WELSHGRL'S PIP THREAD!

welshgrl wrote: I was wondering if anyone knew the answer to this. If an applicant is said to have no mental capacity and cannot engage at all in conversation. Has no insight into their illnesses etc is there any point in making them take part in a face-to-face assessment?

3 medical professionals have backed that up in letters and have stated a face-to-face would be damaging to the claimants health.

Also if the claimant is going to be unable to talk and understand what is going on and the only answers the assessor will receive will be from a carer is there any point?

The claimant is classed as a vulnerable adult with no mental capacity.

Thanks

There are two aspects to this.

If an assessment has been deemed necessary by the Assessment Provider and the claimant does not attend any of the offered appointments, then the likelihood is that DWP will close the claim for failing to participate. The legislation for both PIP and ESA covers this circumstance and allows for the claim to be closed.

From the claimants view this is clearly a Catch 22! If they are capable of attending even though they may not be able to answer any of the questions asked of them or give any insight into their conditions it would still be worth them doing so to avoid the issues involved for not attending (see below).

If they are not able to attend because doing so would cause them physical or mental harm then those who care for them need to escalate this problem at the earliest opportunity with the AP, the DWP and their MP. It is possible to force through a paper assessment if the claimants conditions are bad enough, but those who care for the claimant will have to be pro-active in doing so. Even though letters detailing the restrictions that the claimant has have been sent, this does not mean that they will have necessarily been given the attention that they merit.

Gordon