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Hi I’m Sarah & my dad’s PIP assessment falsified!!!
sarahsismey
Member Posts: 6 Listener
My dad is not well & suffers with Spondylitis & was on DLA “Indefinite” but was assessed by a lying Assessor and now after taking it to Mandatory Consideration, he’s now not receiving it! How can I help my dad, as to me, the Assessor who is still working for the NHS, should not be allowed to lye as if my dad had, he’d have been prosecuted or / & fined but why can’t the government do more!!? This is not on!!
Replies
You can read many similar stories on the forums so you and your dad are not alone
Have you asked for a copy of the assessment report ?
There are two things to do
First your dad should appeal to the tribunal. While it is important to address the issues of the assessment, this will not score points. You should concentrate on showing that your dad meets the criteria for an award.
It is important to understand that DLA and PIP have different criteria. To understand the PIP points system, descriptors and the criteria for an award, a good starting place is the B&W self test
http://www.mybenefitsandwork.co.uk/pip/indexxx.php
There is also lots of good info about the appeals process on this site
Please come back with any questions
Second, your dad should make a formal complaint to the assessment provider.
This is a separate issue to the appeal and while you can mention this the tribunal are not interested in persuing bad assessors. The tribunal are only interested in finding the facts about how your dad is affected by his condition
CR
Welcome to the community and I am sorry to hear about your dad's bad experience, we have lots of support in appealing a DWP decision including these videos that may help.
Senior online community officer
Good Afternoon & Welcome!!!!
I’m so sorry to hear about your dad and his struggles to-date!!!!!
Unfortunatly you will find that you are not alone.
Please please have a good look around are “Community”
1) Move quickly to appeal.
2) Request a copy of the HCP report but also
3) Google “DWP PIP assessment providers guidance” and download it.
4) Use 3) as the basis for your complaint. Highlight where they breached their own guidance. Do not focus on “lies” or use emotive language. Legally you cannot prove they lied or were dishonest but you can show what they didn’t do.
5) Do not delay the appeal waiting for 2) or a response to 4) but, once the appeal is underway, by all means add the complaint and their response to the appeal papers by sending them to HMCTS.
Have your wits about you and be prepared for a grilling; and have thorough medical evidence even if it's not recent. It's the panel's job to be inquisitorial so don't take their line of questioning personally. Don't get upset, just stay calm and answer their questions confidently. Stick to your guns.
I was asked about my walking, driving, bathing, dressing, food preparation, getting off loo, taking medication. Mention all the aids you need to use.
Tell your Dad not to drive himself - take a taxi if necessary. Your Dad shouldn't dress up. Your Dad might be asked about shopping trips and if you use disabled loos when out.
Good luck to your Dad at the Hearing! 65% of appeals succeed.
The better approach is to identify what you consider to be the factual inaccuracies in the report (and use that phrase) and list them. Then ask yourself what specific evidence you have to refute each one and how important each one is. Yes, the assessor may well have told 50 lies but if only 5 relate to points which can be scored then you need to focus only on the 5 no matter how outraged you are. You also need to be brutally honest about the evidence you have to counter those lies. Is it anecdotal? Is it medical? Is it actually just your opinion?
Then you need to understand the end result of all the above. As I say, you’re kicking at an open door. Most tribunals are happy to give little weight to a HCP report if they hear verbal evidence from the appellant to the contrary. However, that just reduces the weight given to one piece of evidence. That’s not usually enough to get an award of PIP. You will need compelling, detailed, consistent verbal and other evidence in order to succeed. If you can show the HCP report has little credibility but you assume that is enough then the appeal will fail. Identify the points which ought to be scored and set about amassing evidence to support each descriptor you think applies.
I will repeat what I have said in other threads. Advice to omit information or behave in a different way to how you normally do should be disregarded. Ditto advice to use standard figures which apply to other people. The tribunal are assessing the facts of your case and not what you ought to be capable of or ought to be compared to. It is perilously close to misrepresentation and only a step or two down from fraud.
I cannot emphasise that enough. Driving to the appeal for example is fine and is indicative of nothing negative provided it’s explained in detail what it took to achieve that. Just saying “I drove here” and not expanding on that is what does for people not the act of driving in itself.
Thank you Matilda and Mike. I really appreciate your help and advice