pip assessor lies

[1littleduck]

Hi all.
I have read a lot of your posts regarding lies made by the pip assessors and I am joining your club.
My rejection letter was received on Friday and is a total fabrication to which I am going to fight all the way.
I had an assessor pointing, shouting and threatening me because I had a panic attack. They stated that I demonstrated good power and movement in my legs when I spent the whole duration of the assessment sitting with my feet up on the couch.
Could I make a suggestion. Is anyone familiar with starting a campaign and raising signatures for the government to make a new law stating that 'if an Employed assessor provides deliberate false and misleading information relating to any part of an assessment they can be personally sued for liable whether or not they are working on behalf of any company employed to carry out the task. If the company responsible for supplying the information requested deliberately alters the report, then the officer making the alterations should be named and is therefore also guilty of a criminal act and can be sued as an individual'
I am sure this, providing false documentation, is a criminal act but not clear weather an individual can be sued for it, but saying that, If we manage to get such a law passed through parliament then the days of the sheer fabrication, dishonest reporting and dam right lies of the PIP reports would be a thing of the past.

I know we will need 10,000 signatures for this to be debated in parliament and would think we could well exceed this if we tried.

My PIP runs out on 20th November 2019. I received the renewal on the 22nd of November. It had to be returned by the 15th of December, I sent it recorded today. I at least hoped to get Christmas out of the way!

PIP does not affect UC really at all, there are no adult disability premiums on UC. The only thing it really affects is that in a couples claim , the disabled persons partner could claim the carers element of UC even if they don't claim carers allowance ( for example if they earned too much to claim carers allowance). If a child is on DLA there is however a disabled child element in the same way that there is on tax credits. Being on PIP does have some effect on the limited capability for work and work related activity (LCWRA ) element of UC I think in that you can earn over a certain amount ( possibly NMW x 16 ?? ) and still get the LCWRA element if you claim PIP I'm not 100% sure of the rules on this.

i got mine refused-they changed my initial asseesemment date i then rang and said my chaperon couldnt come with could they reschedule

they referred it back to the main centre who lied and said i just didnt turn up-ive got the time and date on my phone log so i told them that they said theyre giving it back for reconsdertaion but i dont hold out much hope

Even when i won the tribunal they still try and crawl out of that, pretended to lose the paperwork and MP had to intervene again, they finally used my copy. But that took ages too.

They also sent my pip forms out late! I had a certain time limit, i received the forms with only 5 days to get them filled and sent back

They seem to have no consistency. The ESA assessor used the PIP tribunal decision in her SG report, but PIP are ignoring it! It all seems really hit and miss. At least appeals will see this. I suppose as they get all the notes etc.

Yes, they say their letters take up to ten days to arrive but you still have to send them back within a month of the date on them. But they have no deadline to respond to you and it can take months.

As PIP is disregarded for UC how would a back payment affect it though? It shouldn't.

Sorry - I was asked if I reported a claimant who exaggerated her sympotoms. No of course I didn't. I was there to accompany her and help her not to make a diagnosis or judge her for smoking. For all I know it might have been one of her better days.

My point is that the whole thing is based on subjective impressions so people lie, act or disbelieve in the process. The system is so very wrong.

@Orangeblossom1976

An OT does not have the clinical qualifications that an RGN has. (Unless of course they have been clinically trained)

There is no clinical elements of an OT's role. OT's role in a person's life is to enable a person to live and meet their day to day living needs.

They'll assess for example, a person in hospital who is due to be discharged home the the home environment is suitable and the person is able to manage. Often a wider part of the adult social care team. They can recommend aids within the home for a person with mobility issues.

The line the DWP give is that assessors all have special training when they take the job, therefore it doesn't matter if they are OT's, physiotherapists or whatever.

OT is a 3 year degree.

I was offered a job as an assessor. Nope.

All assessors are on their own professional register with a protected title.

I had a meeting with the welfare advisor at my local ME support group yesterday, I still haven't received a decision on my reassessment yet but she is starting work on a mandatory reconsideration ready so that it can be sent straight away when it arrives. My mum told her how the assessor was typing her answers before I had chance to speak, how she never saw me walking & how she was talking over me, firing the next question before I had answered the last one, we showed her the report, she saw straight away where she had scored me lower than she should have. She told me that we have to give robust reasons where & why the scores are lower than they should be. She took notes of how the assessor treated me & how she didn't listen to me, I told her that I didn't refuse to do any of the movements she asked me to do, she had put that I refused to do the bending & squatting, how we had to ask for the examination bed to be lifted higher as I couldn't get on & off as it was too low, she said I had no problems getting on & off. The assessor said I made good eye contact & spoke clearly, I never looked at her, I was looking at the floor as she was making me angry & upset, my mum was sat next to me & couldn't hear me speak as my voice was shaking & very quiet. She says that if we give good arguments they won't have any reason not to allow the reconsideration, how they have been told off by tribunals for not allowing the reconsideration to stand & have been made to look stupid & unreasonable.

If anyone feels they haven't been treated fairly then put in a reconsideration, get help from a welfare advisor if you can, but you can do it yourself.

OT''s are regulated by the HCPC.

They are a protected profession.

However, the difference is the clinical medical evidence of a medical professional in many cases is not factored into assessments.

It would be an excellent study for findings undertaken by clinically trained that were successful at F2F against those that were undertaken by OTs and unsuccessful to determine the quality of the findings.

Interesting. So I have the OT's report which was wrong, basically, and several nurse assessments which were good, so wonder how that will pan out. There are several errors in the facts as well. Quite big ones showing they haven't read my diagnosis etc. Will see. They have gone with the OT report so far, MR at the mo. My GP report says the opposite to OT's.

Maybe it would go in my favour if the report was done by an OT.

Orange. The OT report does not reflect your GPs report?

If the OT's findings are challengeable, and the MR decision-maker upholds the OT report, it's off to a tribunal for you.

It does mean going through the findings on the OT report against each of the descriptors and evidencing why you disagree.

Does that make sense?

Eg. Moving around. If OT said you can move unaided for more than 20m.

If there are limited mobility abilities that you are unable to move more than 20m without becoming breathless/painful due to spinal issues....

You're disagreeing with the OTs findings that you can mobilise 20m unaided.

Yep. The OT's report does not agree with previous PIP tribunal decision 2 years ago, either or the ESA support group report, either in points or prognosis. Neither have they given the points for planning and following journeys due to MH.

Will be a paper appeal for me which I won last time on the papers. But going to include more about the mobility part this time due to the MH changes.

This is a helpful site with the latest PIP decisions etc, useful.

pipinfo.net

Following with interest and exasperation. I'm carer facing more form filling in the new year...both of us feel hounded. Claimed PIP this year and the conclusion was pure fabrication but we got something so we shrugged it off.

International day of persons with disabilities was this month. The party president for the lib dems has a disability and wrote a moving piece.

It is not acceptable that the benefits system targets people with disabilities, and also removing their access to Motability support, and thus access to specialist cars and wheelchairs.

www.libdems.org.uk/international-day-persons-with-disabilities?utm_campaign=1812_s_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=libdems

Just wanted to share here as it's the first decent mention from any party disabled people have had in ages i thought. Also "targeted" is such an accurate word as thats just how we feel.

Good luck to everyone, i really hope things improve soon ❤

Panda that's awful. I was diagnosed with CFS 5 years ago. At the time it was hard to stand up even to peel an onion to start making a meal with and I often could not walk even short distances. I took 2 cd players to record interview as I work somewhere I could get that kit. I checked twice the day before that I could do this on the day, asked if the assessor had been informed of this -yes they said. Got there (an hour's drive, so DP drove me, as I wasn't up to it) and assesssor said 'no one told me' so we can cancel or do it and not record. Went ahead with no recording. I got the transcript after asking for this, it was a pack of lies. Ignored anything I had said on form or verbally about my worst days, which came often then. It was beyond awful and I just did not have the strength to fight to tribunal. At the time my 3 year old and keeping hold of my p-time job were what I needed to focus on so I decided to let it go. I remain angry that sick people have to endure this shit. It was even worse than I had imagined. It is wrong and immoral. I have known nurses walk out at recruitment stage when they see what they are being asked to do in this job. The state rightly expects us to be honest about our capacities and health and yet fraud is committed on their side by these companies (Atos/Capita). CAB advisor was appalled and said I should fight it, 68% of refusals are overturned -

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/benefits-uk-disability-assessment-company-report-finds-government-cuts-a8208271.html

I think some of these assesors must have CFS. Cheeky fucker Syndrome

My ESA Assessor/HCP who worked for Danone on enteric tube feeding. She knew sweet FA about my orthopaedic conditions, medications, surgeries, malunion of bones etc etc. She was a sarcastic bitch who thoroughly enjoyed demeaning me throughout the session. Commented that I was wearing nail varnish, asked me 4 x ‘What do you do all day ?’ Not accepting that it takes me all day to do what I used to do in an hour. The report was full of lies & I got zero points despite letters from my Ortho Surgeon, Pain Doctor & the fact that I’d been awarded my occupational pension at enhanced rate (= unable to undertake any form of work, decided on medical evidence by a doctor). I complained about her to NMC who fobbed me off and said that she denied my allegations. I was paid ESA for the next 9 months pending the Tribunal, which I won. So the Govt. saved no money, and incurred the cost of the Tribunal and MR. It is completely wrong that the NMC protect these ‘Assessors’ by taking their side. There should be a proper investigation by NMC which remains on their record.