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Not attending an assessment

samwalker
samwalker Community member Posts: 2 Listener
I hope someone can help me, My son who is autistic and has mental health issues, and a serious heart condition is being moved from DLA to pip, My son can be aggressive in situations he has no control over, I filled in the forms sent them off explaining the difficulties i would have bringing him to an assessment, I rang and asked if they would do a home visit as I knew he was not going to make a face to face, and he did not he had a meltdown before we were due to leave. I have had a letter asking why he missed the assessment and if i don't give them a good enough reason for missing his appointment they will disallow his claim, I don't know what to write, these people do not see the stress it places me in. Can someone advise me. Thank you.

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,357 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi,
    Most people have to have face 2 face assessments. Having a paper based assessment will be difficult but it is possible. It will totally depend on the evidence that was sent to support his claim, was evidence sent?

    The reason for the letter is because he didn't attend the assessment. Was the letter from DWP or the assessment providers? My guess is the DWP, usually if a claimant doesn't attend an assessment they will return your file to DWP for failing to attend.

    You will need to contact who ever sent the letter and tell them why your son didn't attend. Tell them exactly what happened. Are you his appointee? If you are then you will of course be able to do this form him. You need to do this ASAP because he risks having his DLA stopped and being refused PIP. Once that is done a decision maker will decide what happens next. If it's accepted then his file will be returned to the assessment provider.

    They may refuse a home visit because he's aggressive. The question really is, was evidence sent to support his claim?

    Good luck and i hope you get it sorted but you or he needs to ring them today.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Yadnad
    Yadnad Posts: 2,856 Disability Gamechanger
    These letters are issued by the DWP after the file has been returned to them from the assessing company. I have no idea what would be a reasonable excuse for non attendance as I have seen in the past what appear to be excellent reasons being completely dismissed.
    However if the claim is closed down then, as it is an appealable decision, the argument can be taken to a Tribunal for a ruling.
    Win at the Tribunal then the DWP will have to reopen the claim and start all over again. Whether they will also repay any of the lost DLA monies is debateable.

    In the case of the OP I would suggest that they become the appointee which in a way will protect this happening in the future.

  • thara
    thara Posts: 49 Courageous
    Hi and welcome to the community!!

    Most claimants are asked to attend a assessment in person. Any other form of assessment is more difficult to get. Not impossible mind you but certainly harder to get.
    What sort of evidence did you send with the claim form? There is a list of acceptable evidence that is provided on the actual form. Does he have mental capacity or not? Are you his appointed person? If you are then you can complete the paperwork on his behalf. His disability might be the reason why they are not willing to do a home assessment. 
    When that is done the decision maker will make a decision and his file sent back to the assessment provider. I know it’s frustrating but do hang in there. The onus is on you ultimately to provide enough information to justify a home based assessment instead. They should not refuse a home assessment solely on the grounds of aggression. 

    Good luck.
  • axwy62
    axwy62 Community member Posts: 142 Pioneering
    Could you perhaps film him having a meltdown and send that to them? I agree that most likely they won't want to do a home assessment if they think there's any risk of violence, but they might do a paper assessment if they see how bad he is.

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