PIP Home Assessment

The update I REALLY wasn't expecting to be doing....

Ok so we received a letter on Friday from Capita regarding our complaint, 3 months late but at least they have replied.

It has four points of reference on it which were complained about and I will list each one in order with their answer (boiled down to basics)

1- Delay in responding to complaint

Three months delay is below their standard, caused by the backlog of complaints so they have brought in extra staff to ensure no further delays.

2 - Our request for copies of all telephone calls to Capita

Capita say that this is down to DWP as it's DWP who have the copies and they should be in contact soon...... we had them weeks ago and Capita were informed about it, proving they still don't know their ass from their elbow!

3 - The way in which we were addressed in Capitas response letter

They agree that the way we were addressed was unacceptable and they are committed to improving, so they have spoken to the person who drafted the letter and 'provided appropriate feedback' (Obviously not sacked the person for being so rude) and they are sorry for any upset caused.

4 - The arrangements for my home assessment

This part is THREE A4 PAGES LONG! with lots of the usual blah, blah, blah stuff, but is also sprinkled with admittance of guilt.  This mainly being that it should have been done better and misinformation had been given by some members of staff.  One phone call in particular is highlighted  and they admit that THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!  

Apparently they have a 'quality champion' within their CS team who has 'provided a full account of the call to the CSM and feedback has been given to the agent (someone else obviously not sacked for ineptitude!) 

Three out of the four parts guilt has been admitted leaving only a subsection of part 4 where they deny that someone said that home assessments were reserved for terminally ill or severely disabled people.  They have stated that they have listened to the phone call (strange how they have a record of it but said we had to get copies from DWP).  The problem is, they have listened to the wrong conversation (our fault as we put the wrong date in the complaint letter)  Anyway they have now been informed of the correct date and even given the times the agent stated the fact (he said it TWICE) so once they have listened to it we should have a full house!

So there you have it, guilt admitted but basically nothing done about it.  That is until we read the last paragraph of the letter, which we actually didn't believe what we were reading, here is it in full.....

We aim to deliver a quality service for all claimants going through PIP assessments and are committed to making improvements.  To reflect the poor customer service you have received, I would like to offer you a gesture of goodwill of £100.00.  Should you wish to accept this gesture, please contact the Customer Relations team with your bank account details and we will process the payment.

Although the money is nice, I get more satisfaction from the fact that they have admitted their wrong doings and if it means one less person is treated they way we were, that's worth far more to me than the cash, which I will be giving to my Landlord, because if it wasn't for him I probably wouldn't be writing this post now. 

I hope this update gives others the courage to continue to fight against the hideous things they (the Government) try and force upon us.

PS

Still not heard anything yet from ESA

Thanks @DebbieVoakes onwards and upwards as they say, you yourself have played a big part in all this as well, by trying to keep me upbeat and motivated about it all, so a BIG thank you for that hun x

Morning all.

I've not been here for a while but I thought I ought to update on my ESA fiasco.

I FINALLY got a HA date 06.09.17 between 10.30 and 12.30.  We (Steve and me) waited for the Doctor (yes an ACTUAL Doctor) to arrive.  By 12.45 he hadn't arrived so Steve rang Maximus and was told he was running late and should be with us in about 15 mins.  30 mins later he still hadn't arrived so Steve rang back and was told they couldn't contact the Doctor and they were worried about him but that he SHOULD turn up eventually!!!.  45 minutes later still no Doctor so Steve rang back again and was told that IF the Doctor turned up that we were to turn him away as it was now outside their accepted time scale for being late and that they would send me another appointment out as soon as one was available on out area!  I was out of my mind by this time and it took me 5 days to start to get over it... just enough time for them to send me another appointment letter and start the stress up all over again.

Steve had booked time off work to be there with me which had been a total waste of time so he put in a complaint and it turned out that someone had cancelled their appointment but the Doctor had cancelled  mine instead of theirs!

The new appointment was for 09.10.17 at 9am (now 2 hour window for this one, but an actual time) but this time the guy coming was a physio so I was even more wound up as I don't see how a physio can be qualified to assess mental health.

Anyway the day dawned and I was close to a nervous breakdown.  Steve sat in the living room watching for him arriving so he had the exact time (he notes EVERYTHING down in case it's needed later).

8.55 the car pulls up and he comes through the gate onto Steve's property at 9am prompt.

9.14am he went back through the gate!  No I haven't mis typed that 9.14!

Things went as follows...

He came in (Steve had warned him when he answered the door how wound up I was) he asked if it was OK for Steve to answer the questions for me, which I nodded in acceptance, and Steve questioned him about whether or not he was qualified to assess mental health (the answer was only that he was qualified to do assessments, which means he's had Maximus's minimal training.  Then spent 7 minutes confirming who I was and looking at my meds etc, Steve gave him loads of further evidence which he didn't read then told me that he could see what a state I was in and that if I preferred I could go to my room, which I didn't as I couldn't get off the chair as though I was paralyzed with fear.

He continued asking Steve questions for a couple more minutes and then stated that he had enough information and the assessment was over and left and I hadn't said a word to him!

Stunned and exhausted I collapsed onto the floor literally sobbing.

Three weeks later the dreaded brown envelope arrived.  When I'd plucked up enough courage to open it, it wasn't the decision letter but a letter from Jobcentreplus saying that due to a recent change, they had looked into my claim again and that my money had been increased and I'd been moved from the WRAG to the support group!

The next day I got a letter from HB saying that due to a change in my benefits they had reassessed my HB and they had increased it by a whole £0 (what a waste of paper!)

These 2 letters led me to believe that I had been granted ESA but I hadn't had the ACTUAL decision letter (I still haven't) so I asked Steve to ring and find out when I should get the letter.  They told him that it should have been posted on 31.10.17 and that it should arrive soon.  He asked them to confirm that ESA had been granted and they did saying 31.10.19 is the date they may need to look into it again.  He asked for a copy of the Assessors report and they said they would post it out and that I had been awarded the magical 15 points (strange how it never seems to be more than 15)

Anyway that was a week ago and as yet nothing more has arrived.  My benefit went into my bank last Saturday and it was the higher amount, so that's another plus point, but why does it take so long for them to send the decision letter out when they have obviously made their decision, everyone and their Mother's clearly have been informed of this, apart from the most important person, namely me!

So that's it, hopefully all sorted (apart from the letter) for 2 years and I might be able to calm down a bit now.

To anyone currently going through this keep your chin up and try not to let them grind you down (too much).

One final thing because Steve had lost work time for the assessment that never was, he was sent £100 as compensation, yes that's TWICE they have done this so if you have a complaint make sure you register is in the loudest possible voice, as they WILL listen if you shout loud enough, although threatening them with your local MP helps as well

Take care all, and good luck.

Best wishes from Christmas and the New Year (can't quite believe I just said that lol)