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Original poster

To Think the Tories Are STILL At War With The Disabled?

554 replies

JoffreyBaratheon · 03/05/2017 10:56

As parent of a disabled child, this is what I'm preoccupied with, during a General Election...

Under Cameron and Osborne, and iDS - it was clear the tories were engaging in an all out war on the disabled. Cuts to benefits, and services and of course, the loathed and disgusting PIP replacing DLA...

But what has strong and stable (well, weak an unstable) Theresa May done to reverse the damage? Nothing, so far as I can see.

My son had DLA for life and by some miracle, managed to get PIP but will now have to re-apply in five years. If the tories have the cure for autism and it is going to be made available in 5 years - fair enough. But something tells me - they haven't. We were put through months of hell for that.

Other disabled people and their carers have far worse stories.

Now I might be stupid but I can't see what May has done to address the callous culture of PIP. She is still attacking the disabled. Or am I missing something and AIBU?

I think this should be enough to lose them the election. The fact they have attacked disabled people to the extent they have. Am I the only one not to be hoodwinked by this 'I'm only a vicar's daughter' BS? What she has done to the disabled is the least 'christian' thing I can think of and I want her held to account for it. Anyone else?

OP posts:
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Original poster
JoffreyBaratheon · 12/05/2017 23:50

Wow, in the article linked to above, how disingenuous can May get. "Spending more on disability benefits than before" - you mean, you're paying private companies money to assess people - so you're wasting more public money than ever before. Lying, disingenuous bitch.

And she's aware the assessments are unfair but doesn't give a toss? It's not targeting the 'most disabled' - it's descriptors are designed to deliberately cut out vast numbers of genuinely disabled people.

What a lying, vile piece of shit she is.

OP posts:
HelenaDove · 13/05/2017 00:05

YY Joffrey Loads of people will still vote for her though............the ones with no humanity.

WankingMonkey · 13/05/2017 00:17

"Spending more on disability benefits than before"

when she means spending more on ridiculous contracts to Capita and such with assessments designed to get people who need payments off them rather than actually paying out more to claimants is very disingenuous but from May it doesn't surprise me one bit.

LovelyBath77 · 13/05/2017 07:34

Helena if you can, try and be with him at the appointment, DH did and was a kind but stern presence. and step in if they do anything dodgy. For example, my DH let them in, asked them if they wanted tea, when they asked me the way back to their car he replied (they can infer all sorts of stuff from you e.g. giving directions).

It can help. I mean they can still lie, but it is less likely. In the report they commented on me having support, etc. HTH.

LovelyBath77 · 13/05/2017 07:35

Oh and any inappropriate exams I would meet the suggestion with a raised eyebrow and query it straight away. I have a bowel condition and they never suggested anything like that.

LurkingHusband · 13/05/2017 15:29

Yes they seem to have the ESA form online and can fill in as a pdf, but not PIP. Not sure why.

Because PIP is a disability-specific benefit, so ensuring it's as hard as possible for people who can't physically write is an easy win to lopping 5% of the number of claimants.

I dare anyone to prove me wrong.

Original poster
JoffreyBaratheon · 13/05/2017 16:18

You're not wrong. It's a series of callous hurdles, deliberately designed to knock out claimants at every stage.

I think the tories need reminding that disability benefits are not on the table for them to cut - or sell of assessments to their dodgy mates - as they are much needed, and a sign of a civilized society. Their voters are either thick or heartless or maybe just animals. No-one asks to be disabled or have a disabled child, but it can affect anyone at any point in their lives and if not you, your loved ones. Why do their voters think that it won't be them, next?

OP posts:
TurncoatEwok · 14/05/2017 08:01

Because PIP is a disability-specific benefit, so ensuring it's as hard as possible for people who can't physically write is an easy win to lopping 5% of the number of claimants. When I first applied for DLA I had to get a CAB volunteer to write the form for me as my hands were so bad. This time round I typed each answer in a Word doc (easier/less pain) which also means I have it saved for when I inevitably have to reapply in a year. I was shocked there was no online version. My handwritten form took hours and hours just to copy out and I cried so much doing it.

I am astounded to have discovered yesterday that I was awarded PIP less than 3 weeks after my assessment, I was absolutely convinced I would need to appeal (I have invisible conditions - ME, fibro, POTS - and autism). I had heard such horror stories about the assessments, I was terrified - people who had things like "managed to get their own ID out of the folder" used as evidence of having perfect use of their hands. I was extremely lucky with the assessor though, he was kind and patient.

Does anyone ever not have to have an assessment for PIP now? I didn't need one when I got DLA for a year (I then didn't reapply, because I felt slightly, temporarily better at the time and was worried people would think I was fraudulent). But is a PIP assessment an absolute guarantee? Or are they just making more people do it?

LurkingHusband · 14/05/2017 10:20

Here's a doozy ...

for MrsLHs first F2F assessment, we were given a time if 7:50 (yes, 7:50 am) at an office in central Brum.

This was almost the exact opposite of what was requested in the free text part of the form (towards the end) and the medical evidence detailing how MrsLH struggles with fatigue.

However DS works shifts in town, opposite that building, and confirmed my nasty cynical suspicion that no-one works there, as he tried calling in every day for a week around 8am.

Even with a home assessment, it was cancelled twice. And I have two recordings with Capita ... one where I called them to ensure that they didn't record the first non-attendance of the assessor as us cancelling. On this call a Capita employee insisted they had tried calling, and emailing and texting us to inform us of the cancellation.

While I was making this call, MrsLHs phone rang. It was Capita who were apologising for cancelling at such short notice. The lady who spoke to MrsLH was emphatic that they had not tried to contact her, and apologised.

I offered to introduce her to her colleague on the other line, so they could get their story straight. I don't think she liked me much.

We got news of the PIP award last month - both elements enhanced until March 2027.

HelenaDove · 14/05/2017 18:09

Im glad your DW got her rightful entitlement LH Thanks But 7.50 am in the morning to a place that doesnt even exist..............what disgusting inhumane treatment. Angry

LurkingHusband · 14/05/2017 18:18

Just to clarify, the place existed. But it's not a regularly used office for the DWP/Capita.

As I said, we cancelled our F2F, pointing out the information they already had, so I can't say if they would have made a special visit themselves to attend at that time. But I suspect if we had made the effort, it would have resulted in nil points, etc ...

HelenaDove · 14/05/2017 18:21

Ah yes i see.

HelenaDove · 14/05/2017 20:17

What i want to know is how many emergency admissions to NHS hospitals have been caused by unwell ppl having to travel to assesments they are not fit enough to travel to. Many have collapsed just before/during/after assessments. IMO the NHS should be sending them the bill.

Would the NHS collect stats on something like this?!

HelenaDove · 14/05/2017 20:42

I meant that the NHS should be sending the assessment companies the bill obvs.

LurkingHusband · 14/05/2017 21:29

What i want to know is how many emergency admissions to NHS hospitals have been caused by unwell ppl having to travel to assesments they are not fit enough to travel to. Many have collapsed just before/during/after assessments. IMO the NHS should be sending them the bill.

Would the NHS collect stats on something like this?!

Who cares ? Remember there is no such thing as society. There is no such thing as interaction. We live in an age where one hand can "save money" by turning off the streetlamps with no accountability to the other hand which has to deal with he devastating effect of Road Traffic Accidents.

Authority without responsibility. Power without accountability.

Fascism.

potatoscowls · 14/05/2017 22:08

A "cure for autism"? No thanks :) :) :)

NoHaudinMaWheest · 14/05/2017 22:50

DD's PIP assessment was due during her GCSE exams. I wrote the dates of each exam on her form as obviously they are not negotiable. She was given an appointment on the date of an exam. I phoned to cancel, pointing out that I had already given this information. Capita claimed that this had not been passed on to them by the DWP. They offered me an appointment on another exam date. Then said that I would have to contact DWP to get a further date. Which I did.

I didn't hear anything further and a friend said I ought to check that the original date had been cancelled. It hadn't and if I had not checked it would have been a no show and her application refused.
She was then given an appointment on a Sunday in a building with no suitable parking and difficult wheelchair access. We got a taxi and I was there to help with doors etc. She wouldn't have managed on her own.

I do have to say that the assessor was understanding (though ill informed in some areas) and she did get her award. However it is likely that her reassessment will be during her A levels.

PerkingFaintly · 14/05/2017 23:12

I'm so glad your award came through, TurncoatEwok, and that the assessor was helpful.

It's important to mention the times things go well, I think, otherwise people are scared off from even applying.

If say 20% of assessments were badly done or messed around, that would be 20% too many but would still mean 80% were done fairly. So your chances of being treated fairly would be much greater than not being treated fairly.

(I don't know the actual percentages, but even a significant number of genuine horror stories doesn't mean every assessment, or even the majority of assessments, will be bad.)

Original poster
JoffreyBaratheon · 15/05/2017 12:26

How does the government justify the needless expense and trauma to the disabled, of all these reassessments?

People are always banging on about 'the taxpayer' - well who is paying ATOS, CAPITA etc?

Also, I thought ATOS lost the contract due to , a while back- so why are we getting letters from ATOS? Did I imagine that? Why are we giving public money to a company who can't do what they're paid to do?

OP posts:
Ceto · 15/05/2017 14:18

We live in an age where one hand can "save money" by turning off the streetlamps with no accountability to the other hand which has to deal with he devastating effect of Road Traffic Accidents.

How true. See also the desperation to save the cost of providing for children with SN despite the fact that, if they aren't provided for, they are highly likely to be dependent on benefits for the rest of their lives, to say nothing of the disproportionately high number of people with learning difficulties in prison.

LurkingHusband · 15/05/2017 14:26

How true. See also the desperation to save the cost of providing for children with SN despite the fact that, if they aren't provided for, they are highly likely to be dependent on benefits for the rest of their lives, to say nothing of the disproportionately high number of people with learning difficulties in prison.

But then they are Somebody Elses (or Somebody elses budget) Problem.

Also, when prisons are run to make a profit, we will need to find a way to lock up law abiding people. So we may as well start with the disabled. They're probably fiddling their benefits anyway, so it's no great loss.

HelenaDove · 15/05/2017 18:35

ITV News now A DLA/PIP claimant confronting Theresa May.

woman12345 · 15/05/2017 19:34

This tory is so thick
May didn't seem too bright either; unable to understand the distinction between mental health or mental disability.

Her reaction was very revealing; patronising, and cruel, just like her party.

I thought Cathy was brilliant. She would make a great disability rights advocate on an excellent work contract, of course.

woman12345 · 15/05/2017 20:36

mental disability should read learning disability apologies Blush