I/B stopped.............help

soozandrew

hello all...........some advice needed please....

after attending a medical the doctor gave a completely different set of answers to the ones i gave (i must of had the same Dr as the rest of the people on here in similar possitions lol), the ATOS Dr, if thats what he was at all, didnt seem to care too much about my physical condition (i have a neck condition that results in constant pins and needles in my left arm and have restricted movement in neck shoulder and arm and have had this for two years and am in the process of seeing a neurologist, i also have m/h & alcohol issues) and am according to the DWP as fit as a fiddle so they have stopped my I/B etc etc.
i have since learned that MY doctor has filled in and returned the form they sent but MY physio didnt recieve any form of request about my condition.....so the DWP/ATOS have not got the full information about my medical history, can i request (i would say demand but i want to treat them with kid gloves so they might be forthcomming) a reinstatement of my benifits and attend another medical due to the incorrect proceedures being followed??

any advice greatly recieved, cheers andrew

cattie

It will be no good asking for a reinstatement of your benefits because you won't be lucky. It's not the way it's done.

DWP/Atos don't have to have info from all health professionals involved in your care.

What you need to do is appeal & send in all supporting evidence you have to back up your claim.

Remember, IB medicals are computer based, meaning points are awarded on the basis of the answers you give to a set of questions listed on the examiners computer. Points are what determines your eligibilty for IB.

soozandrew

thanks for the reply cattie.....i am aware of the points system, what i am questioning is the fact that had they seen a report from my physio i would have gained enough points to meet the requirement for i/b like i have for the last 2 years.....nothing changed in that time regarding my health etc my conditions are still the same......however they havent so i feel i am being unduely penalised, i have followed proceedure by attending medicals/form filling etc etc, but yet when i clearly stated on the ib50 form that i am attending physio on a weekly basis the DWP should have requested the facts like they did through my docs.....dont make sense to me!! surely i have some sort of point ??

healy

There is nothing you can do about it apart from follow the advice that Cattie has given above.

cattie

No sorry. DWP/Atos can choose to have information from health professionals or not. Was your dr not supportive enough then in his/her report?

Lot's of health professionals don't bother to return requests for reports on patients, so DWP are not to know that a request was never received & it's not their policy to chase such things up. The onus with disability benefits is on the claimant to ensure that any reports/evidence they want taken into account is provided.

If you now have the reports you want considered then put in an appeal asap.

Garry_Anderson

Andrew - like you say, your experience is not uncommon with ATOS.

As I have stated many times: these tests are subjective not objective.

The government hope you are having a 'good day' for examination and don't want to take into account expert opinion e.g. your doctors notes, or pain clinic specialist report, or consultant surgeon etc.

It is all about targets - reducing incapacity claimants and saving money.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/07/11/18814.aspx

My Incapacity Benefit was stopped in 1998 and I had to make appeal with the Independent Tribunal Service - I don't know if they still run it - or if DWP got somebody else now.

A word of warning though - most of them fail - be prepared and get as much medical evidence as possible.

healy

Garry_Anderson wrote: »

Andrew - like you say, your experience is not uncommon with ATOS.

As I have stated many times: these tests are subjective not objective.

The government hope you are having a 'good day' for examination and don't want to take into account expert opinion e.g. your doctors notes, or pain clinic specialist report, or consultant surgeon etc.

It is all about targets - reducing incapacity claimants and saving money.

http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/07/11/18814.aspx

My Incapacity Benefit was stopped in 1998 and I had to make appeal with the Independent Tribunal Service - I don't know if they still run it - or if DWP got somebody else now.

A word of warning though - most of them fail - be prepared and get as much medical evidence as possible.

It like a broken record! It really is getting very boring now.

Most appeals do not fail, 50-60% have successful outcomes at appeal.

Garry_Anderson

healy wrote: »

It like a broken record! It really is getting very boring now.

Most appeals do not fail, 50-60% have successful outcomes at appeal.

This affects the income of sick people - it is important information that they should be told.

I am sure certain people here do not want to hear how the system is corrupt - but those on the recieving end need to know they will not get a fair hearing and no allowances will be made for their poor health.

Where are the figures published about pass rates - the last ones I got were getting worse for claimants:

Medical tests for year : Sick people going for tests disallowed benefit : Percentage
1996 : 103,087 : 15
1997 : 205,748 : 20
1998 : 217,557 : 22
Source: Hansard 12 November 98, Col: 295

When this is appealed against to Independent Tribunal Service.

ITS Year : Sick people going for appeal disallowed benefit : Percentage
1996 : 20,448 : 53
1997 : 29,443 : 57
1998 : 28,670 : 60
Source: Hansard 25 March 1999, Col: 391

alwaysonthego_2

Do you have any recent data Garry, or is it all from the 90s?

atomicsheep

rom house of commons hansard : Bridget Prentice: The overall success rate at incapacity benefit appeal hearings was:

45.09 per cent. from April 2007 to March 2008;

43.44 per cent. from April 2008 to October 2008.

Where the appellant had representation, the success rate was:

58.37 per cent. from April 2007 to March 2008;

57.58 per cent. from April 2008 to October 2008.

Prior to April 2007, this information was not recorded.

28.Applying the current PCA to the 212 cases in the sample, 61% met the benefit entitlement threshold of 15 points and 39% failed to meet the threshold. Applying the revised PCA, once allowance is made for implementation of the recommendations of the Technical Working Group, 49% of customers would meet the benefit entitlement threshold, and 51% would fail to do so."
Quote taken from the "Transformation of the Personal Capability Assessment" report by DWP

i think this is from 2008

Garry_Anderson

alwaysonthego wrote: »

Do you have any recent data Garry, or is it all from the 90s?

No - just the late 90's - that is why I asked - they don't seem to like publishing it unless forced to - for some reason