Universal want a telephone interview to get me back to work but i claim PIP

happyfella

cannot believe UC have changed my appointment five times in the past few days. They way UC treat people is shocking. They did not phone me the other day because they said the computer system was down. Then they sent me an apointment for 9pm for today, then they sent me another message saying that was an error and it would be 9am today. I contacted them to say i cannot do 9am as it affects my health due to the pain i feel when i wake up and the medication i have to take, so they changed it for me. then they changed it again, and now this morning they have changed it yet again to a time when i am in a lot of pain and now i will have to delay my pain medication by an hour.

jae377

 "am autistic with severe mental health problems and mobility issues. I  am having a phone consultation about PIP next week. I am dreading it. Any tips on how to handle this???"
YES you are entitled to have another person act as a "buffer" between you and the questioner. I have acted in this capacity several times for a neighbour, basically they use the phone and relay in a non aggressive non threatening manner questions to you. They may also gently prompt you to "stay on track " with answers or answer more fully as under pressure you may forget Germaine information. The same applies at a face to face interview.

happyfella

they were very nice. They explained all the changes to the apointments is down to most staff working from home, and others are ill.

Quinty

How terrible. What if your phone is cut off or you were on the loo? Or rushed to hospital?  Its bullying. Im sure you can complain about this attitude. The Govt Benefits system needs to change to become understanding and emphatic. Its very wrong. 

calcotti

And some DWP staff will also be benefits claimants themselves.

calcotti

woodbine said:

It's highly likely that most of the DWP staff that we deal with at "user"level will be receiving some form of benefits, even if it's only family allowance.

Child Benefit (as it is now known) is administered by HMRC and is a fairly easy benefit to claim and administer. I was thinking rather that some DWP staff will actually now be on UC which is administered by DWP and, as we know, involves interaction between claimant and administrator.

calcotti

woodbine said:

Forgive me i'm old and in my day it was family allowance, but whatever it's name it is a benefit, but as you say it's likely that DWP staff may well be claiming UC 

No criticism was intended (just clarification for younger readers!).