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Atos Question

mommaduck
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8 years 5 months ago - 8 years 5 months ago #145644 by mommaduck

Replied by mommaduck on topic Atos Question

Am I wrong, but I thought that an assessor was supposed to read the PIP claim form and all evidence submitted in order that they can ascertain whether a face to face assessment is necessary or they can decide on just a paper?

If so, and they are not doing this, then they are not following the relevant guidelines :evil:

Last edit: 8 years 5 months ago by .

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8 years 5 months ago #145656 by

Replied by on topic Atos Question

mommaduck wrote: Am I wrong, but I thought that an assessor was supposed to read the PIP claim form and all evidence submitted in order that they can ascertain whether a face to face assessment is necessary or they can decide on just a paper?

If so, and they are not doing this, then they are not following the relevant guidelines

Hi md,

You are correct,

An Assessor is supposed to scrutinise The PIP 2 Form, etc to see whether a face to face assessment is necessary and appropriate before an appointment for one is made.

However, this is "Guidance" !

In reality, it is obvious that this is not always happening.

This is why it would always be advisable to challenge the Assessment Provider, as sometimes the appointments, which are made by a standalone department, are made before the PIP 2 has even been scrutinised.

This used to happen with ESA as well !

bro58

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Zoe
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8 years 5 months ago #145673 by Zoe

Replied by Zoe on topic Atos Question

Thanks guys,

I was in a bit of shock after the phone call with ATOS yesterday...

Foss27 many thanks; I hadn't thought of the MP option at all! I have now raised a formal complaint with ATOS and have cc'ed my MP as well. This situation is beyond surreal, I've read horror stories in the papers about Atos and could barely believe what I read; now I get it more...

Hopefully they'll let me have a home assessment; I truly cannot get to an assessment centre. Also I'm going to be a bit optimistic here and hope the assessor actually reads the medical evidence I sent following the complaint...though perhaps that's too optimistic...

Why people who need and could use this benefit have to jump through endless hoops to get it is beyond me...

Zoe

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Zoe
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8 years 4 months ago #145937 by Zoe

Replied by Zoe on topic Atos Question

Just a quick update to say I raised a formal complaint with ATOS; they replied within a day to say they cannot offer me a home assessment as it is for people who are bedridden all the time and they have been informed I attend hospital appointments and university (*I* informed them of both those things!!).

I don't understand this at all; I have to repeat the year at uni because I missed so much last year and was hospitalised for such a long part of the year and have DSA adjustments in place so I can follow classes from home and not need to go. They are aware of this; I even sent them the reports from DSA and the GP's report indicating this. I am the only one in my year who doesn't even know the names of the others in the class, I've been away so much. I do go to hospital appointments, but also have to reschedule those too lots of times and frequently....

They also said they can now confirm that "a healthcare professional" has reviewed all the medical evidence... Not sure what to believe really after what I was told last week, but...

Unsure where to go from here...

Zoe

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Gordon
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8 years 4 months ago #145947 by Gordon

Replied by Gordon on topic Atos Question

Zoe wrote: Just a quick update to say I raised a formal complaint with ATOS; they replied within a day to say they cannot offer me a home assessment as it is for people who are bedridden all the time and they have been informed I attend hospital appointments and university (*I* informed them of both those things!!).

I don't understand this at all; I have to repeat the year at uni because I missed so much last year and was hospitalised for such a long part of the year and have DSA adjustments in place so I can follow classes from home and not need to go. They are aware of this; I even sent them the reports from DSA and the GP's report indicating this. I am the only one in my year who doesn't even know the names of the others in the class, I've been away so much. I do go to hospital appointments, but also have to reschedule those too lots of times and frequently....

They also said they can now confirm that "a healthcare professional" has reviewed all the medical evidence... Not sure what to believe really after what I was told last week, but...

Unsure where to go from here...

Zoe

I'm afraid the only avenue remaining is to try your MP.

I'm not sure how many appointments have been booked to date, but if this is the second or later then you must attend or you risk your claim being closed.

Gordon

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

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Zoe
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8 years 4 months ago #145952 by Zoe

Replied by Zoe on topic Atos Question

Hi Gordon and many thanks for the reply.

They haven't booked the first appointment for me yet; they've just told me a centre assessment has been requested.

The issues were:

a. my gp asked for a home assessment for medical reasons and that wasn't taken into consideration at all
and
b. ATOS customer service representative told me on the phone that how should I expect the assessor to go through all the medical evidence, it's too many pages...
Now today, Atos in response to my complaint about this, said an assessor has looked at all the evidence now and they are able to confirm this, but that home assessments are only for those bedridden all the time as I said in the previous post...

I have flagged this with my MP as well... Is it worth flagging it with the dwp too you think?

Zoe

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