Preparing and cooking food criteria - assessment

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

I had my assessment last week - I felt super rushed, she literally kept on saying 'please keep your answers brief' so I felt like I couldn't explain anything properly and was feeling super anxious before and after.

My question is, I have bad fatigue and chronic pain which stops me preparing and cooking food most days a week. In the assessment I explained this but then she used hypotheticals to ask me if I could use a kettle and if I could physically peel and chop vegetables. In both scenarios, I don't majority of the time due to my fatigue and pain but I physically could if I was up and about on a good day (which are the minority of my days). Would this mean they'd just deem that I can prepare and cook a meal even though I don't on majority of days? Has anyone had an assessment with the same symptoms and they've considered that you can't do it?

Posted May 8, 2026, 3:46 PM UTC

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