified I will go back to 'that' place in my head. Both assessments I have had have been, to put it politely, uneducated and insensitive about mental health issues and autism. This is well documented by many people and certainly not exclusive to me- but personally I was asked if I was being 'treated' for my aspergers. I was asked ''Was I serious'' about an attempted suicide 8 years ago, and details of exactly what pills I took was demanded of me. The woman interviewing me wrote that I was ''not rocking back and forth or sweating'', a remark that has crept up in many a person being denied for ESA and PIP- Disregarding entirely that many people with severe anxiety suffer from depersonalisation or 'shutting down' during times of great discomfort. More MUST be done to ensure people with mental health issues are not left contemplating suicide after these assessments. Not to mention how absolutely rediculous it is for them to mark people DOWN for not coming dressed in a ketchup stained tracksuit or whatever they are tained to deem 'mentally ill enough'. A majority of us with mental health issues have self care routines to help us cope and get better, and apparently this is punishable by the DWP? The face to face assessment workers are simply not trained enough in invisible disabilities, and it makes it hostile towards people suffering with them. The most disturbing part of the whole process was the lies. I described self harm and suicidal thoughts, only to read ''no thoughts of suicide'' and ''no current self harm'' on my report. This was incredibly disturbing and is clearly not a simple 'misunderstanding' or a coming from a place of ignorance. As baislesly accusatory as this sounds, this is again not confined to my own experience. Many people have had this happen- and it should not even be happening once. Whomever is running this show KNOWS we are venerable. This is ESA and PIP- Benefits for people who are disabled and perhaps unable to get around. They know many of us will not appeal within the month given because the process is mentally EXHAUSTING and TERRIFYING. This has to stop. If I didn't have my mother on hand to talk me down, this assessment would have cost my life. It has robbed from me what little independence I have clawed back from my mental illness. Basic self care routines like shopping for my own food or going out for coffee once a week with friends. Now I can't even afford transport to my therapy appointments. This ENTIRE process is barbaric and I guarantee it will cost lives- It is NOT a case of a few things needing to be changed. There are too many issues to count- from ignorance to outright lies, drastic changes need to be made.

I've tried to claim pip 3 times now,and been refused 3 times.I have crohns disease,depression,anxiety,arthritis in both knees and lower spine and I suffer terrible migraines.Every assessment I've had with capita has ended up full of lies,apparently as I can drive I don't have any physical or mental health problems which is ridiculous,I have numerous appointments with gp,counsellor,cpn,hospital consultant and without my car I wouldn't be able to get to these,or to get my prescriptions either,frankly the system is a disgrace,people are missing out on help they desperately need and are even dying at the hands of the dwp,something desperately needs doing,most people are going for these assessments and are having complete lies told about them,please help us disabled people.

I have been through the PIP assessment process twice. It is extremely stressful right from the start. The form often arrives late leaving little time to complete it. The applicant is then obliged to ring using the very expensive helpline to ask for an "extension". I could only complete a small section at a time and felt under enormous pressure. Then after waiting eight months I was given little notice and told that I had to travel to an assessment centre nearly an hour away, in a town that I am unfamiliar with. I was in an extremely anxious and fatigued state by the time I got there. I don't feel well enough to do outings like that at the best of times. I then had to answer questions for an hour sitting upright on a hard chair which caused me more pain and exhaustion. The hcp admitted he didn't know much about ME. I was reduced to tears during the assessment as I was feeling so ill and humiliated by the process. I was not awarded the points that I deserved but was too ill to fight back. I live on my own and managing daily living pushes me to my limits . Two years later I reapplied and became so ill and stressed by the process that I had to get an advocate involved.. Again the assessment company ATOS were insisting that I travel to an appointment an hour away. I was offered this appointment with only four days notice. This time I refused to do this as I am too ill to travel that far and I needed to arrange for someone to be with me. I had to fight to get a home visit. It took me two weeks to get a letter from my doctor stating that I was too ill to travel. When I rang to explain the delay I was told that if I refused another appointment my claim would be cancelled. The stress of the situation caused me great upset and many sleepless nights. Eventually I was granted the home visit and I was given a correct decision. The decision maker rang and asked me why I hadn't challenged the previous decision. I told her that I was too ill to cope with it. I understand that the system has to be fair but it is too rigorous and lacking in any flexibility or compassion. I am educated to degree level and English is my first language, but as a very ill and disabled person I felt that I did not have the strength to cope with the process.

I was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in 1996, a Neurodevelopmental Disorder, following developmental issues with social and communication skills. It is something I have struggled with life-long, (alongside Clinical Depression and Generalised Anxiety Disorder since 15) and still continue to do so. I am 26. As an aspiring Filmmaker, I strive for unabridged truth and raw honesty in my medium of storytelling, something that I feel I gained an opposite of with the following experiences. The aspiration is relevant. I was invited for a PIP assessment involving a 75 page form that my mother (primary carer at the time) helped me complete in November 2015. At the time, I was moving house and in with my partner and our 2 year old daughter. An appointment arrived February 2016, where the assessor appeared to have an understanding of the Autism Spectrum, highlighting the positives of my achievements of a University Degree in Film etc. The test itself I found patronising and wasn’t too keen on the tone of a “Well, I’ve never seen it done that way before” remark given after a confusing test involving a piece of paper and a chair leg. However, in the report that was eventually obtained (following a rejection of the Mandatory Reconsideration), it appears her given written report had been completely contradicted with an addition of basic spelling and grammar mistakes. Where I should’ve been awarded 3 points for Cooking, I was only awarded 1 etc. And apparently being successful with that 'paper chair leg test'. My partner and I had sent a 75 page case study where it appears our pristine photocopied evidence had been fed through their machine several times baring the print of ‘POOR ORIGINAL QUALITY’, and that all the given information (including present anecdotal evidence from myself, my partner and my mother) was irrelevant. It took 9 months after the initial assessment for a Tribunal where my appeal was successful, but the sheer volume of stress that plagued myself (and those around me) almost resorted to ending my relationship and my life. Currently claiming Income Support and Carer’s Allowance (my partner cares for me) we are still picking up the pieces of a JSA Disability Premium Overpayment that is being capped from my PIP payments, despite first being told that if we were to win the Tribunal the debt would be called off, followed by another contradicting statement saying that they would take the overpayment from the back payment of the PIP and JSA Disability Premium we were owed. Which doesn’t make any sense at all! Asperger’s Syndrome is a LIFE-LONG condition that does not suddenly disappear at 18, and is completely ignorant to think that it cannot be classed as a Disability because there are no ‘physical’ traits. The same could be said about my partner, who was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Non-Epileptic Attack Disorder (NEAD) in December 2016, who currently needs third-party support, but doesn't dare apply for PIP for fear of a similar onslaught of stress and hassle. The idea of cutting benefits to the vulnerable and those in genuine need is callous and cowardly and that the Autism Spectrum and similar Mental Health Conditions NEED to be fully accepted in the same vein as any physical disability, though reading these comments of those with physical disabilities continues to turn my stomach. Where PIP has its benefits with its assessment, it appears to be no more than cost-cutting exercise that jeopardises the wellbeing of thousands, that is in dire need of reform. Although I appear ‘compos mentis’, my Asperger’s affects me on a daily basis in a way that PIP can open doors for third-party support that is not whole and solely about the money.

Form is so long it took me over a week to complete doing a bit each day because that's the only way I could do it. Handwriting with arthritis is so hard, why can't we have the option to do it online and save it as we go? Then either send online or print to post with evidence? I was please to get PIP after a home assessment, however my award expires in a year's time, and the review form is almost as bad as the original form. Took me several days to fill it in & the stress and fear is killing me because we all know how many people are losing their awards, and stress makes me much more I'll so why do you put us through it? Why can't the review form be a simple 'do you still have the same problems? If they are worse please say how. If anything is better please say what. And sign it. It could be kept to a single sheet! Also, the assessments are very stressful, assessor a often need educating about your condition, don't understand if there are fluctuations, expect you to perform tests and exercises which make you flare or crash afterwards, so there is no thought for the effect of the process on the sick or disabled applicant. Most of us are telling the truth, stop treating us all like criminals and scroungers.