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Me and the assessor know each other! Please help

BeKind

Hi. I'm new here, thanks for letting me join. I'm almost certain that my query has never happened on here before.

It seems like a lifetime ago DWP received my pip claim form (first claim). Then a couple of months later i got an appointment for the dreaded telephone assessment.

Within 2 minutes of speaking to the assessor I realised he had a very local accent and a familiar voice. I continued to answer his questions but then the penny dropped.. We are acquaintances! We speak briefly on dog walks, and live near each other. I went in to a panic there & then so he put me on hold while he had a word with his manager. When he came back he said he was unable to complete the assessment (it had lasted 15 minutes).

So i waited all day for my phone to ring again, expecting a different assessor. Nobody rang. Then for the rest of the week I kept checking my phone and post, thinking surely they will let me know what will happen in these circumstances. But nothing.

So i called atos the following week and was told I'd been put in for a paper based assessment. I had no idea this existed.

(just want to add here that I'm not assertive on the phone and it took a lot of courage to ring).

*Still to this day i have had no text/calls/letters about my claim* So after about another month i rang them again and was told the paper based hadn't been done yet but it was in my notes that this was definitely going to be how i was assessed. Left it ANOTHER month and called again. This time they said they had contacted my doctor to request my medical records but hadn't yet had a reply from my GP. That was all ages ago.

My anxiety is through the roof. Not just with the claim but the fact people in the area will know about my personal conditions. How can i have a paper based assessment when i haven't been assessed? Should another person have rang me straight back instead? Why hasn't my GP replied to atos? Im embarrassed to admit how long this has gone on for without hearing any update (it exceeds all timescales from other posts I've read on here). Any advice on who to contact please?

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calcotti

BeKind said: How can i have a paper based assessment when i haven't been assessed? Should another person have rang me straight back instead? Why hasn't my GP replied to atos?

If you have a paper based assessment then you will have been assessed but the assessment will be made based on the paperwork and without a phone or face to face appointment.
If you are unhappy with the way the assessor has handled the process you can make a complaint to them. If it was IAS carrying out the assessment there is information on how to complain here
https://www.mypipassessment.co.uk/feedback/
GPs can take s while to respond because they have to fit doing so in with their other workload. You can speak to your GP if you wish.

BeKind

Thanks for your reply. If the assessor wasn't allowed to continue with my original phone assessment, on the basis we knew each other, would it mean he's not able to complete the paper based also?
I don't think he handled it badly, neither of us were expecting to talk to a familiar voice.

calcotti

BeKind said:

Thanks for your reply. If the assessor wasn't allowed to continue with my original phone assessment, on the basis we knew each other, would it mean he's not able to complete the paper based also?
I don't think he handled it badly, neither of us were expecting to talk to a familiar voice.

It isn't clear whether he stopped because you are aquaintances or because you became too distressed to continue. I have no idea who will do the paper based assessment.