The Short Answer
A PIP telephone assessment covers the same twelve activities as any other format and usually takes about an hour. A health professional calls at the appointment time and asks how your condition affects each assessed activity. The audio is recorded by default. What changes without visual observation is that everything must be described rather than shown, which makes preparation more useful, not less.
How a Telephone Assessment Works
One call, at the appointment time, following the twelve activities in order. GOV.UK lists the phone alongside an assessment centre, your home and a video call as the places an assessment "can take place", and states that it "usually takes 1 hour".
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Who calls | A health professional working for the assessment provider |
| Length | Usually about 1 hour |
| Recording | Audio recorded by default; contact the provider to opt out |
| Company | Someone else can be with you |
| Number shown | Often withheld or unfamiliar |
Last checked: 7 August 2026
The call is the assessment. There is no separate paperwork stage afterwards for you, and no further appointment unless the provider needs one. What the professional writes goes to a DWP decision maker, who applies the descriptors.
What Changes Without Visual Observation
Everything has to be described, including what would otherwise be seen. The twelve activities and the descriptors under regulations 5 and 6 are identical in every format, so nothing about the scoring changes. In a face-to-face assessment a professional records observations: how you walked in, how you sat, whether you used an aid. On the phone none of that is available.
That cuts both ways. Observations sometimes work against a claimant — sitting comfortably for an hour is recorded, without the two days of pain afterwards. On the phone the record is your account, which means the account has to carry more.
The practical consequence is to say the things you would otherwise show. That you are speaking while lying down. That you are using a hands-free set because holding a phone is painful. That someone else is present because you lose track of long conversations.
Preparing for the Call
Have the same material to hand as for any other format, plus a quiet hour. The call follows the same twelve activities the DWP scores under regulations 5 and 6. The assessment preparation page covers what the assessment is testing; the items below are the telephone-specific ones.
- A copy of your completed PIP2 form, so your answers stay consistent with what you already wrote.
- A repeat prescription list, so the medication questions do not depend on recall.
- A written note of your typical day, activity by activity.
- A pen and paper to note the time the call started and anything you want to add later.
- Somewhere quiet, and a charged phone.
If the Call Does Not Come
Wait, then contact the provider using the details in your invitation letter. GOV.UK directs anyone who cannot attend to contact the health assessment provider using those details, and a missed assessment without contact can end a claim. Calls sometimes run late, and appointments are occasionally rescheduled without notice reaching you in time.
Do not treat a missed call as the end of the matter. Contacting the provider the same day records that you were available, which is what protects the claim.
Asking for a Different Format
Contact the assessment provider, not the DWP, and explain why. GOV.UK lists four settings — an assessment centre, your home, the phone or a video call — and puts the appointment at usually 1 hour. The details are in the invitation letter, and the alternatives are an assessment centre, a home visit or a video call.
Reasons that carry weight are practical rather than preferential: hearing loss that makes a phone call unreliable, a condition better understood when seen, or a cognitive difficulty that makes a long unstructured phone conversation unmanageable. The provider decides.
After the Call
The report goes to a DWP decision maker, and the decision follows by letter. The DWP's published median at January 2026 was 15 weeks from referral to the assessment provider to the decision, inside a 20-week median end to end. Nothing is decided on the call itself, and the professional does not tell you the outcome.
You can ask the provider for a copy of the report. Where the call was recorded, the recording is also requestable. Both are useful where the decision does not match your account, because they show precisely where the report and your evidence diverge. What the pip health assessment covers overall, including the other formats, is set out on the assessment hub.