Capita Issues

LittleWish

Hello,

My sister has a severe learning disability and we were advised to apply for PIP for her. We sent in the form, had an over an hour long conversation with Capita (with my Mother present as my sister’s speech is hard to understand.) We also had a letter from our GP surgery detailing her difficulties.

This morning I rang PIP to ensure they have the right back details and the lady told me that Capita had returned the form saying they couldn’t do a paper assessment and that they had had no interview or GP information. Which is obviously not true. Does anyone have any experience of this?

LittleWish

Also hello everyone! I hope you’re all having a lovely, less stressful Tuesday than me!

Mary_Scope

That sounds very frustrating @LittleWish so it's understandable why you're having a stressful Tuesday!

It may be worth contacting Capita directly to see what has happened just in case there is an admin error somewhere. Did they mention what you could do next?

LittleWish

The lady I spoke to from PIP said to call back in 6(!) weeks it I still hadn’t heard anything. I’m not sure whether to contact Capita directly to see if I can get any more information. I just hate all the waiting!

LittleWish

The lady I spoke to from PIP suggested I wait 6(!) weeks to see if we hear anything and if not then to ring them back. I’m not sure whether to call Capita to see if the have any information or if they’ll just palm me off on to PIP again. It’s nine weeks today since we had the phone call and about the same amount of time since the GP letter was sent. I really don’t know what to do.

Kimi87

I think it would be worth contacting Capita as they can clarify what's happening with your case.

LittleWish

Well, I contacted Capita and spoke to a lovely lady. She said the form was sent back because the assessment couldn’t be completed properly. Apparently our Mother who was on the call with my sister didn’t answer the questions enough. This is despite her being told that if they felt Shauna had been coached or was being lead then they would end the call! I’ve asked for the form to be sent back and a new assessment. Hopefully this one goes a little (lot) better!

LittleWish

I would also like to say after all the horror stories, everyone I spoke to over the past couple of days was lovely and extremely helpful.

Mary_Scope

Thank you for the update @LittleWish. I'm glad you managed to get some answers, how are you feeling now?

LittleWish

I’m feeling a little defeated really. The assessment was 9 weeks ago and that feels like so much wasted time now we’re back at the start. Plus I have no idea how much or how little we are allowed to say on the next phone call. We were told they would hang up if they felt there was coaching, then they say the couldn’t complete the assessment because my Mother didn’t say enough. It’s such a Catch 22 and I’ve already started panicking about the next call. 😔

LittleWish

If anyone can offer any ideas on how much I would be allowed to say on the phone call it would be really helpful. I’m getting so much conflicting advice.

Rosie_Scope

Hi @LittleWish, is your Mother your sister's appointee, or just helping her with the call?

It can be really difficult to find a balance if she's not an appointee, which might be why you're finding it hard to get a straight answer about it from advice services. It may be worth looking into appointeeships if you haven't already:

Become an appointee for someone claiming benefits - GOV.UK

Would your sister be able to say that she'd like you or your mother to talk on her behalf?

In the assessment, perhaps you could ask whether it would be okay to elaborate if Shauna hasn't answered completely. If neither of you are Shauna's appointee, she might still need to lead the assessment and be the first person to answer, even if someone else might need to add some further information afterwards.

For example, the assessor asks a question and gives Shauna time to answer. If the assessor doesn't understand Shauna's answer or Shauna doesn't give enough information, you or your mother could ask "Can I explain further?" and go from there.

That way the assessor can be in control of how much you or your mother adds in to the assessment, which should hopefully prevent the idea that your sister is being coached.

Fingers crossed it all goes okay this time round!