ankolysing spondylitis

Hi @suzieboozie - PIP is not about the conditions you have but how they affect your ability to carry out a range of essential daily tasks and your ability to walk outdoors.  The assessor will ask you in some detail about all of these.   And 50% (at least four a week) must be bad days when you have great difficulty carrying out these tasks and walking outdoors.  

It's a good idea to keep answers as simple as possible without excluding any essential details.  Assessors are not very highly trained medics (mine was a paramedic) so probably will understand little, if anything, about your condition itself.  @catchacold2 is right: focus on getting across the difficulties you have in doing the tasks the DWP have identified and your difficulties walking outside.

The assessor will also observe you informally and ask you questions that indicate ability to carry out tasks.  For example, they'll observe you walking from the waiting area to the interview room, watch if you put any belongings down on the floor and pick them up later, watch how easily you are able to take a coat off and put it on.  And they'll ask if you have any hobbies - for example knitting or doing jigsaws would indicate a high level of manual dexterity.  They might also ask if you do housework which would indicate considerable strength and stamina.  And if you have any pets which would indicate a certain recurrent ability to be active in order to look after them.

It's the indirect assessing that you have to watch out for as much as the direct!

This link is the DWP's guide to assessors about how to informally observe interviewees and how to indirectly ask about the extent to which they are active.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/547146/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

Hi suzieboozie,

I can't add very much to Matilda's advice - as she states, PIP is not about your condition, it is about what you can and cannot do in various activities. What I would say is don't be worried about your job. PIP is absolutely not a benefit for people who can't work. It is a benefit for the extra costs that disabled people face. 

As Matilda indicates, you may be asked about your day to day life and of course this will include your work to some extent. So be ready to answer questions which explain how you cope with your job. You should explain how the shelf-stacking is possible for you to do, for example, if it doesn't involve much bending then say so, if you have to get colleagues to do certain tasks for you, explain why - and definitely explain how often those flare ups occur, and that you don't do your job during those times.

It may help to do the PIP self-test, if you haven't already done it, so you can see what the assessors are looking for - if more than one answer could apply, then as Matilda suggests, you select the one that applies at least 50% of the time (it can sometimes be a bit more complicated than that, but I hope that will be enough for you to see what is happening in the test). 

Finally, when you are asked the questions please do say if something takes you much longer than other people (particularly if it is more than twice as long), or causes you pain, or isn't safe in any way (for example, if you could fall, or drop something), and explain if you can do certain things but not to the standard that other people might expect. 

That's because all those principles (safety, timeliness, 'acceptable standard', repeatability) have to be taken into account for you to be treated as able to do any of the activities!

If you are able to, make a note as soon as you can (or, if someone is going with you, make a note at the time) of what the assessor asks you and what you say, so that you are able to contradict any report if necessary. Unfortunately the reports can be very inaccurate sometimes. The assessor probably won't know much about your condition, so when you're asked about your life, it is relevant to say what causes you pain, and what takes far, far longer than for other people.

I wish you all the best and do let us know how you get on.

Will