Court orders Atos to pay disabled woman £5,000 over dishonest PIP assessment

[LurkingHusband]

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/court-orders-atos-to-pay-disabled-woman-5000-over-dishonest-pip-assessment/

A court has ruled that a disabled woman should be awarded £5,000 compensation by the government contractor Atos, after a dishonest report by one of its assessors led to her being awarded the wrong level of benefits.

Vanessa Haley, from Huddersfield, told the county court in her written evidence that the assessor had tried to “impede her entitlement” to the enhanced rate of the daily living component of personal independence payment (PIP) by “falsifying” her assessment report.

The assessment report also led to her being denied any PIP mobility support.

She was awarded the compensation after the court upheld her claim of maladministration against Atos and her allegation that it was responsible for causing her health conditions to worsen.

The news of her court victory came as the minister for disabled people gave evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee yesterday (Wednesday), as part of its inquiry into the PIP and employment and support allowance assessment processes (see separate story).

Disability News Service has been investigating claims of dishonesty at the heart of the PIP assessment system for more than a year, and has heard from nearly 300 disabled people who have made such allegations.

Haley was previously on the lower rate of care and mobility for disability living allowance (DLA), but the impact of her multiple health conditions had worsened since her last DLA award in 2013.

The Atos assessor, a paramedic, visited the former teacher and film-maker at her home in January 2016 as part of her reassessment for PIP, which is gradually replacing working-age DLA.

But she told the court that he “consistently and repeatedly ignored” her answers and evidence in his report, and misrepresented what he saw during the face-to-face assessment.

One example she gave was that he described her as looking “well kempt and casually dressed”, when she had not washed her hair in 10 days and was wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown.

He also said he had seen her “move her body around the sofa herself and raise her legs on and off the floor herself”, and claimed that she was able to “lay back and put her head against the sofa”.

But she said she was seated when he came into the room and her legs were already up, and she only lifted them with her hands to put them on a cushion.

She said: “I tried to move myself but couldn’t as I don’t have the upper body strength.

“My mum offered to lift me but she’s 73 and that’s not fair to her, so I sat in a great deal of pain for the rest of the assessment.

“I didn’t lay back either as my sofa doesn’t allow that, it’s a straight back.”

The assessor said that because of her movements on the sofa and because she said she could drive an automatic car – which he said “suggests adequate power and movement in her limbs and joints” – she was “able to move for more than 200 meters (sic) safely and reliably”.

The assessor also claimed that she had been “able to recall all of her medical details and history without prompting or referring to written notes”, when she had actually had to pass a written list of her conditions to her mother to read out for her.

The county court awarded Haley £5,000 when Atos failed to offer a defence to her claim for damages.

The battle to secure the correct level of PIP support has had a significant impact on her mental health, leaving her unable to leave her home.

She now experiences “constant paranoia” about being misdiagnosed by GPs and other healthcare professionals. She has also begun self-harming.

Haley, who has significant physical and mental health impairments, was also left so depressed by the assessment process that police had to be called to her home last year after she threatened to take her own life.

As a result of the misleading and dishonest assessment, she was originally granted only the standard daily living rate of PIP, at £55 per week, instead of the enhanced rate, at £83, and was not awarded anything for mobility.

She was only awarded the enhanced rate of daily living and the standard mobility rate after appealing to a tribunal, which ruled in her favour in March this year, 14 months after the PIP assessment took place.

Because of the original decision, she was forced to rely on credit cards and financial help from her family, and was left severely in debt.

Haley said she had only taken the court case because she was persuaded to do so by her disabled friend Bret Lowther, who was a law student.

He took his own life in October, but his efforts helped secure her court victory.

She said: “He and most others saw the toll that it had taken on me and how much further my health deteriorated.

“I agreed to it, because he was going to deal with all the legal process and complaints to the various bodies.

“I didn’t do it for the money, but Bret said that there had to be a monetary value attached to it.

“I wanted and still do want this diabolical treatment of the sick and disabled to be exposed and stopped.”

She said it was “exhausting constantly being worn down by the machine that is the Department for Work and Pensions and the PIP system.

“It is rarely absent from my thoughts, and as a result my anxiety is through the roof.”

She said she was “angry” that she and other disabled people were being “dismissed and lied about”, because “through no fault of our own we have found ourselves in unfortunate and reduced circumstances.

“We are constantly being lied about, repressed and vilified. Many disabled people have become even further isolated by this system and have lost much, if not all of their care.”

An Atos spokesman said: “We were made aware this week of this judgement and our initial internal investigation indicates that we did not receive the claim form at our registered office which is why no defence was filed to the claim.

“Until this investigation is complete we must reserve our position.”

[TheDrsDocMartens]

Hope this opens the fooodgates.

[Notreallyarsed]

It should never have come to this, if she, and thousands of others had been assessed fairly in the first place none of this would have had to happen.

I’m really thrilled that she got the right result eventually but I’m just so angry she was put through such an ordeal in the first place.

[PinkBuffalo]

Glad she got a result. but ATOS is one of the most shameful things to happen to this country ( speaking as someone whose very ill dad was declared fit for work and the stress caused to my severely disabled mum)

[RolfNotRudolf]

The county court awarded Haley £5,000 when Atos failed to offer a defence to her claim for damages
So Atos didn't bother to put in a response or defence. While this demonstrates their contempt and arrogance it also means there was no consideration or judgment of the facts, simply an automatic judgment in default.
I wonder if Atos will simply pay up or try to get the judgment set aside in which case it should proceed to a full hearing.

[PinkBuffalo]

It certainly feels like people who Can't work are being punished. Thus lady should never have been put in this position. ATOS don't seem to realise they are actually destroying lives, and the gov don't care.

[prh47bridge]

While this demonstrates their contempt and arrogance

Not necessarily. If they are right that the claim did not go to their registered office it may not have been properly served. If that is the case they should have little trouble getting the judgement set aside, although there is little point in doing so unless they believe they have a defence.

[DGRossetti]

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/atos-nurse-continues-pip-assessment-while-claimant-has-grand-mal-epilepsy-seizures/

A nurse carrying out a disability benefit assessment fired questions at a disabled man’s wife while her husband was in the middle of a severe and prolonged series of epileptic seizures just a few feet away.

Daniel Marshall, from Dorset, had only been able to answer a couple of questions from the Atos nurse before the stress of the personal independence payment (PIP) assessment caused the first of a series of seizures.

[Oblomov18]

Disgraceful. No surprise.

[TheDrsDocMartens]

They really need to make a complaint if ATOS is denying any knowledge of it

[DGRossetti]

They really need to make a complaint if ATOS is denying any knowledge of it

except it will be word against word, unless there's video footage (or credible audio).

[mineofuselessinformation]

This doesn't surprise me in the least, sadly.
Dc2 had an assessment earlier this year.
The report stated they are moderately visually impaired, which is a complete lie - they are actually registered blind, with vision classed as severely visually impaired. (Luckily, we were able to prove this, so the mandatory reconsideration gave an award at an appropriate level.)
The affect of a condition upon DC2 was completely discounted. There were other assumptions made in the report which did not reflect dc's conditions and disability.
In effect, at least 50% of the 'judgement' was a work of fiction.
Whilst the reconsideration was favourable, no reference was made to the inaccuracies, and no word of apology was offered, despite the considerable stress that this caused.

[dangerrabbit]

The professionals making these inaccurate assessments should be struck off.

[DGRossetti]

The professionals making these inaccurate assessments should be struck off.

Struck off what ? In the main ATOS/Capita have been very careful to avoid proper trained and qualified professionals (because they would cost too much and have to adhere to professional standards).

Way easier to call someone an unprotected term, like "healthcare professional" and pay them peanuts.

Dara O'Briain, in a rant about Gillian McKeith, notes that she can't call herself a "dietician" because it's a protected term. Hence "nutritionist" ... as he said, it's like being seen by a "toothologist" rather than a dentist.

[GoldilocksAndTheThreePears]

It's incredibly hard to read lies about yourself. I requested my ESA report and there were so many false statements- and I was awarded support group, so no need to lie! The thought of reading my PIP statement makes me actually panic, it was such a horrible experience. I was awarded full PIP for both parts for 10 years but was yelled at, talked down to, belittled. It's like once she realised the extent of my health issues and that she had to award full she just gave up giving a shit. It definitely made everything worse for me, particularly my anxiety. Being yelled at 'No! Just answer the question!' when I was trying to breathe through a panic attack didn't help. And it is so demeaning to have to explain multiple times how I wipe my arse to a physio in a sports club, not even a real building.

The advice is always to challenge results, go for reconsideration etc but it is so incredibly hard going through it all again, knowing you may well end up with less. I'm so thankful I was awarded what I need, I hate being on benefits but I need it. The system is so beyond flawed, you are having to prove you meet their set list of 'ill', you may be too ill to work but if you don't fall on their set little list of allowable issues you're fine, apparently. When I did my PIP assessment she didn't have a copy of my filled in form I'd spent ages doing, nor my list of medications I could barely remember- I was told I didn't need to take the drugs with me as they had the info! They didn't have the letters from specialists I'd sent, and even though I took the hard copies with me she refused to look at them. So my entire assessment was based on a physio looking at me and what I could stutter out to her questions, suffering from bad anxiety and depression along with physical health and being in a hell of a lot of pain I could barely get through it all.

Such a shitty system.

[PerkingFaintly]

I've only just seen this thread. Thank you, thank you for bringing this case to my attention.

I'll need to sit down and work through it, so see if there's a possibility for me to do similar.

[nursy1]

DG Rossetti
ATOS were recruiting incredibly hard at a recent nursing conference I went to. Out in the isles canvassing for recruits. Quite a few were questioning them on their methods as I did myself.

[KisstheTeapot14]

I have been for a PIP. To get audio evidence you had to take 2 CD players that recorded and give them a CD right after interview. I arranged to take the equipment. When I arrived the 'healthcare professional' said she had no been notified. I had checked x 2 the previous day to make sure they knew. Said she would cancel interview or go ahead without recording.

She made up a variety of things on my form. I asked for a copy, so I know exactly what she wrote and there were down right lies.

I had expected it to be bad. It exceeded my expectations.

I could have challenged, but was so ill at the time I just couldn't face it and decided to save my time for family and p time job (I have CFS)

I was just appalled at how this ATOS representative behaved.

Our benefits system should protect people when they are down, not put the bloody boot in.

[PerkingFaintly]

Really sorry to hear that, KisstheTeapot.

Thanks for telling us about it. You've strengthened my determination to always covertly record as well.

[DGRossetti]

To get audio evidence you had to take 2 CD players that recorded

What is this, the 1990s ?????

[KisstheTeapot14]

This was 2 or 3 years ago. They would not allow a digital dictaphone or phone or anything as 'evidence could be tampered with'. Makes you want to cry, the irony of it all. Luckily, I had access via work to those (due to be thrown out by IT!!) otherwise, who has 2 recording cd machines just hanging around at home eh?

[KisstheTeapot14]

Be careful with covert recording. I read their rule book and it said interviews would be terminated if they realized you were recording.

May not be able to be used as evidence in a review if you get turned down etc.

Ask advice from CAB, they help a lot of peeps with this. My CAB person was disgusted when he heard what had happened. I nearly cried with frustration.

[DGRossetti]

They would not allow a digital dictaphone or phone or anything as 'evidence could be tampered with'.

Bollocks. One copy to them, one to you. Job done.

It's easier to detect tampering digitally.

But, of course, we are both making a simple mistake. We are assuming that the process is intended to do what the government says - which it isn't. It's intended to do what the government wants, obviously.

It must be, or it wouldn't be the way it is.

My DF had a saying about watching what the priest does, not listening to what they say. Life changes when you do.

[KisstheTeapot14]

You'd get better, fairer treatment were you being interviewed at a police station as a suspect quite honestly. Legal council to advise etc and fair recording.

It is a travesty. But hey, it keeps the numbers down eh?

[DGRossetti]

But hey, it keeps the numbers down eh?

Bingo !