PIP assessment centre too far away

I finally got my brown envelope this morning with my f2f appointment - this Friday at 11:00am and in Pudsey which is 35 miles away from my home!
Checked up on Google maps and its a walk to the bus stop/a bus into Rochdale/walk from bus station to train station/train to Bradford Interchange/walk to change train to New Pudsey/walk to assessment centre of 0.8 mile - a total of 1 hour 49 minutes of travel time for somebody who can walk at normal speed and not miss the connections.
ARE THEY SERIOUS?? What part of "I can only walk about 10/15 metres without needing to stop because of the pain" did they not understand! I've been phoning ATOS since I received my letter, but their computer systems have been down since first thing this morning - so no joy there then.
If they ever manage to get their IT system up and running can I request an appointment nearer to home? I thought that the assessment centres had to be within 90 minutes travelling time of your home? Or is that one of those urban legends?

lancashire-lass wrote: I finally got my brown envelope this morning with my f2f appointment - this Friday at 11:00am and in Pudsey which is 35 miles away from my home!
Checked up on Google maps and its a walk to the bus stop/a bus into Rochdale/walk from bus station to train station/train to Bradford Interchange/walk to change train to New Pudsey/walk to assessment centre of 0.8 mile - a total of 1 hour 49 minutes of travel time for somebody who can walk at normal speed and not miss the connections.
ARE THEY SERIOUS?? What part of "I can only walk about 10/15 metres without needing to stop because of the pain" did they not understand! I've been phoning ATOS since I received my letter, but their computer systems have been down since first thing this morning - so no joy there then.
If they ever manage to get their IT system up and running can I request an appointment nearer to home? I thought that the assessment centres had to be within 90 minutes travelling time of your home? Or is that one of those urban legends?

Hi l-l,

It is stated that the trip should not take longer than 90 minutes either way, so this journey seems to exceed that.

If it is ATOS carrying out The PIP F2F, they have a PIP assessment centre in Rochdale, which seems to be a lot nearer to you :

Rochdale Infirmary
Whitehall Street
Rochdale
Lancashire
OL12 0NB

From : www.atoshealthcare.com/pip/consultation_...s/north_west_england

You can e-mail ATOS from the link on the right of the page above.

I can't see one in Pudsey on their list.

If it is ATOS, it looks like they may be "trying it on", the 90 minutes is stipulated, so you can quote it.

As you will see from the ATOS page below, :

www.atoshealthcare.com/pip/before_your_c...ng_your_consultation

they are also supposed to make Reasonable Adjustments for disabled claimants, so you could request a F2F nearer home as a formal request for Reasonable Adjustments under Section 20-21 of The Equality Act 2010 (EA2010)

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents

A letter from your G.P. would further strengthen your case.

However, you are allowed to re-arrange once anyway.

Make sure that you use e-mail, to create a paper trail.

If you can gain solid support from your G.P., you may even be able to request a Home Assessment

bro58

Hello, having read this post, if this is a PIP f2f, don't they have to give a minimum period of days notice, is it 7. Well there can't be 7 days here if letter arrived this morning and f2f on Friday. I am assuming f2f is the medical or have i got it wrong? My brain does get fuddled at times.

furry wrote: Hello, having read this post, if this is a PIP f2f, don't they have to give a minimum period of days notice, is it 7. Well there can't be 7 days here if letter arrived this morning and f2f on Friday. I am assuming f2f is the medical or have i got it wrong? My brain does get fuddled at times.

Hi f,

Yes, a f2f (face to face assessment) is the "medical".

You are right, they do have to give 7 days notice. However, this can be 7 days from the date of the appointment letter.

bro58

Brain not too fuddled then. However, given a weekend plus Bank Holiday this hardly seems fair does it. 7 days notice should mean exactly that. Thank you for your confirmation.