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Pip Telephone review

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1 day 16 hours ago #306422 by Wendy Woo
Pip Telephone review was created by Wendy Woo
Hello BIS,

Excuse me butting in and I'm sorry if I'm being a bit stupid again, but I don't understand what they mean when they say it's a safeguarding issue? Each time my son has had an assessment, the assessor has insisted he should be present, but he does not give an accurate account of his problems and I've only realised since, by reading the answers to questions on the forum, that I could have refused and insisted they speak to me instead, as his appointee.

Thank you so much for this answer, which is so helpful - it is only the safeguarding bit I don't understand. I thought this should have been covered by the appointee process.

For future reference - does he even need to be at home for the assessment or would they refuse to go ahead unless they could establish that he was with me?

Thank you for bearing with me on these queries, but I don't want to make the same mistakes again.

And if you read this, Lindseyf, I'd be really interested to hear how you get on.

With best wishes,

Wendy Woo

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1 day 11 hours ago #306451 by BIS
Replied by BIS on topic Pip Telephone review
Hi Wendy Woo

The DWP use the dirty trick of saying it is a safeguarding issue to speak to claimants when there is an appointee. It is absolute rubbish and there is no 'safeguarding issue'. My standard response is to tell them to speak to social services if there is a safeguarding issue, to which they then say 'I will speak to my manager' - the phone goes silent for about 10 seconds, and then they come back and say they can continue. There is no point in people being appointed as appointees if an assessor suddenly wants to speak to a claimant. It goes against the entire system. I get that it is difficult for people to stand up against them as they are the people who are going to write a report, and they sound so plausible - but I would advise anyone who is an appointee to look at the paperwork and see what it says about you being a representative and quote it to them if necessary.

BIS

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

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