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D.L.A. to P.I.P.s from forms, assessment to award letter. To laugh or scream...
MadDukk
Member Posts: 7 Listener
I'm not usually the one to give in or be easily defeated, I'm the person who most turn to for help with benefit forms/meetings etc. I didn't even claim disability benefit for my son or myself as early as I could. I'm stubborn & didn't want to be labelled but eventually I had to for both of us. My son's claim changed first & went through without a hitch, even easier if I say so myself. Now February this year it was my turn! So it began, first the telephone conversation, then the atos medical assessment & today the award letter..... OMG what a total load of 'twaddle & fluff'. Between atos & the DWP, there seems to have been a MIRACLE recovery in my health conditions but it must of bypassed ME! Now the long hard haul begins. Firstly a bit about me
Replies
like you the battle begins
Read the notes again, and again, anything you don't agree with then highlight it so you can find it again easily.If there are things in it which are blatantly untrue, and you can prove that this is the case, then put that in the letter of complaint. Tell them if you do not receive a response in a timely fashion that you will be getting in touch with ICE, and or your Solicitor( They are not to know if you have a Solicitor or not).
As others on here have said DO get your MP involved, give them a call, ours helped alot just with keeping on at the DWP day after day.
That is another thing. I know you are not well, I know you are exhausted and stressed, because these people make you that way, BUT keep on at them over, and over, and over again Make yourself known, and make them realize that you have alot of People helping you with this, and that you expect an honest assessment, and that you expect to be kept informed. Remind them of their Customer Charter, and tell them they are not abiding by it.
These are just People doing a job, nobody special, remind them that they need to do it properly. Keep us informed we are all here for each other x
Then 3 years ago (now a single parent too) all the fun started. I attended for a health assessment by ATOS. After 2 hours of sitting waiting, the receptionist told me I was going to be another hour before I saw a doctor and the appt itself would take another hour! (I had arrived early for my appt as requested) and I told her I couldnt wait that long as I had to collect my children from school. She typed into the computer that I "was not prepared to wait 15 minutes"!!! and I was told I would get another appt through the post. That was July. In November a man arrived at my house to collect my mobility car...I had no idea he was coming, and spent half an hour ringing various depts to find out what was going on. The DWP had my inability to wait 4 HOURS longer than I was advised, down as a NO SHOW and they stopped my benefit in November....took away my car and left me with a very small income and 4 kids to provide for. I rang DWP and spoke to a young lad who couldn't have been more unhelpful if he tried...after telling him what had happened and the situation I was in, his reply to EVERYTHING was "what do you want me to do about it?"!! I only wish I'd gotten his name.....he certainly DIDN'T tell me about mandatory reconsideration, as he should have done. I found out about THAT via the debt team at my local council when I was on the point of being evicted due to rent arrears.
The debt team made the call to DWP and explained that I HAD attended the appointment in July but had been kept waiting for more than 2 hours past my appointment time. They arranged for an assessor to visit me at home (as I had no car now). The assessor came out on 29th December and I answered all of his questions, despite thinking that some were totally irrelevant to my condition...he asked if I could give him directions to the nearest crossroads, for example. I could be paralysed from the neck down but I would STILL be able to give those directions....how can the DWP use THAT to judge my mobility? There were more questions about my mental ability, which has NO BEARING AT ALL on my mobility....my problems are from the waist down, NOT the neck up!
In the new year of 2016 I got a reply from the DWP, regarding the assessment and stating they were not prepared to overturn their decision to stop my benefit. At this point I had to take DWP to tribunal. I was very lucky in that I had help filling in the forms and a friend also wrote a letter for me, explaining my situation and pointing out all the things the DWP had done incorrectly. In March of that year I attended court....before I had managed to manoeuvre myself into the chair, the judge said he was allowing my appeal and the DWP not only had to recommence my payments (although they were now PIP and not DLA) they also had to back date the payments to the previous November. A victory!!! So I thought....and in truth, despite the reduced payments and no longer qualifying for a mobility car, it WAS a victory.
However last September I had to attend a fit for work assessment at the same ATOS building; this time for my ESA. Despite being in constant pain, bed ridden most days and hardly able to walk, even with 2 sticks, I was declared fit for work....and the whole process began again! As it stands now, my tribunal hearing is this Friday..12th May.
I am absolutely CONVINCED that all these so called health professionals who carry out these assessments are there PURELY to stop disability benefits of any kind. The last one I saw even had the temerity to suggest I could use a wheelchair in order to work...a wheelchair that could be kept at an employers address, get taxis to and from any employer who would even employ me AND store a wheelchair (if such an employer even exists) AND this was all based on assumption that I can actually propel myself in a wheelchair! (Which I can't, due to the pain it causes in my spine) At no point was I asked if I could use a wheelchair, or pick up a box (another of the criteria that makes me "fit for work") In fact, the so called health professional spent 90% of the interview transferring information from a 4 years out-of-date claim form, onto a computer. She barely even made eye contact with me. At one point I told her I needed a chair with arm rests (I had to grab her desk in order to stand up) AND SHE COMPLETELY IGNORED ME, didn't even acknowledge that I had spoken to her!
My honest opinion is, that in both filling in the forms and attending the health assessments, if you are NOT catatonic and drooling while staring blankly at a wall, your benefit WILL BE STOPPED and you WILL have to fight to get it back. I am sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear @MadDukk but it is my truthful account of my experience. It has, however, given me an insight into how this corrupt system works...if you need any advice on filling in forms or which step to take next, PLEASE get in touch. I'll help as much as possible, for anyone in this situation. Both times my benefit was stopped were right before Xmas..no money, debts piling up, 4 kids who weren't getting any presents....I'll admit I was suicidal both times. The government should not be allowed to treat disabled people this way, but we are the easiest target for their plan to "reduce the welfare bill"...and they are doing just that. There was a case of a man who had his benefit stopped because he failed to attend a health assessment....he was in a coma in hospital the time. That says it all....PLEASE get in touch if you need any help at all.
Yes I know exactly how you feel...the DWP are a cold, uncaring, incompetent group of jobsworths who think they can play God with other people's lives. I was so despondent when it happened a second time (the ESA) I got to the point where I almost thought it would be easier just to give in. But with ESA, the DWP still have to pay it, unless the judge at the tribunal says otherwise. It's different than other benefits that way, I don't know why. What made me the most angry was that the so called professional barely even acknowledged me in my health assessment....then her report was full of lies and assumptions, questions she hadn't even asked me! I think these awful people should be hold to account. Well as I said, my tribunal is on Friday. I'm hoping it will go the same way as the PIP one...but they still reduced me from high to low for both mobility and care, which means I no longer qualify for a mobility car or a disabled tax disc. Even more annoying is that my condition is getting worse...the pain in my right hip is becoming unbearable but I don't want to go back to the specialist as he told me 3 years ago my next option was either another operation or steroid injections into my spine and I don't fancy either....but I'm going to have to bite the bullet at some point and go to my gp.
I'm glad that you're in fighting mood now...if you're stuck with your forms let me know if I can help any. I've been through the whole process twice now.
And just a daft question...i live in the part of Staffordshire where we call everyone duck....is that where you are? Your name just made me wonder lol
And I can't find out how to write an introduction either....
Photo's were send showing I live in a top floor flat and did not have a garden
Did not get mentioned again until tribunal and they mentioned it
Did you win your Tribunal? X