DWP want another PIP assessment as not happy with their first assessors report!
ingu1
Member Posts: 1 Listener
My husband has been in receipt of PIP since he was medically retired in 2014. He had an assessment at home in early 2016 and another just last month which I also attended. We got a call today from the DWP telling us that they weren't happy with the report the assessor provided, they said it didn't have enough detail and they've given him another time and date in 12 days time to meet with a different assessor. This seems odd to me. Not only to call out of the blue, but the assessor stopped several times during the interview to apologise and said he needed to type up his notes.
I'm going to call DWP to note this discrepancy and ask for a copy of his report too see how little information he supposedly gave. Is it usual to get a call back like this? I can't seem to find anything on the DWP website or other guidance boards as to whether this genuinely happens or if DWP are just ignoring the first report, hoping for one more in their favour ? Will we be in trouble if he doesn't go again - it's really inconvenient to get him there; we tried for a home visit last month and was told no. What if hubby says something different from last time, will they hold any discrepancies in answers against us? The more I read about DWP, Atos and the whole PIP process, the more anxious I feel about getting a fair assessment! Grateful for any advice.
Replies
Until the DWP have an assessment report your claim cannot progress so you must attend the appointment or risk having your claim ended.
It is unusual but not un heard of for a second assessment to be required. It sometimes happens that a report is lost or that an assessor leaves without submitting one up to standard
Hopefully you still have a copy of your PIP2 form, review what was said on that and if you haven't done so, take a look at the self test on the B&W site
http://www.mybenefitsandwork.co.uk/pip/indexxx.php
This will give you some idea of the points system, descriptors and criteria for an award .
Please come back with any questions
CR
One of my clients recently had a second assessment and scored much higher than the first one. It is difficult to say whether your second assessment is a good thing or not until you have seen how many points the first one had recommended.
If your husband requires a home appointment you need his GP to send them a letter stating that he can't travel and why, and then hopefully they will change the appointment to a home one.
I can understand how stressful these assessments can be so you definitely deserve more of an explanation about why another one is necessary.
Lee
I hope you get it sorted out and good luck with if
ps.
if the dwp can request a second face to face appointment why cant we !!!! When the report that Attos sent to dwp was full of lies of things that didn’t even happen such as excersises that were never carried out !! We should be able to demand a second face to face , they put people through enough stress and anxiety make out that we tell lies etc ,,,,, we should’ve sble to switch the boot around
i have complained to Attos and dwp on the second stage with Atos who have said they are liking in to it and have 20 days to resolve and in the mean time would ask me to be patient , dwp said if I have a complaint take it up with Atos ? Now at a loss who to write to now , dwp have said I can apeal but they don’t relise it costs money to get you medical records my GP can charge up to £80 to write a letter , I have one month to apeal and get my evidence ready one of which as already been submitted along with my repeat prescriptions list and of course the dwp ignored it except to say there where no pain killers listed obviously they didn’t take time to read about isamatic heart trouble etc but I will apeal if I have time to get all together
i did all that and MR wasn’t changed in their letter it states that’s cardiologist specialist letter wasn’t satisfactory and my list of medications it was their thinking that they weren’t relievant to my condition ?? It’s gone to the stage where I can appeal now
its ok and thank you for your advise it’s really appreciated
thsnk you so much I will have a look at that
(or not ) Newer evidence does carry more weight but many people with long term conditions only have older stuff.
It is important to understand the points system, descriptors and the criteria for an award. A good starting place ids the B&W self test
http://www.mybenefitsandwork.co.uk/pip/indexxx.php
Have you requested a copy of the assessment report ?
Don't get sucked into trying to argue with the assessors point of view, that will not get you an award, only by showing that you meet the criteria will you win.
The first stage of a tribunal appeal is to submit form SSCS1
At this stage you only need to give your basic reasons for your appeal,
Once the tribunal have accepted your request, the DWP will prepare their case and send you a copy of all the evidence used, known as the bundle.
When you receive this you should first check to make sure that all your evidence is included
Now, using the bundle you should prepare your own submission
If you have any new evidence you should attach it to the back of your submission with your name and NI on each page
A simple formula that I use is as follows
Write a brief history of your claim. State which descriptors you agree with and the points awarded
Take each disputed descriptor in turn state the points awarded and what you consider should have been awarded.
Reference each descriptor to the page and paragraph of the bundle, Lead the reader to the exact place in your evidence that shows that you meet the criteria.
Make good use of the reliability factors of safety, repeatedly, in a timely manner and to an acceptable standard. These are often ovwerlooked by assessors but can have a big affect on an award
Do this for each descriptor in turn, some of the tasks are interlinked so difficulty washing can also have an impact on dressing and preparing food if you have poor grip. Don't expect the reader to make the assumption. It may seem like you are repeating yourself but make it as clear as possilble in each section, make it idiot proof
Finally, write a brief summary of your case, what points you should have received and the award that this represents
best of luck
CR
Read more at https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/38035/pip-appeal-help#vuLivAYSJlKvwgzf.99
thank you so very much
I did this on 2016, I gave the reasons for stating which descriptors I thought were relevant, however the DWP took exception to this and wrote to the appeal that I was not medically qualified to make such suggestion !!.
I was asked about this at the appeal, I informed them that the decision maker is not medically qualified either, my PIP was reinstated.
Unfortunatley, they decided this year to assess me again, a year early, the assessment was worse than the first one and she stormed out of the house.
On my original claim from going from DLA to PIP I answered n/a in the mobility section as I receive a higher award with another one and have a mobility vehicle, when it came to parts 11 and 12 in the assessment I told her not to waste my time as DWP cannot give me the mobility part even if they wanted too, she contacted a supervisor and then informed me that my assessment would be void and I would lose my PIP and have to start over from scratch.
I asked her for a summary of what she had typed, she refused, I showed her the procedure and guidelines on assessment, she slammed the lap top down and stormed off.
I sent complaint in writing straight away, however on getting copy of report she was true to her word, zero points for both parts.
Now had second report after rework, now 4 points for each.
Hey ho, here we go again, oh and on inspecting second report she has changed wording, deleting paragraphs.
Capita have replied to my complaint, whitewash as usual.
Subject access has revealed some interesting insight on the documents and comments they hold ony case, rework was done for 'Legislative error'.
Throughout the report, in every written comments by the assessor has written the following acronyms.
CQ, AR, FH, IO, SOH, HOC, MSE, DA.
The only ones missing are [email protected] and I.K.E.A.