This isn’t fair, this is fucking evil.

[MrsWrex]

My wife has had her pip reassessment reduced because of one point.

Her condition hasn’t changed one bit, we have letters from various professionals stating this. Some assessor that knows jack about her condition has stated she has no problems with communication at all because she ‘sounded intelligent’ (yes, that is written in the reply letter, apparently you can’t have autism if you sound intelligent)

You can’t even get a diagnosis of autism without some glaring problems with communication.

Sorry, just needed to vent. Can’t do it at home as dw is stressed enough as it is. I’ve been trying to get her to stop adding up how much this is going to affect us. Dd has been diagnosed with autism too, I just feel terrified for them both in the future.

I’ve called up for a mandatory reconsideration, I am fairly certain we’ve got enough evidence to win a tribunal. This system just seems to be designed to stress us as much as possible, it’s wrong.

65% of appeals are upheld in the claimants favour. Why is a 65% failure rate on original assessments tolerated?

'65% of appeals are upheld in the claimants favour. Why is a 65% failure rate on original assessments tolerated?'

Yes assessors are failing to do their job correctly 65% of the time. What other job would that failure be accepted?

I would love to know the cost to the DWP of a tribunal.

but they put in the report that I refused to do the movements! Because I can’t you frigging idiots.

Elsie please Appeal, and please complain to the centre you had the assessment from. It was extremely unsafe for you to do the movements for obvious reasons (dislocation) and you are well within your rights to refuse to do the movements if you feel/fear you are going to experience pain (or more) as a result. Attitudes wont like this wont change, unless they are challenged, repeatedly. Get your MP involved too.

I came across someone who was originally assessed at zero, then got awarded full points on mandatory reconsideration. Surely questions should be asked about the competence of the original assessor when there is such a massive discrepancy?

I would love to know the cost to the DWP of a tribunal.

Sadly the effects and results of that wont be evident in full for a good few years yet. But people are being awarded thousands if they win at Tribunal stage so you can imagine the scale.

I'm sure we'll just get the 'we had to make difficult decisions' tagline then too though.

Ceto it will do eventually. It will just be another shitstorm from the media where all the evidence built up against them means they're backed into a corner and the Government will drop the PIP tender quicker than a hot potato. Just like they did with ATOS.

Horny probably even higher as some people are so broken by the process that they cannot appeal. Though I suspect they see it as success rather than failure because they're making the process as unpleasant as possible and maybe saving a few pennies at the expense of someone's health and dignity.

The ridiculous thing for my son is that he has been told by DWP that he is entitled to claim jobseekers while the appeal goes through. I told them that is fraud as he can not work. Apparently "special circumstances" means that he can claim He just has to make an effort to search for work for 2hours 3 times a week. Makes a mockery of the whole system.

Those posters who are saying part of the problem is false claims - well,no.Even if that was a significant number we as a society could decide that it is better for some false claims to be paid than for any genuine claimants to be denied help.
That would cost more but it's still a decision we could make.
Also,surely to God if you want to detect someone claiming falsely iF you think that's an issue you need to use properly trained and qualified assessors and pay attention to the reports of the qualified people who are already in contact with claimants,many of whom must be in registered professions who could be penalised for lying,if that's what the Govt are worried about...)

Not chosen to do that either,it's appalling and all of you going through this have my sympathy ( not that that helps at all )

lazyarse I'm a bit sketchy so it might be worth checking with CAB but I'm sure that once an appeal is lodged the DWP has to then pay you, well your son, the assessment rate of ESA until his appeal is heard. The jobcentre advisor should know this.

The ridiculous thing for my son is that he has been told by DWP that he is entitled to claim jobseekers while the appeal goes through. I told them that is fraud as he can not work.

I had huge issues with this when I had to appeal a few years back. They told me I could claim JSA. I told them I wasn't fit for work and they said that was my only option. So made an appointment to claim JSA and they took one look at me and said they would be breaking the law to sign me onto JSA as I clearly cannot work

Until MR was accepted I had no income at all as this went back and forth a few times. Was told to use 'special circumstances' but they would not accept that. In the end I had to contact my MP who sped the process along a bit.

Might have changed now. This was about 3 years back

Sorry lazyarse do the MR. If refused. Then lodge an appeal with HMCTs. You can lodge an appeal quite soon after you get a 'no' from an MR. It's not unusual given the Decision Makers more often than not have zero medical knowledge.

MRs can take months though. usually they are faster, but they technically do not have a timescale so could be indefinite. Once MR is complete and appeal is lodged, you can go back on assessment rate though. Its the inbetween thats the issue.

It’s total shit OP. I strongly echo other posters who’ve recommended getting support to prepare your appeal. So many appeals are going through successfully now (although at a snails pace). Charities, CAB, etc are getting very good at knowing how to construct a successful appeal.

I am sure they routinely turn down everyone and then reassess on appeal.

I know it can seem like that, but I've done plenty of applications that have been successful without appealing. My client got enhanced for both components, which was a nice surprise, as I was only expecting the standard rate.

Always appeal. The tribunals are far more fair than the DWP asshats who make the initial decisions.

Don't necessarily blame the assessors, either. They are told to rewrite their reports until they bear no resemblance to the original. My friend was an assessor for about a year, until she lost her rag at being told to lie and walked out.

when you submit a MR do you just type a letter with sub sections relating to the assessors report and what you dispute

I go through each descriptor for which I think points should be awarded, explain how the conditions affect the client's ability to undertake the task safely, repeatedly, to a reasonable standard etc, the sort of help they need to do it/aids they have to use etc and then tell them how many points I think they should be awarded! I only refer to the assessor's report if there's a glaring piece of idiocy, as in the case of the lady who was assessed at home, in her level access bungalow, but somehow was able to demonstrate that she could climb stairs!

Lalalyra, has your friend thought of using the Access to Work scheme if she is able to work again? It can pay for taxi transport.

Between MR and the lodging of the appeal for ESA the only way to get some money is to put in a JSA claim. You can take 13 weeks sick while on JSA so can put a sick note n straight away. Check the Rightsnet website.

Lakielady this is absolutely correct. It is a waste of time complaining about the assessors report. They just reply with some blurb about trained assessors.
You have to go through it methodically with each descriptor you believe you qualify for and referencing any medical reports which back this up.
There is quite a lot of inaccurate info on this thread.

@JonSnowsWife

Many apologies, as usual because I'm describing something I'm in the midst of, I'm using terminology I understand but which doesn't give the full picture.

Yes, you can record the interview now if you provide the right type of approved equipment and it's used to DWP's regs.
However, from what I read when i looked into it earlier this year, it's hard to get hold of, costs a mint to buy new and apart from further interviews of this type, when would you ever use it again.

I know of one person who this year took someone from a benefits advisory place as her support and the benefits advisor also brought the right type of equipment and had pre-arranged for it to be used under whatever regs are current and did the recording.

However, what I initially meant was there are so many complaints about assessors not recording peoples' responses correctly (I'll second that) and I've heard on the grapevine so no firm details apart from hope, that to cut the complaints and the number of cases going to Tribunal, the DWP are going to introduce the type of recordings the Police use for every face to face interview their assessors do.

I'm waiting for a Tribunal date so cannot give specific examples, but will say the physical exam and the conclusions drawn from it are absolutely astounding.

This is the sort of thing assessors do, there could well be more up to date versions, please list them if so.
dpac.uk.net/2013/04/what-people-need-to-know-about-atos-assessments/

Someone up thread said they don't see why a doctors note won't suffice.
Because GPs are rushed off their feet and give med certs when not always applicable.
Try and get letters from consultants/GPs which indicate how your condition affects you. Not just a diagnosis.

I only refer to the assessor's report if there's a glaring piece of idiocy, as in the case of the lady who was assessed at home, in her level access bungalow, but somehow was able to demonstrate that she could climb stairs!

It was decided that because they saw me walk 10m...that meant I could walk 200m with no issues, despite having evidence to the contrary from my physiotherapist

Also was claimed that I walk to the shop for bread and milk twice a day, and that walk to the shop was 30 mins. Which is just truly odd. Even if I did have no issues walking, I would not be walking 30min each way twice a day for bread and milk. I am not feeding the 5000...

Some of the lies are so ridiculous.

A friend of mine was also told she could not possibly be depressed as if she was she would have killed herself by now. Charming.

Fuck knows why these companies are still used. If it was any other group except for the disabled (or possibly the unemployed) being treat in this manner, no way would it be allowed.

Thanks for the advice ladies. D's is now receiving JSA, but is in effect lying about applying for jobs. We have asked for a MR so will just have to wait and see. I had not realised until reading this thread how bad things are it's really shocking.

I had not realised until reading this thread how bad things are it's really shocking.

Most people don't realise how bad things are until they (or someone close to them) go through it themselves. Many people think that only the pisstakers get 'caught out' when its clearly not the case at all. But the rags will still pretend it is, and people will continue to support it. Its all so fucked up.

I was asked why I hadn't killed myself yet if I was in that much pain.