Do the DWP lie ? 31 March 2011 at 1:01AM in Disability money matters 21 replies 3.2K views

nashly

I recently filled in a claim for DLA which was denied by the DWP on the grounds of the info I had put on the form and a report from my physiotherapist.
I have appealed their decision and they sent me back a more in depth reply with forms filled in by my doctor but nothing form my phsiotherapist, have the DWP lied about receiving a report from my physiotherapist ?

dmg24

How on earth is anyone supposed to answer that question?

You need to ask the DWP and/ or your physio.

nashly

dmg24 wrote: »

How on earth is anyone supposed to answer that question?

You need to ask the DWP and/ or your physio.

Obviously I was asking if anyone has had a similar experience of the DWP lying.

Richie-from-the-Boro

I think what dmg24 meant was, the forms filled in and sent back to you contained no documented opinion from your physiotherapist.

- was it an omission / deliberate or otherwise by the DWP in terms of your physiotherapist's report ?

or

- did they not receive one from your physiotherapist in the first place ?

Ask your physiotherapist for clarification, and to save time a copy of the report he sent.

eskimo26

nashly wrote: »

I recently filled in a claim for DLA which was denied by the DWP on the grounds of the info I had put on the form and a report from my physiotherapist.
I have appealed their decision and they sent me back a more in depth reply with forms filled in by my doctor but nothing form my phsiotherapist, have the DWP lied about receiving a report from my physiotherapist ?

I wouldn't call it lying but its essentially the same result but as a consequence of incompetence and poor training more then anything.

With the team i deal with i would 35% don't have a clue what there doing or talking about, 45% don't care and that leaves about 20% that are amazing and completely on the ball, unfortunately there is only so much they can do being such a small percentage.

The worst are the telephone front-line but i've heard they're quite poorly/inadequately trained.

My favourites in the past have been when they tell you that what you posted still hasn't been received, i now send everything recorded delivery its great fun when i tell them that package that you supposedly haven't received was signed for by someone on so and so a date and suddenly the package mysteriously appears within a matter of seconds or minutes.

Not mentioning things that may be relevant because i didn't ask, omitting things because there are not required to provide them, being confused/having wrong information about this benefit and that benefit, i realize its complicated but its kind of their jobs isn't it? I'm constantly correcting false or inaccurate information which is almost always proceeded with 'hang on i'll just go and ask.'

One of them recently told me mail is collected together in a separate place so even if its signed for the team doesn't necessarily now it's arrived. Sounds like a shoddy system to me, stacked so they can as many excuses as they need. But i can only speak for the telephone front line and my own personal benefits team.

Put it this way if a private bussiness ran itself the way some Government departments' do they would go completely bust full stop. I've heard horrific things from friends working in the foreign office.

I now create a paper trail after every encounter by e-mailing them with the information we discussed and asking them to confirm it, either that or i record the phone conversation. All in all pretty terrible service when you feel your forced to do that.

MrsManda

I can honestly say I have had no problems with them at all either through the application process, ATOS assessment, decision making or the customer service team.

But as dmg24 said, we've got no idea in your particular case and the only way to find out is to speak to your physiotherapist and query with the DWP if your physiotherapist says she wrote a report.

Also double check the paperwork you've received just to make sure that your doctor doesn't refer to physiotherapist notes/include physiotherapist information as it's possible they could have been put together.

Another possibility (though very unlikely) is that the report has been held back because the physiotherapist has asked for it to be confidential as it contains things which may be harmful to your mental or physical wellbeing. - medical notes even when requested through SAR can be witheld for this reason. But like I said, it's highly unlikely but you'll be able to find out if you speak to your physio to see if they provided a report and if the answer is yes, speak to the DWP to say that the report is missing.

dori2o

Seems funny you have had this problem when I too have recently had reason to doubt that DWP have even read my claim form.

They CLAIM, to have received a report from my GP dated the 4th March 2011. The only problem is that report is still, even now, sat on my GP's desk waiting to be completed.

I do think there is an agenda at DWP where so many claims received are passed without question, and so many are refused without investigation into them.

when_will_it_end

op i would do as dorio has done and request all evidence used if they do not produce a report from your physio then it will only make your appeal stronger, i asked for all mine some weeks ago to discover a doctor i had never seen filled in my form

good luck

dmg24

dori2o wrote: »

Seems funny you have had this problem when I too have recently had reason to doubt that DWP have even read my claim form.

They CLAIM, to have received a report from my GP dated the 4th March 2011. The only problem is that report is still, even now, sat on my GP's desk waiting to be completed.

I do think there is an agenda at DWP where so many claims received are passed without question, and so many are refused without investigation into them.

Then you are paranoid - the beauty of the DWP is that, although it may not seem like it to lay people, they are transparent. Yep, the system is not perfect, but there is no conspiracy as you would imply.

when_will_it_end wrote: »

op i would do as dorio has done and request all evidence used if they do not produce a report from your physio then it will only make your appeal stronger, i asked for all mine some weeks ago to discover a doctor i had never seen filled in my form

good luck

How is that the fault of the DWP?

cit_k

dmg24 wrote: »

Then you are paranoid - the beauty of the DWP is that, although it may not seem like it to lay people, they are transparent. Yep, the system is not perfect, but there is no conspiracy as you would imply.



How is that the fault of the DWP?

Transparent?

Try getting hold of a copy of LIMA owned by the DWP - essential if you wish to prove benefit medicals are biased/unfair against the claimaint- no chance, not even if you are parliament or a law lord, no one is allowed to see it outside of their circle.

Try getting hold of something simple - like who the DWP get to investigate complaints against atos - again highly hush hush.

Try asking them some simple things like breakdowns of who is refused what after what type of exam etc, more often than not - they say they dont have a clue (information not held).

Try asking them for a copy of the FULL contract between ATOS and DWP - not a chance, all the bits of interest are missing - even MPs dont get to see the full contract.

On a personal level, complain about to many assessments and hey presto - as if by magic, all your previous assessment documentation and records go 'missing' completely from the system......

Markoo_2

i sent in medical evidence via special delivery with tracking. when the decision was made on my claim the medical evidence i sent in was not used the only evidence used was an atos report, when i questioned the dwp about this they said they have not recived any medical evidence from my self but they had recived my claim and i sent in my own medical evidence with the claim form!