To be delighted PIP assessments are to be face to face?

[PAYE]

The only good thing about the budget is that Rachel Reeves announced that face to face assessments for PIP and disability benefits are being brought back. AIBU to think that this is a great thing?

It will make sure that the money goes to those who need it. It is madness that such face to face assessments were ever stopped.

New govt rules will stop…
third parties booking driving tests - in a bid to stop bots and resale sites,
resale of gig tickets at above face value - in a bid to stop ticket touts,
handing out PIP without laying eyes on the person - in a bid to stop benefits cheats.

Do you see a trend here. There are some obvious ways of stopping cheats making easy money, but the previous government couldn’t be bothered to do them. This government is doing them. Honest people should be happy including genuine PIP recipients. Weeding out the cheats will stop resentment and PPs saying…my neighbour gets it and there’s nothing wrong with him, it’s all a scam.

As long as the person doing the assessment isn’t a physiotherapist trying to assess a medical condition she’s never heard of.
or a CPN trying to assss a spinal cord injury.
or an occupational therapist trying to assess complex ptsd.

etc.

As someone else down the thread pointed out, the DWP haven’t linked passports to PIPs yet, and even if they had, they might not uncover everyone’s movements.

I don’t understand why people are so reluctant to accept this anecdote. There’s huge resistance to believing me. I got a message on WhatsApp about ten days ago, saying my friend’s mobile number had changed, as she exited one country and entered another - presumably she changed her SIM card. So she’s still travelling (solo).

@Hellohelga
Tell is more about this neighbour - can you post his name? His alleged conditions? How you know there is NOTHING wrong with him?
Im shocked you haven’t already reported him - that will take a few minutes of your time and save the public purse £800 a month.

There’s no need to be so gleeful about it OP. It only helps to perpetuate the myth that all
or most people on disability benefits must be faking it. I’m sure there are some people who are definitely faking it, law of averages says there must be. However, face to face consultations just aren’t needed for each and every condition. I get PIP, I also work full time and will be a higher rate tax payer come April. However, my condition will never change, it’s lifelong. I don’t need a face to face meeting just to check whether I’ve ‘recovered’ from it. There’s no cure and my needs will remain the same.

I don’t use the system myself, but the person I know definitely attended an assessment in a job centre.

They don’t assess your condition, they assess your ability to perform certain tasks and how your condition affects your ability to function in day to day life! They don’t need to be an expert in your condition, they are following a set of guidelines set by the DWP!

(For the second time 🙄), I was answering a question further up the thread.

Quite obviously, people with continence difficulties can take flights. Of course.

It’s not true, that’s why we don’t believe you. Your friend may exist, she may be telling you this, but if so she’s lying.

More likely you are to be fair.

The DWP do not check if you leave the country or not unless you are “ under investigation”.

Please don’t accuse me (or anyone) of ‘ableism’ without making the effort to understand the context of a comment. Thank you.

Finally. Thank you. Again!

Grass her up then.

100% agree with you.

Okayyyyy. Whatever. I give up .

You obviously don’t know many (or any) chancers, grifters, dysfunctional people… and you might live in a middle-class bubble.

Wake-up call to @MsPavlichenko : the underbelly of society consists of gigantic piss takers who don’t care about the taxpayer.

I guess some disabilities would mean you can still travel? I travel with a wheelchair etc. But that does seem hard to swallow when I work full time and don't qualify for any benefits

What a waste of taxpayers money!

Anybody with severe learning disabilities or profound and multiple learning disabilities is never, within the realms of current scientific knowledge, going to get better. There will be a wealth of paperwork, probably going back to age 2 and definitely their entry into the education system, detailing this - statements, EHC plans, IQ tests, social care assessments, care plans, you name it.

OP, what do you think a face to face assessment is going to add to pages of paperwork? Don’t you think it’s blindingly obvious, when they start talking or not, in the case of the non verbal?

Why would you automatically assume it isn't true?

I think as a nation we just don't want to believe some people are playing the system

My friend was last heard of exiting Thailand, entering a neighbouring country, and hiring a bicycle. Funded by UC and PIP.

But you’re right. You all know this person far better than I do. I’m just inventing it all.

Have you reported them? I absolutely would!!

How can they accurately assess how someone's condition affects their ability to function in day to day life if they have little knowledge of the actual condition? If it is life long and medical evidence states that it isn't going to change, what is the point other than wasting everyone's time?

If they want face to face assessments, at least have it be someone who knows what they are talking about.

Because some people have had such secluded lives, they can’t conceive of such blatant contempt for wider society. People (like my friend) who take liberties to such an extent are outside these posters’ personal experience.

It’s literally the only explanation I can think of. 🤷

🙄

This. The average assessment is around 40 minutes. There are no doctors employed by assessment companies, in the main they are nurses, physios and paramedics. They are not qualified to assess complex disability, or to challenge medical evidence supplied by claimant’s own doctors and consultants. They have no specialist knowledge and are given a few days training as ‘disability analysts’.

The assessment is indeed about functional ability, but how much of that can be assessed in 40 minutes ? If the assessor doesn’t have a working knowledge of the limitations and challenges presented by the claimants’ disability, they haven’t a hope in hell of providing a fair and balanced assessment. The 70% success rate at tribunal speaks for itself, because the professionals who sit on panels are much more qualified than those employed to do the assessments. We’re hanging our disabled people out to dry with this nonsense, and then blaming them for claiming benefits they’re perfectly entitled to claim.