Chronically ill and disabled people are speaking out about the cruelty and incompetence of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessors. Importantly, this comes in the midst of the government attempting to paint claimants as ‘scroungers’ and ‘benefit cheats’ – and cutting their benefits accordingly.
‘Do you watch TikTok?’
On May 28, the Canary published an article recounting a story in which a DWP PIP assessor asked a claimant, ‘Do you watch TikTok?’.
Obviously, the claimant expected serious questions related to their health condition. Instead, the assessor asked something probably intended to deceive. Because clearly, if someone can press one button to open TikTok, they can’t be disabled.
What the government are not reporting is that a staggering £870 million in DWP PIP support went unclaimed between 2023 and 2024. This means that many potential claimants, unable to navigate the convoluted processes or fearing judgment and scrutiny, miss out on vital support.
The DWP claims its PIP assessments are meant to evaluate how conditions affect day-to-day activities, so they have introduced revamped guides and resources on their website in an effort to aid potential claimants.
A common experience in DWP PIP assessments
After publishing the original story, the Canary was met with dozens of replies detailing horrendous PIP assessment experiences.
Have you experiened a diabolical DWP health or WCA assessment? We've had so many people reach out in the comments to this article with their stories – so comment below if you have too #TakingThePIP https://t.co/SAHeiLp2ph
— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) May 27, 2025
Shockingly, some of the replies even included ridiculous personal questions about sex. Apparently, disabled people can’t have sex now, either.
I suffer from complete social withdrawal as a result of other conditions. Assessor asked how often I have sex! I said never, as I’m asexual. Assessor: a ha! so you must masturbate then! Er, I think that says more about them than me. Disgraceful.
At my public appeal tribunal, I was asked about sex and how we managed it, positions etc. in front of my wife & CAB advocate (not allowed to speak) for 20 minutes, then admonished for going over their time – clock was behind me so that was on them. Diminish, demean, destroy
I was asked if I still had Lupus. I was asked about sex with my husband. The report questioned how do my job (pharmacist) if I can’t walk far- they’d made assumptions I worked in a community pharmacy- if they’d asked I’d have told them-I work a desk job mostly at home
Liar liar
Then, there were countless reports of assessors straight up lying.
My assessor claimed I’d made him a cup of coffee, and managed to climb stairs with no problem. I never even left my recliner in the assessment, my carer made his coffee for him.
My assessor lied. She said I was sat up and fine during my telephone assessment. I wasn’t. I was lying in a dark room, like I had been for weeks and weeks because I was so unwell. She said I was talking fine but I remember stopping multiple times because I couldn’t remember words
She said I could do things that I know at the time I wasn’t able to do, she just completely made up the entire thing, but I got rejected and again on appeal because of what she said. I complained to Capita in December and they never got back to me. I gave up on PIP after that.
Apparently when I had cancer and was being fed through a NG tube, they put me down as ‘eats a normal diet’. Was also scored zero because I use the tram when I have ME crash.
I fell, hit head, had seizure, screaming, crying, vomiting. Ambulance called: HR over 220, BP 195/160. Atos Dr said I “allowed” myself to fall and wrote “all vitals normal” on report. While on the floor Dr insisted I sign for the recording, said illegal for my wife to sign for it
DWP ignorance, or a carefully executed PIP plan?
And when it comes to suicidal ideation, the assessors are even more clueless. From suggesting that if you haven’t tried to kill yourself, you can’t be serious, to telling claimants it’s the ‘coward’s way out’, maybe they think making an already suicidal person feel worse is a pretty fast way to close a claim.
On my assessment they asked me why I hadn’t managed kill myself yet. Honestly we were in shock at the wording. Disgusting
I was asked about my brother’s suicide and the GP assessing me told me it was the cowards way out. I’d also admitted to having suicide attempts myself. I put a complaint in but it was kicked around until they said she was no longer working for them and nothing they could do.
Yes. “If you’re suicidal why aren’t you dead yet” “what method would you use if you tried to kill yourself” ” When did you last attempt suicide, what method did you use”? I’m was in the substantial risk group.
My son is autistic and has suicidal thoughts, the assessor asked about it and replied “but he hasn’t actually done it though” like it was nothing. Also asked if he could tell if chicken was cooked properly he replied “No” they still put he was capable of cooking that’s just a few
years ago, the assessor implied that if I was actually depressed I’d have killed myself already.
Over and over again, DWP PIP assessors show their complete lack of knowledge of common health conditions and disabilities.
I was asked when my MS “would get better?”
Either that, or they are the second coming of Jesus and are going to cure claimants themselves.
DWP PIP is still not fit for purpose
Back in 2017, the Canary reported on the DWP’s ‘kill yourself‘ scandal. Essentially, DWP assessors were asking claimants why they hadn’t killed themselves. At the time, the DWP told the Canary that assessors were receiving training on mental health conditions, “including social issues”.
Disgustingly, eight years on, they are still asking this – even at a time when the Labour government is planning to cut and restrict access to DWP PIP even further.
The responses to the Canary’s callout show that time after time, PIP assessors are treating people like criminals. The complete lack of basic human decency is astounding. The expectation that chronically ill and disabled people cannot use social media, have sex, or have any sort of pleasure because they are asking for support with their disability is absurd.
But let’s be real, the assessor’s ability to fabricate the truth and straight up lie shows that the system we are living in, which is designed to dehumanise the most vulnerable, is working exactly how our government intended.
Featured image via the Canary
