To take my hat off to anyone who had to go through this

[Chocolatesprinkledcrumpet]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42862904

I have been reading and talking to people who went through PIP assessment and I have nothing but respect for you. How you cope/have coped with it is beyond me.

I hope this gives you at least a little bit of hope that your voices were heard.

And apologies if this is not exactly an AIBU but I felt the need to say this.

It sounds as though the PIP assessors want to try to weed out anyone who is fraudulently claiming - but, God, if they are consistently lying about what they have seen people do/not do, then how awful is that.

An assessor should blow the whistle on the whole thing. Appalling.

Apologies for typpos. Fucked up hands aren't great for messaging. In addition to the above i had to pay £20 for a Drs note so the assessment could be carried out at home. This was not refunded though I sent a copy of the letter and requested a refund seeing as I was awarded PIP and thus verified by the DWP fuckers as Ill (because hey!what do my neurologist/physio/doctor/social worker know?). So they was a week of eating fuck all so DD could eat.

That article says they’re reassessing claims?! Does that mean people’s awards could go down or stop? Even if they’re set for a few years? It seems to suggest it’s to help people get more money but presumably if someone is in a slightly better phase they could lose it couldn’t they? I’d rather they didn’t assess me again TBH. I’m confused (easily done)

Not PIP as i claimed DLA but a long time ago, assesors do lie, i was refused after a Dr from the DWH came to see me
I was refused and after seeing what the Dr had written i saw it was all lies or altered to sound as if i was better than i was
I appealed and went to the CAB there was a lovely lady who helped me fill in the forms again, after i appealed i was sent a different Dr, who was local to my area, he said i am sick of these people, there had been so many appeals and he was sent to see some of the claimants,
This Dr was disgusted and actually said most of the people who had appealed had lies from the original assesors written on their claims which these assesors filled in in their home, or made to seem they were not as ill as they really were
So not much has changed
One of my sons has had to clain PIP and was already on ESA which was taken off him at a second assessment since before Christmas ,even though his condition had got worse and he had letters from his Dr and consultant with test results, has had only £40 a week to live on and was told well you can manage on that cant you,
He rents a room and has not had any housing benefit either,
His landlord keeps asking him when he is going to get some rent,but has been very good really, knowing what the situation is, and hopefully should get some back pay
On the other hand i know personally someone who is an alcohloic and on drugs,they have been given a warden controlled flat, on ESA and claiming PIP now, plus housing benefit and spends it all within a few days, ,it doesnt seem fair that people who are genuinely struggling are having to manchage on UC of £73 a week same as jobseekers allowance whi also isnt enough to live on
I feel very sorry for all the people going through all these forms etc to fill in and then being lied about what is a genuine illness or disability

1.6m cases re-examined?

Perhaps the company running the system don't feel they're making enough money on the contract?

I filled it all out for both my parents, they couldn’t. They decided my mother had to be reassessed in 5 years and my dad who had a major stroke could go to work, we took him to the meeting and he fell asleep whilst the assessor was talking to him. We had explained numerous times he has zero attention and tires easily, they assumed this was a lie.

He didn’t have to go back and got his full entitlement.

Finally, someone is listening (well, you'd hope, unless this is going to be yet another exercise in being "seen" to be doing something!). I wonder if this will lead to a review of cases where claimants like myself were dismissed out of hand but who did not take it to tribunal. How many more would this add to the 1.6m?

Queenoftheblitz It's great to hear that your issues were taken seriously. I have a visible bone deformity in my foot/leg (amongst other delights) - excrutiating pain and limited mobility is part of my daily (and often nightly) life. Didn't cut any sway with ATOS who cut my award to zero. There was no examination or review of medical records.

Gosh I was so, so naive when I had my assessment. This whole charade has had a devastating affect, I wish I had never claimed in the first place. To be told I am a fraud and a liar when the proof is tangible but ignored is difficult to come to terms with. The knock on financial effect is becoming impossible to manage.

Trying to muster the strength to re-apply - maybe there is a glimmer of hope that the tide may be turning?

FreudianSlurp

Link to one of the rhumatologists who has assessed me, the MR letter said I had no 'specialist input'. She's only advised two governments and been head of the Royal College of Physicians.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_M._Black

Yes you have to provide your own recording equipment. It can't be a mobile phone recording. Plus you have to produce two copies at the end of the assessment that can be transferred onto a disk. So yes they don't make it easy.

I read of a claimant who recorded covertly. She was turned down and appealed. Her recording was allowed to be used and she won her appeal.

My assessment wasn't at all pleasant and, having seen this news, I'm worried about what might happen. It seems they are reviewing all cases; does this mean ones that don't have a mental health element, what about those who are already on the maximum awards, will there be early reassessments? So many questions and a whole lot of stress on top of what myself and the other claimants have to suffer all day, every day.