Atos PIP home visit 7th Jan

Hi all,

Just had a letter confirming my ATOS PIP assessment will take place at my home on 7th Jan, although I didn't request a home visit. I first applied for PIP on 08/08/14.

My conditions are severe depression and anxiety leading to difficulties with washing, dressing, cooking, eating, socialising or going to unfamiliar places. I work full time as I have an understanding employer and very supportive colleagues who make a range of adjustments due to my depression.

I will let you all know how the medical goes but any help or advice in the meantime would be greatly appreciated x

Hi,

Welcome to Benefits and Work & Merry Xmas !!!

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It is not the norm for ATOS to offer "Home Assessments" whereas it seems to be with Capita.

There is information on what to expect at a PIP face to face assessment from page 64 of our : PIP Claims Guide. (2nd Link on page)

As you will see, there is a lot more PIP information on the same page.

See also :

PIP Self Test

&

PIP Topic Thread in Spotlight Area

There is also information on this : ATOS Webpage.

I hope the assessment goes well, and you gain a positive decision.

Please do return to update us after the assessment has been carried out.

bro58

Thank you bro58. I've changed my username! Also thank you for the links, I'll look up the suggested info.

Are you aware of any changes to the Atos policy regarding home visits? As I was offered one automatically. I'd like to think this could be a positive sign regarding my condition but it could just be a new tactic to reduce the backlog!

fizzwizz wrote: Thank you bro58. I've changed my username! Also thank you for the links, I'll look up the suggested info.

Are you aware of any changes to the Atos policy regarding home visits? As I was offered one automatically. I'd like to think this could be a positive sign regarding my condition but it could just be a new tactic to reduce the backlog!

Hi fw,

Recent changes in advice given to Assessment Providers (ATOS or Capita) which can be found : Here, are more towards encouraging assessment providers with regards to carrying out paper based assessments without the need of a "Medical".

This, in turn, should obviously help with the backlog in PIP assessments and decision making.

Therefore, I can't really see offering a Home Assessment as one of the tactics being used to cut the back log.

ATOS are generally very reluctant to carry out Home Assessments for PIP or ESA, the main reasons being that they are more expensive, manpower intensive, etc and therefore cut back on their bottom line profit margins.

Hopefully, the provision of a Home Assessment in your own case is due to the fact that they have recognised that you suffer limitations in "Going Out" and/or "Moving Around", etc.

bro58

Thank you for your encouraging advice. I've been so sick with worry for the last couple of weeks that I haven't logged on to the b&w site as even thinking about the assessment had me in tatters. However as the assessment is due in just 8 hours and I can't sleep for worrying I finally logged in - & was very reassured by your comments.

I will give an an account of the assessment afterwards but it may take me a few days - I expect to be thoroughly distraught for some time afterwards - even if the assessor is fine, just being forced to talk about how difficult each day is will be deeply distressing

I'll keep you posted & thank you for your support

I had the home visit yesterday and I'm pleased to say it seemed to go well obviously I don't yet know what will be in the report itself but the assessor herself couldn't have been nicer and seemed very sympathetic - so hopefully that will reassure people that there are nice assessors out there!

I was accompanied at the visit by my sister and my 20 year old daughter.

Before the assessment I'd heard all the horror stories and had worked myself up into a terrible state of anxiety worrying about the whole thing, plus there was a mix up with my I'D which sent me into a panic, so pretty much the first thing I did was have a huge anxiety attack and burst into tears. I was terrified that this would make me seem uncooperative or unfit to be assessed and that the appointment would be cancelled, leaving me to face weeks or months more anxiety waiting for a new assessment.

However the assessor was lovely and very reassuring and gave me time to calm down and get a grip of myself. She then informed me that she was previously a CPN and so had experience of mental health issues. She stated that she had read through my PIP2 form and the supporting letter from my CPN, which she stated had been detailed and helpful. She outlined what would happen during the assessment - she would take details of my medical and social history, ask me about the daily living and mobility activities, followed by a brief medical if necessary.

She explained that she would record the information on a paper form, which had headings for each area and an area for the assessor to write about what had been said. She was open throughout about what she was writing down and kept the form in full view.

She then asked about my diagnoses (recurrent depression, anxiety disorder and in the process of assessment for borderline personality disorder), medical history, who diagnosed what eg GP or psychiatrist, medications and therapies.

She then asked about work - I explained that I work full time but am only able to do this because I had built up good relationships with my colleagues before the latest bout of depression /anxiety became overwhelmingly severe, & my colleagues and employer are extraordinarily supportive. Due to this the work environment itself is much better than staying at home where I would otherwise not leave the house and would work myself into a suicidal frenzy. Even with an excellent work environment however I still struggle to get there of a morning and frequently only manage to get out the door by convincing myself that I'm actually just making myself presentable enough to get served with paracetamol...

She then asked about who else lives in the house with me and my general home / family situation, which brought up several issues which I don't need to go into, but which cause considerable distress.

The next subject was good days & bad days. I explained that at the moment I have bad days and worse days. I gave some brief examples of normal 'good' days before the current storm hit, comparing it with my total breakdown of normality since.

We then moved on to the daily living activities. She asked about each one in turn in the order that they're listed in the PIP2 form. Again she was open about what she was writing and she recorded what I was saying accurately.

Then it was the mobility activities. I'm aware of the guidance given to assessors in this area and that mental health problems are generally dismissed. However I made my case for 'cannot plan and follow the route of an unfamiliar journey' (& in fact I struggle with familiar ones, & frequently have to pull my car over to wait for tears to stop so I can see, or shaking to subside so I can steer. But I have to press on due to necessity. I would be unable to get to work via public transport however).

Anyway again she made an accurate record of my account, but agreed that this was a somewhat controversial descriptor and stated that she would need to discuss this with her supervisor.

As I clearly have no physical problems (evidenced by my unfortunately dramatic entrance - so embarrassing ) she agreed that we did not need to carry out a physical examination.

And that was it! To be honest, she had been so sympathetic and kind throughout, and I'd 'bared my soul' to such an extent, that I felt I'd bonded with her and I really didn't want her to go!! As she was leaving she said that she never hears about the outcome of her assessments, and now I'm really regretting stamping on my impulse to give her my number, I was that attached! Although it would of course have been very inappropriate and may have made her uncomfortable, so of course it was better that I didn't.

Before my assessment I compulsively read any post I could find about other people's assessments and was very grateful for their posts, and so I sincerely hope that this is helpful to other people waiting for their own assessment now.

My next area of concern is how long it will take to receive a decision - I realise that the answer is really 'how long is a piece of string' but I would still be very grateful to hear your experiences. & I will of course let you all know when the DWP advise me of their decision...

I'll spare you all the paranoia and catastrophising I will inevitably experience in the meantime...!