ATOS LETTER

johnny100

Have today received a letter from ATOS about my concerns about the reports and the decision that has been made.In my origainal assessment I scored 9 points for Daily Living and 10 points for Mobility.I have sent as much medical evidence available to me and it now the time to take action.My main concern is preparing food,scored 2 point.I need help on this activity,Looking at the PIP scores should have been 4 points.bathing getting in and out of bath need help in and out scored 3 point should be at least 4 points ,taking medication including regular blood test scored 0,should have got something,toilet needs I am incontinent scored 2 points should have been at least 4 points,Dressing need help to dress lower half and top scored 2 points should have got at least 4.Whan you add all these up its more than 9 points,all adds up to 16 points sorry if I cant add up but its well over 9.On mobility they stated I walked 40mtrs,absoultely rubbish.I walked from the main door to the reception door about   6 mtrs,i then rang the bell at the door and the guy on the desk was not there I waited then the door was opened.I then waled from the reception door to the reception desk about  10/14 mtrs,This has now started me to take the necessary action.Firstly on Monday I call the DWP and explain that the report is not fit for purpose and advise them I want to go to tribunal and advise them I will be preparing all the paperwork through a Solicitor.Does anyone think I am wasting my time or what,It appears that they do not look at all the evidence from Consultant and GP and interpret it there way.They are taking on the wrong person.

wildlife

Hi @Johnny100, You forgot to say what the ATOS letter said. But good for you. Hope your solicitor doesn't cost too much. Standing up to these people is not a waste of time!

janice_in_wonderland

Following and wish you every success @johnny100

johnny100

what the letter says is.at ATOS we have to adhere to what the DWP expect of us,thats a load of rubbish to start with.They say ATOS pass the decision to the DWP to access an individuals functions and abilities and thThey e level of restriction tyey experience s a result of their illness and condition.The advice of the atos Healthcare Hp Gives the decision maker at the DWP should be  objective independent fair impartial and ethical..The examining HP has no personal interest in the outcome of the claim and therfore has no reason to misrepresent the details of the assessment

janice_in_wonderland

So many people are being challenged it's a battle and hope people are ok because it's stressful - I look forward to hearing the outcome and hope you win 

johnny100

I believe if you get the right legal person they will tear the reports up and make a complete ass out of ATOS/DWP and I hope they do>I just hope I can open the doorway to other people like myself,injustice will never stop no matter who they are and what they are.The crunch line on all these report is they dont like contradicting there work colleagues,and then slagging each other off,its not  that they have re-looked at your report because they aint?I am looking forward to the tribunal. 

Nystagmite

johnny100 said:

what the letter says is.at ATOS we have to adhere to what the DWP expect of us,thats a load of rubbish to start with.They say ATOS pass the decision to the DWP to access an individuals functions and abilities and thThey e level of restriction tyey experience s a result of their illness and condition.The advice of the atos Healthcare Hp Gives the decision maker at the DWP should be  objective independent fair impartial and ethical..The examining HP has no personal interest in the outcome of the claim and therfore has no reason to misrepresent the details of the assessment

Which translates as:
The Government wants us to fail as many people as possible. The HP does have a reason to misrepresent the details of the assessment. (as they did with mine, which you only have to read)

The person who makes the final decision isn't even medically trained, which I find most bizarre - especially as someone with a mix of rare conditions.

If you lied in your job, you'd get the sack and possibly face disciplinary action. It seems that the law doesn't apply here to Atos. 

johnny100

It will do when my Solicitor tears it apart the whole of my assessment is flawed from start to finish.It contradicts itself on the first letter I had and on the second letter another assessor has just added a few words here and there,A child studing O level english could have done a better job.I cannot wait for judgement day to come....

Matilda

Wish you all success, @johnny100.  

I can't wait for my appeal hearing to find out what the tribunal make of my nonsensical report, award letter and MR letter.  If they have any intelligence, they'll realise how inaccurate and ridiculous they are.  Of course, I have no guarantee of success.  From what I gather, some tribunals are sympathetic toward the claimant, others not.  Though 65% of appeals do succeed.  Should at least be interesting.

johnny100

I would like to know if you lose your tribunal do you lose the whole of your award and does that mean you have to start all over again

wildlife

@johnny100, From what you've told us you shouldn't lose the tribunal it's very rare they change what you've already got and if they do they adjourn to give you chance to withdraw your appeal and keep what you've got so don't worry about that. Have faith in your solicitor they know what they're doing and he/she wouldn't be helping you if they thought you weren't entitled to more than you've been offered.  

davet

hi Johnny 100, you asked do they take any notice of GP or specialists, I gave them details of my GP specialist and physio, my appeal was refused, I later went to my GP and asked if he had put anything in his report to dwp that would have hindered my assessment and appeal, and was disgusted to find they had not even contacted him, I subsequently rang my specialist and physio, only to find they had not been contacted either

johnny100

They certainly dont read specialist reports they only want the easy stuff that even a child can understand,they cannot stop you in any way making an appeal,its your right,dont let them kid you,its just a way of saying go away without being rude

nanof6

dont you have to do a mandatory  reconcidaration first?

nanof6

i thought 3 4months waiting for decision was because they were contacting dr  specilists hospital ect, a lot of people on here say no one contacted the gp or hospital

wildlife

Hi @nanof6 Some of the people on here call the MR an appeal just to confuse us..  

Matilda

I understand that assessors and DWP never contact people's health specialists.  The DWP say that it is the person's responsibility to obtain reports from these specialists.  Just one more hurdle to make it difficult to claim PIP.

nanof6

oh thanks wildlife, i read all these letteres most days for something to do.

janice_in_wonderland

I attended with medical letters and medication but wasn't asked to see anything 

what i find disappointing is forgetting to say things bc of feeling so nervous and them telling whoever is with us to keep quiet 

It's causing slot of stress making health even worse  and been arguing in my head ever since! 

nanof6

Matilda you are on here alot, with a lot of help to people,good on you, i had my PIP from DLA  well got the first payment September. high rate for both, so as far as PIP is ive no stress for a couple of years,its just all these people cant be wrong , the dwp should be shot, the way people are getting treated, mainly by all accounts the assesors,telling lies.

Matilda

Thank you, @nanof6.  You are right about DWP and assessors.  The only purpose of DLA to PIP is to reduce the disability benefits bill as much as possible, assessors telling lies to do so.

Yes, @janice_in_wonderland, PIP is extremely stressful.  This can't go on - there must be large-scale protests looming.

I've coped by switching off between each stage (PIP form, assessment, MR, appeal application - and now awaiting hearing date) - otherwise I'd be a nervous wreck.

janice_in_wonderland

Yes @Matilda

If it wasn't for following in here and a good friend coming with me to the assessment saying she's my witness as we all feel anxious about assessors lies I don't know how I'd feel so I'm very grateful 

wildlife

[email protected] janice in wonderland, If you want someone to be able to talk for you they can become your appointee. You just have to ask DWP and they arrange a home visit with you both present to check you are not able to deal with your benefit yourself and that you're both happy to do this. Your appointee can then ring on your behalf and all mail will go to them. They should also be able to answer questions in the assessment but not sure. You would have to make sure you were happy to hand over control so a trusted family member is best.  

janice_in_wonderland

@wildlife I had no idea so thank you for letting me know 

Can anyone be an appointee?
Friends or relatives?
Can they change at any time if one of them is unavailable? 

Only my my close friend & family know how unpredictable and unstable my health can be 

I learned to hide illness as a child so nobody sees what's going on inside and judge 

im an intelligent person but don't always cope both mentally and physically although I try and like most people who feel frustrated with re why should we be expected to look awful all the time?
I feel like shaving my hair again so I can conserve energy but it's one of my better points everyone says don't do it 

once again thank you 

wildlife

Yes anyone can be your appointee it's up to you and the person you choose to agree and ask the DWP. It's not possible to change the person unless you go through the process again to change which would take time and confuse DWP. They're bad enough now with straight forward things. I was my son's appointee back in 2011 and my MP's secretary had to ring the DWP as after I was officially nominated they kept sending mail to my son who can't deal with it. But the option of having an appointee is there for anyone. As I said you need to be sure you want to hand over control to someone else. It's really for people who can't deal with their own affairs like dementia sufferers or people with LD. But any medical condition applies you just have to show you're not able to do it yourself. Good Luck..

janice_in_wonderland

Ok once thank you @wildlife and to everyone else on here as such valuable advice and guidance are shared