I’m in a nightmare of a situation. I receive PIP and ESA due to my Social Anxiety Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Order and some weeks ago I was sent forms for both to complete to continue to receive my benefits. I filled them in and requested to have a Paper-based assessment due to the severity of my disorders and explained my situation (I never go out, I hardly ever talk on the phone even etc due to the distress it causes me.). My mother asked the doctor to send a letter on my behalf and I even emailed my local MP to advocate on my behalf for me to have a paper-based assessment which he did. For the PIP they have now come back and said that they don’t have information and they can’t accept a paper based assessment, so they need to send someone to my home to see me. It’s like I’m being punished because the core mental health disorder I have is an inability to interact and see strangers. Even talking on the phone makes me burst into tears because it is so difficult for me.
I live with my mother. She has recently applied to become an Appointee for me. It should take another week or so to go through. Could my mother as an Appointee speak to the assessor if he/she visits our home on my behalf while I stay locked in my bathroom while the assessor visits? I did read the following, “ 1.15.17 Where a claimant has an appointee, this will be flagged in the initial referral to the AP. Where an appointee has been nominated to represent the claimant, the claimant must not be instructed to attend a face-to-face consultation by the AP. This is because they have been deemed incapable of engaging directly with the DWP or its contracted APs. Instead, and only if a face-to-face consultation is deemed necessary, the AP must send the invite to the appointee only. ”
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-based-reviewsDoes this mean my mother as an Appointee could speak to the assessor on my behalf? Would that to be acceptable to them? That would be a nightmare enough, there is no way I could actually see one of those assessors in person and speak with them, It’s impossible for me.
Regarding my ESA, my local MP cited a letter from the DWP he received that says that the Center for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) have recommended I be put in the Support Group for 24 months and this is awaiting review by the Decision Maker (DM)
