PIP Decision Maker AMA

[Owmyback]

What do you want to know

So who would you expect to do the job? Someone has to, asking someone how they sleep at night over a job they try to do at the best of their ability is rather rude.

'Interesting you don't mention the thousands of people who do get paid, week in week out. That never hits the papers though of course.'

Why on earth would people doing their job correctly and claimants being paid hit the papers? Have we sunk so low in our expectations of the dwp that this should be celebrated?

"I think we're better qualified than the assessors as we seem to have more empathy and are not doing the decision just based on cold clinical evidence."
What qualifications do you hold? Empathy isn't a qualification, it's a personal quality.

A judge and the panel at an appeal tribunal make their decision based on clinical evidence and asking the claimant questions.
If you don't base your decision purely on the clinical evidence yet you don't even communicate with the applicant, why do you think you are better qualified than the assessor?

It is absolutely fine to go by cold clinical evidence or, in the event that none has been provided, seek evidence from doctors. In any event, you have already said your decision is based on the PIP Assessor's report and, IME, they are often riddled with outrageous lies.

Thank God for tribunals. I would encourage everyone to go to a tribunal if they feel they have been underscored. Don't accept the slight changes made to try and pacify you following an MR. Everyone I know who has gone to a tribunal has won.

Views on people who are carers claiming pip. I have chronic health issues and struggle but I’m also a full time carer To my children . Yes meeting some of their needs is tricky but my husband helps with this when home. I’m worried about claiming Incase we loose everything :(

DD is currently in receipt of enhanced PIP on both components, which is up for renewal next year. I’m absolutely bricking it over hers not being renewed. She has consistently refused to have LA support so doesn’t have a sw even though she meets the criteria. She does have a consultant who normally just confirms diagnosis. Realistically, what should I be putting on her renewal?

Her assessment for her last award was done at home (and recorded) and was so completely different (in a good way!) to her shambles of an UC report. Can I just submit the same report and say “nothing’s changed”?

I'll rephrase my last question - are there targets that must be met with regards to successful claims versus claims denied? Any form of performance related pay structures that might tempt an assessor (even subconsciously) to massage a report one way or another?

Why do the DWP employ companies that are clearly not fit for the purpose of assessing disabled people, ignore medical evidence & have massive amounts of complaints? The old system that was used for DLA where an independent doctor visited the claimant in their home was much better, more accurate & less people had to appeal.

I'd like a response to my earlier question regarding Panorama and the seeming disabilist culture within the relevant part of the DWP.
As evidenced by former DWP PIP Decision makers who took part in the programme.

My apologies, correction, it was Channel 4 Dispatches.

Is it true you get a bonus for failing assessments despite them actually being entitled to PIP?

Is there a policy to try to fob people off in the hope they give up?

Our case: Applied. Turned down. Did MR and turned down. Lodged and appeal. No further evidence. Highest rate.

Why do does it take an appeal to go from no rate to highest rate without providing extra evidence.

What experience/qualifications DO you need to become a decision maker?

If you repeatedly receive "dodgy" assessments from a particular assessor is there a procedure for YOU to flag them up as acting wrongly?

Who monitors and supervises YOUR work YOUR decisions?

There IS a high rate of decisions being overturned on appeal however much you try to deny this - WHY is this not being addressed at your level?

As decision makers there are a lot of you and you would carry significant weight to bear if you collectively said to your agency/bosses that this was clearly wrong yet to the best of my knowledge this does not happen.

Is it well known and taken into consideration that assessors lie and make things up on applications and does no-one at a higher level feel that this needs dealt with?

Also, as a PP asked earlier, who on earth words the letters from the PIP decision makers. My son's repeatedly stated 'you said you cannot do X, I have decided that you can'. I mean, who the fuck decides that they know enough about a person they have never met and can decide that they can do absolutely everything the claimant said they can't. And they have no medical background? Appaling.

I'm not bashing you personally, unless you are one of the people who send that type of letter to someone who has been humiliated enough in a face to face interview then lied about repeatedly in the report.

You clearly have authority to say yes or no to a claimant. So what makes you say no if someone has submitted diagnosis from medical experts and evidence from Social workers stating the difficulties the person faces every day?

How can you possibly asses the effect of disability on someone’s life and make a decision about their award when you have no medical knowledge to understand the effects of these conditions?

Another one, why do you decide who can and can’t do something? When you have medical reports proving they cannot - how can you judge someone on less than a one hour assessment? I’ve seen people with cancer, MS, ME, fibromyalgia, brain tumours etc turned down which clearly does effect them - yet the decision comes back as a no?

Does a person working/studying influence your decision at all? I know you say a person can work and get PIP but in all honesty if you know the person is able to work or attend school does it factor into your decision?

The OP can only answer questions regarding her role, she/he doesn't speak for the whole of the DWP, it's choice of who carries out the assessments, cannot overthrow guidance or regulations. Just like anybody working for a large organisation cannot justify decisions made by powers way way above their role. People working in these roles are administering benefits according to set out guidelines and they do their very best with the training and support available - this is often not adequate. I suggest you complain to your MP if you are unhappy with any procedures in place, but don't vilify people for simply doing their job.

What is considered “good evidence”? My partner no longer sees specialists etc as they can’t do much for him, so he doesn’t have any recent paperwork.

On renewal, I was told to treat it as a first time application rather than writing “no changes”. Is that right?

Name changed for this.

My daughter is 18 and transferred onto pip. Refused at assessment due to lies by the assessor and when we counteracted these with evidence for the mr still turned down. At tribunal given higher rate for both only on the evidence that the dwp had. Why?

And for me - a line from the assessor in the mr 'based on how this condition affects a person I feel that you are able to ..... ' for various points. I have a condition that if you're not medically trained would have never heard of. I have yet to see a dr or nurse who has seen it before. It effects 1 in 40 million people. There are 2 of us In the uk so I'm not sure how you can generalise?

This is in addition to the assessor telling me that they have met 'loads of people' with my condition

When a report is clearly wrong you have to complain to the assessors we don't have any control over what they put in the report initially unless we know it to be untrue in which case we do send it back for a rework and quite often we disagree with them and we do try our very best to get the best outcome for everyone.

This isnt an answer, to my question.

What happens if an assessor is proved to be lying?

and yes, the decision maker, in my mums case, didn't bother looking into whether mums epilepsy medication was over the counter or not.

I am confused as to what a decision maker does. They simply read the report? They don't verify anything?

If you take everything as trutg in the report, what is role. Several of us, our of a small number, knows of an assessor who is lying.

No one checks their information is accurate?

hellswelshy no one said she could. But she must know what happens within the larger department.

Otherwise she can't answer very much and I am confused about the ama.

Essentially, she reads a report written by someone else, who can lie or out their spin on it and make decision based on that.

And knows nothing else about anything else that happens or procedure?

The OP can only answer questions regarding her role, she/he doesn't speak for the whole of the DWP

The thread title is Ask Me Anything .
Why do you keep talking on behalf of the OP hellswelshy?

My relative, on her second brain tumour, was refused PIP. Tons of medical evidence. A physiotherapist assessed her. Lied.

On appeal given highest rate care and mobility thanks to a very angry consultant neurologist.

We were told that evidence over three months old was not being taken into account by the assessor. Disgraceful..

Think it’s a job for Sadi masochists only those who are liars a and scum bags do this job it’s abuse of the disabled

People working in these roles are administering benefits according to set out guidelines and they do their very best with the training and support available

Having worked in various roles with DWP and HMRC I can state that in my experience there are a fair amount of staff who, for whatever reasons, are self-appointed Guardians Of The Money who do make snap judgements about claimants, who do think the worst of people, and who do think loads of them are taking the piss. One of my job roles involved investigating complaints about these people. It is endemic in some departments.