I assess disability claims - AMA

[Galactico]

Just as the title says!

I know the public feeling towards assessors isn’t always good. I’ve been doing the job for about 7 years, let me give you some insight into the “other” side.

It’s an exhausting process and makes disability really very hard and sad. @Galactico what do you think a better system would be?

OP also thought (wrongly) that a high number of claimants took their zero points awards to appeal, when in fact it is only 9% who do so.

You'd think she would have known this.

I've asked for mandatory reconsideraton for my child's mobility. What do you class as vuw please ? I believe they qualify and will appeal if needed.

NHS trusts are sometimes subcontracted to carry out Pips assessments. The person I supported was interviewed at a local NHS hospital, so my assumption is that a trust employee carried it out.

And let your later post, OP know the stats regarding what proportion of appeals were successful.

KittenKipping keep a diary over a couple of weeks recording what you have to do over every day, eg woke up, needed pad changing, help to dress
Had to help & encourage to eat breakfast
Had meltdown, was late for school
Had to go to school to change pad
After school very upset, wouldn't be persuaded to eat tea
Had to help shower & get ready for bed
Woke up during night, had to be calmed & sat with until asleep.

Do that for every day, add times things take, every little thing that you think may not be important, it was the only way ds got higher rate DLA.

My assessor lied through her teeth, she said she saw me walk 22 metres to the assessment room, she must have had Xray eyes because she called my name went straight back in the room & slammed the door. She said I was casually dressed, I had a coat on that went from my chin to well below my knees & I never unzipped it, she said I spoke loudly & confidently, my mum was sat shoulder to shoulder with me & couldn't hear my answers. I told her I couldn't shower as I had a bath & couldn't step in or out, I hadn't had a shower for months just flannel washes, she marked I had no problems getting showered. I asked to go to the toilet, she said if I left the room she would end the assessment, I ended up wetting myself & told her I had continence problems, she marked I had no toilet needs. I ended up losing enhanced, had my car taken off me, I appealed & when the lady from DWP rang to tell me I had got my enhanced back I asked why they didn't get it right first time & she admitted they don't read all the evidence until an appeal is submitted, I never got an apology. I reported my assessor to the RCN, they closed ranks & backed her.

What are your qualifications?

Can you read? I know that sounds obvious but in my appeal for PIP I stated the money I had spent on hand controls for cars over the years. They then said, "as you can drive you have enough strength in your legs to walk 50m"

The day before the tribunal they upheld my appeal.

Place marking 😊

@Babyroobs she did not no, I didn't even know that was an option. She has appealed several times and given all her medical records, spoken to assessors etc but all to no avail.

She was awarded 0 points for most areas as she can manage with help, however my father (works full time) and myself (only child) cannot be there 24/7 to assist her. It's a very odd process.

To be honest it's gotten to the point where she's given up now.

The idea of pip is that it’s supposed to help put the disabled person in the same position as a non disabled peer (I appreciate it doesn’t always work out like that). We have a disabled lady at work who has a physical disability, she doesn’t need any extra support at work other than very basic things like she is allowed to park in work and park and they’ve set up her computer differently as she can’t press control alt delete at same time so nothing that costs money at work. However she claims pip and was awarded quite rightly in my opinion. There are things that are more expensive to her as a result of her disability which the pip help her with so for example she can’t drive a manual car so has to get an automatic which tend to be harder to pick up 2nd hand so more expensive, she can’t chop veg so has to buy pre cut packaged which is more expensive and goes off quicker, i could go on but it’s these little things it assists her with which I don’t begrudge even though she is able to work full time. You would be surprised how many people who are same or higher grade and don’t like her parking in works car park because they can’t so moan about it though.

Have you looked at contact (disabled childrens charity) website they have some very good guidance on meeting this criteria

They do in Scotland, not sure about elsewhere.

OP has acknowledged the system is shit and unfair, no wonder the decent assessors are in the minority when all they get is hyperbole such as how do you live with yourself, even though you're not a homogeneous lump but individual people you're all shit and immoral.

Would it be worth me applying? I have diagnosed agoraphobia, panic disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, depression and endometriosis. I do rely on my partner and mum to do all school runs and meetings etc. I spend weeks worrying if I have an appointment coming up. Would I have to go to a face to face interview?

We spent months worrying about DA being transferred to PIP. In the end he was awarded based on paper only assessments. However although he was awarded the reasoning seems to be very flawed. He scored zero points for communication which is his biggest area he struggles with. By the very definition Autism is a social communication difficulty. He also scored zero on reading when he would needs even basic written information broken down and explained to him. For us it doesn’t make any difference to his award but how would that work for others who are denied based on these lack of points . I cannot see how anyone can score zero for the main park of their condition.

Ever regret posting a thread? 😂

A few things to various posters - the NHS absolutely do carry out these assessments, I can assure you.

I didn’t say a high proportion of people declined appeal, I said a high proportion of people who do appeal are successful.

To the poster who said there were inconsistencies - let me know what these are?

To the one who accused me of “scarpering”, it was around midnight, relax.

That’s bloody awful. You must’ve been devastated to get that report back.

I’m not sure if any of the other providers (Capita etc) have any incentive to reduce or remove someone’s benefit. Hard to understand why these things happen if they don’t.

I’m glad you got it sorted in the end. Doesn’t excuse that experience though, I’d have contacted the NMC (I’m assuming it was a nurse since you mention the RCN) too.

As for not reading the evidence, I can only speak for myself but reading the evidence often means I’m working 30-60 minutes before I’m paid to do so, trying to get ahead; read the evidence/previous outcomes etc.

I hope you never have an experience like that again. Awful.

Does she have the same level of support at school as you are providing at home? I fully appreciate this is a seperate battle in itself and lots of children don’t get adequate support at school which in turn make things even harder to manage at home but just wondering if the not believing you is linked to the perception that she manages ok at school

@Galactico Don’t take it personally, you must have expected some emotive responses as a lot of us have been let down by this system.

Thanks for your info and time.

I agree. Every applicant will have their own experience, but unless the OP was their assessor, it’s not her fault.

@Galactico I have a telephone assessment on Thursday and I have found this thread helpful from both sides so thanks for posting.

Several people have asked her how she lives with herself. Hard not to take that personally I imagine.

It's bizarre that so many posters have spoken to her as if she's the actual assessor who turned them down.

It's truly awful to read what so many people have gone through though.

I have another question.

Do you admit what you do to others? I mean it is an embarrassing job title that could potentially illicit shame. My sister just tells me she is a registered nurse. Not technically a lie but she’s clearly embarrassed.

Additionally, because she has now done the job for many years she has admitted it has been career suicide. Many nurses go into the profession to help people and to make a difference. Seeing that someone was a disability assessor will put off many a hirer as the job title tells you all you need to know. You essentially deskill yourself with a lack of clinical skills. It really is a job that’s at the bottom of the pile in that Industry, and that is despite the wage.

I guess you could go back to working on a ward as the NHS are desperate but you can sing for a more professional nurse role moving forwards. It’s honestly embarassing to have on the CV unless you want to remain assessing people until retirement.

Sorry she tells others she is a registered nurse. Not myself. I get the truth.

@coffeetofunction just a quick 'hi' I don't often see many others living with FND

I work full time with bipolar and have a lot of additional medical costs. I applied on 1 Dec 2019 and wasn't assessed until July 2020.

Submitted loads of medical evidence. Scored 0 points. The report was so weirdly rude and insulting I just left it.