Assessor didn't turn up!

KnobblyKnees
KnobblyKnees Community member Posts: 42 Contributor
in PIP, DLA, and AA
After 3 letters and text messages reminding me to attend my assessment for PIP they didn't bother to turn up. Is it mandatory to attend an assessment as it put me thorough untold stress arranging taxis and travelling to the next town? I can't get through to the DWP.and it's been over a week since Capita said they'd make another appointment. Can I refuse? They use paramedics apparently to assess complicated medical conditions. I hope I get reimbursed for the £100 for taxis which they approved. Will this delay my claim, or rather refusal lol?

Comments

  • cristobal
    cristobal Community member Posts: 984 Championing
    edited September 2019
    @KnobblyKnees - in some circumstance they can do a paper based assessment - although in your case it seems that they have decided that a F2F is necessary.

    I imagine there will be a genuine reason why the assessment didn't take place so you will have to wait for a new appointment. When you say 'they didn't bother to turn up' was no explanation given?

    DWP don't dealt with this AFAIK.


  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 59,054 Championing
    Hi,

    Was the appointment canceled when you arrived? This can happen, especially if the HCP is ill on the day of the assessment, although they should have rang and told you before the assessment but this isn't always possible, especially if your appointment was first thing in the morning.

    You will need to ring the health assessment providers about appointments and not DWP because assessments are nothing to do with DWP.

    If an assessment is needed and you refuse to attend you could be refused that benefit. Most people have to have face to face assessments it's rare to have paper ones. Hopefully you won't be waiting too long for another appointment.
  • Chloe_Scope
    Chloe_Scope Scope Posts: 10,511 Championing
    Hi @KnobblyKnees and a very warm welcome to the community! This must have been incredibly frustrating! I hope they are able to reimburse the taxi's and the other appointment is soon!
  • KnobblyKnees
    KnobblyKnees Community member Posts: 42 Contributor
    Hi, thank you. No they didn't send another appointment I had to ring them, and as yet no reimbursement. Companies like this are the reason the benefits bill is so high.
  • worried33
    worried33 Community member Posts: 516 Pioneering
    edited September 2019
    On my ESA f2f, they reimbursed for the journey there in cash from a cash box, and booked my return taxi.  That was maximus tho, and that was definitely a different policy to ATOS who instead issued payments several weeks after the event.  No idea about capita as my PIP f2f was at home.

    The journey back was not pleasant, I stayed silent as the driver rambled on about my easy life not working.
  • OverlyAnxious
    OverlyAnxious Community member Posts: 2,920 Championing
    KnobblyKnees said:
    Hi, thank you. No they didn't send another appointment I had to ring them, and as yet no reimbursement. Companies like this are the reason the benefits bill is so high.
    I had a problem getting reimbursed after a missed appointment and never did get it resolved - although it was a much smaller amount so not worth the anxiety of pursuing further.

    My appointment was also cancelled once I'd arrived with no prior warning.  Due to my conditions I had to travel home and back in between. I think what happened is that ATOS did not add or change the appointment time on their records because the new appointment was done later on the same day.  So it looked like I had only made one 'eligible' trip rather than two.  I was reimbursed for one but not both, despite filling in two separate forms and sending them in two separate envelopes as instructed by the receptionist.  I did try phoning ATOS but I really struggle with phones and verbal comms and couldn't get my point across effectively, I was also unable to email despite having photo/scan proof that I could have sent to make it easier to understand.  I never did get any response or second reimbursement and couldn't face trying to phone again so just left it in the end.
  • pollyanna1052
    pollyanna1052 Community member Posts: 2,016 Championing
    ask for a home assessment....they treat us so badly and we are left to it.
    had a terrible morning myself through them.xxx
  • Chloe_Scope
    Chloe_Scope Scope Posts: 10,511 Championing
    Hi @KnobblyKnees, I really hope you aren't waiting much longer!
  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 11,541 Online Community Programme Lead
    Sorry to read about your experiences @KnobblyKnees. What a palaver! And their response seems really inadequate. Please let us know how you get on with it and remember that if you have any questions before or after your assessment, don't hesitate to ask and we'll do our best to support you. :smile:
  • KnobblyKnees
    KnobblyKnees Community member Posts: 42 Contributor
    Thanks everyone for your support and sharing your experiences of your awful treatment by these assessors. I thought May promised better treatment of the disabled? Since one ATOS doctor actually lied about the severity of my condition and said I told him I walk 8 miles to the nearest supermarket, I wish, ( I was sensible enough to insist on the session being recorded ) Capita informed me I would have to supply my own recorder and provide them with a copy. Lucky for me audio cassettes have made a comeback, so I had to lug my 80s Sanyo to the session too, I knew my hoarding would pay off one day. So I would recommend to all to record your assessments whether you take someone with you or not. As for a home visit I don't think I could let one of them in my house and the dog, a very good judge of character, might go for their throat!

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