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PIP ASSESSMENT

  • William
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8 years 11 months ago #136312 by William
DLA TO PIP was created by William
I have been on DLA for several years, Standard Care Enhanced Mobility. I have a MOTABILITY car and my own mobility scooter. I have recently had my PIP Assessment and was concerned about the lack of attention paid to the effects my condition had upon my daily living. I contacted Atos to enquire about this and how to further express my concern. 2 weeks later I received letter from DWP stating I had been awarded Standard Care and Standard Mobility; I would lose my MOTABILITY vehicle and as a result my independence. I noted from the DWP letter that it was assessed that I could walk 20 though not 50 meters which is untrue. I wrote to the person who made the decision pointing out this inaccuracy and asked for a reconsideration. I also pointed out that I was concerned about the manner of the Assessment and enclosed copies of my emails to Atos. 2 weeks later I received through the mail a copy of the Atos PIP Assessment Report which contained many contentious inaccuracies. It stated that I had entered the room in a mobility scooter, stood and transferred myself 2 meters to a chair. The room itself was only 2 meters wide, the chair I transferred to was adjacent to my scooter. The HP then recorded that I could walk more than 20 meters! I immediately wrote a lengthy response identifying all what I considered to be incorrect in the Report. The next day, before I could post my response, I received a letter from DWP stating the award had been reviewed and the original decision stood!
How can a Review take place befor a Claimant has had sight of the Assessment Report and been able to respond accordingly?
I am now left with 4 weeks to consider appeal and meanwhile will have lost my wheels even if any appeal is successful. Surely this is not an acceptable manner in which to deal with vulnerable people. What is wrong with sending out the Assessment Report to the Claimant along with the initial decision letter in order that appropriate challenge can be made. My decision was reviewed before I'd even seen sight of the Report!
Any comment from fellow Members about Appeals would be warmly received. Regards William.

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8 years 11 months ago #136333 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic DLA TO PIP
William

Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I'm sorry to hear that your PIP award was not what you expected.

With regard the Mandatory Reconsideration, unfortunately, the MR process is not defined in law with the exception of the timescales for making a request. Historically the DWP have taken months for the process when the intention was for it to take weeks, now they have changed there approach and an MR that should take weeks is now taking days often removing the opportunity for the claimant to submit further information.

You have two choices, request a second MR with your additional evidence or go straight to appeal.

The choice is yours but if it will help, the revision rate for MR is probably less than 10% and the success rate for appeals is just over 40%.

Have a look at our PIP Appeal guide for further information.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip

In either case your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;

"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"

than their opinions

"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.

There is no point in your complaining to the DWP about the assessment, they have no responsibility for this as the function is contracted out to either ATOS or Capita

ATOS complaints

www.atoshealthcare.com/pip/after_your_Consultation


Capita Complaints

www.capita-pip.co.uk/contact-us.aspx

As you are new to the site, I would recommend that you have a good read of PIP Claim guides, the PIP Descriptors against which a claimant is assessed are far more complicated than the PIP2 form suggests and it is easy to fail simply because you have not covered all of the bases.

If you have further questions then please reply to this post and we will do our best to help.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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  • William
  • Topic Author
8 years 9 months ago #139188 by William
Replied by William on topic PIP ASSESSMENT
Recently had my PIP Assessment which I attended with my wife. The Assessor didn't introduce herself to us, didn't give her name nor her profession. I was quite concerned that throughout the assessment she never once asked how my condition affected my lifestyle. It was if she had a set list of questions and didn't want any variation i.e. What meds do you take, any side effects.
When I received a copy of the assessment it appeared to us that we had been at a different venue! The Assessor made several assumptions about my capabilities such as being able to walk more than 20 meters and even failed to get my condition correct despite my having clearly defined such condition on my PIP2. She mentions having carried out a mental state examination which as far as I was concerned never took place. I later found out the Assessor was a Physio, I was a Community Psychiatric Nurse with 42 years service.

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8 years 9 months ago #139223 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic DLA TO PIP
William

I've merged your posts, it helps if the Mods do not have to go hunting through the forum for any previous advice.

It is important to understand that the interview was not a medical but a disability assessment and the person who did it will have been trained to a standard set by the DWP to do this.

As I explained in my previous post, there is a route you need to follow if you want to challenge this Decision, alternatively you can make a new claim from scratch.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: Stephen Howarth

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