PIP Assessment

ash5896

debbiedo49 said:

Going through Esa to mandatory reconsideration and now pip to appeal, I can definitely agree its a learning curve. However, why is the onus on the service user to know how it works? The service is for people who require support and therefore should be mindful of the service user. The way its currently working is unfairly balanced against the service user who is learning the ropes through experience. Unfortunately once you have failed in this process it is difficult to try again. In my opinion, it is wrong that atos is conducting these assessments and decisions are being made away from the service user by someone sitting behind a desk reading reports. Its also a very stressful experience and can make us very oversensitive. Is that okay? Why should it be so stressful? 

Stressful isn’t the word. I became disabled through an accident and it’s been life changing. I’ve had 4 major ops on my back a spinal fusion, incontinece both bowel and bladder it’s a nightmare. I was originally on ESA after I lost my job and this was for 12 months and it finished. I was advised by my social worker to appeal which I won and was placed in the support group of contribution based. When we went to court we were in there less than 10 mins and the judge commented why the hell I was even here so that alone speaks volumes. I suppose my assessor will also score me 0 points based on people’s experiences I have read on the forum. I have noting to hide and I think the biggest mistake I made was not having the assessment recorded. I am going to do this in future if I have to as it appears these people lie through the back of their teeth. I am actually looking forward to reading the assessors report now as I now expect it to be full of lies.
Being disabled isn’t a joke unfortunately DWP and these assessors seem to think it is

sleepy1

Hello again ash, my logic tells me anyone can end the assessment for whatever reason although I doubt many attendees do so because they just want it over and done with, in your case the assessor ended it and it may well be because she thought you were in too much pain to continue, hence her typing away on the computer perhaps making notes as to why she was ending it.

Wait until you get the report and see what they have said, they may not have even done a report at all and just tell dwp that the assessment was terminated, in which case you might end up having to go to another one.  Another grand day out to look forward to ; ))

ash5896

sleepy1 said:

Hello again ash, my logic tells me anyone can end the assessment for whatever reason although I doubt many attendees do so because they just want it over and done with, in your case the assessor ended it and it may well be because she thought you were in too much pain to continue, hence her typing away on the computer perhaps making notes as to why she was ending it.

Wait until you get the report and see what they have said, they may not have even done a report at all and just tell dwp that the assessment was terminated, in which case you might end up having to go to another one.  Another grand day out to look forward to ; ))

Indefinitely don’t want to go through that again.

debbiedo49

@ash5896 I dont think that dwp and assessors think disability is a joke. It is my opinion that atos not dwp is the problem. It is my opinion that they are trained to keep the numbers passing assessments down by whatever means necessary. The same goes for the decision makers. Their jobs may well be commission or points based rather making it unfairly balanced against service users. Also regarding recording the assessment, yes with hindsight I would have it recorded as long as it can be used to appeal. Im not sure it can be used as evidence. I did record my esa assessment and it was helpful to me only for the factual evidence. I did take a representative with me to pip whose job is supporting people with mental health and they could accurately recall the assessment for me. I did ask the assessor three times to read back to me what she was typing so I could understand it, and she said I will do that at the end. At the end she did not read it back to me and quickly got us out the door. My rep was reading over her shoulder discreetly and from what they could see she was writing it down accurately. So who and when are they deciding on the content of the written reports when ive seen mine it is all lies and omissions?  Its a farce the way it works just now.

ash5896

I don’t understand why these assessors can make judgements by spending less than an hour with you. The system stinks and the way it is done by the sounds of it is that it’s just to stop people from getting benefits. I’m not sure how much it costs to go to appeal and the other costs associated with it is probably a lot more than the supposed savings they’re making. It’s ridiculous and as you said not fit for purpose. I wasn’t able to see what the assessor was typing as she asked us to sit on the opposite side of the desk 

sleepy1

@ash5896, yeah I know but it gets you out and about now and then, take a joiner and toolbox next time

debbiedo49

@ash5896 have you tried getting help with this from local or other organisations who can advise you about pip etc?

ash5896

debbiedo49 said:

@ash5896 have you tried getting help with this from local or other organisations who can advise you about pip etc?

I spoke to a disability advice centre on Tuesday who promised to call me back but they didn’t. I also spoke to a caseworker for our MP who Called back today and has arranged to see him after the Easter holiday to talk about it more. 
I did try several other disability advice centres locally but they all had voicemails to leave messages and someone will call back. 
I’m going to call DWP next week and ask for my report and see what it says.

debbiedo49

Good Luck!

debbiedo49

@Username_removed I think he means the cost of going through the process. I think it’s also the emotional and physical cost as well. It’s under an hour of stress that can affect the rest of your life. It’s life changing to be on or off DWP benefits for some people including myself. It’s months of preparation that can’t be costed . It’s a very hard process and if you fail you have nowhere to go at times and you have to try again if and when your condition changes. So I am empathising. One hundred percent. 

debbiedo49

@Username_removed I’m not going there lol

ash5896

I meant the overall cost in terms of time and other costs. Then the stress Of  waiting for the appeal to go through. Personally I wouldn’t want to go through it as mentally it’s bad enough and to add more on definitely don’t need it 

Waylay

@ash5896 If you don't get an award, or the award that you think you should get, then you should think about appealing. It is stressful, but claimants are currently winning at Tribunal 69% of the time!

Waylay

Oh, and no, they're not making any savings by denying us benefits. They're spending more than they're saving, the fools!

ash5896

Called DWP today to request my report. She asked me to hold the line and came back after a few minutes to say my report was received on the 26th (day of assessment) and I can’t have it till the decision makers made a decision. 

Waylay

Are you in N. Ireland, by any chance?

ash5896

Hi, no I’m in England 

Waylay

Huh! I know that in N. Ireland they won't send out reports until the decision is made, but in England they usually do. I wonder if they've changed their policy?

ash5896

I’ve no idea But I did mention that I’ve read people can usually can request one before the decision maker and she said that shouldn’t be happening as you have to wait for the decision. I think my call may have gone through an over zealous advisor but I’m going to try again tomorrow 

Waylay

Interesting... Keep us updated?