Atos medical, Lies and twisting what i say.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

- Chris Grayling on the 1st of Feb 2012 said people would be allowed to formally request their medical to be recorded, he said :

“On audio recording - we will offer everyone who wants it the opportunity to have their session recorded. We decided not to implement universal recording because, based on the trial experience, people did not want it. Few people wanted their sessions recorded, and some said that they definitely did not. We decided therefore to offer recording as an option to those who want it. That seems entirely sensible.”

- since then the flood of additional numbers of ESA claimants wishing to record their WCA has meant that :

Regardless of Grayings pledge many people here seem to be saying that the DWP / ATOS are claiming that equipment is not available / broken / etc leading to the a situation where people are struggling to obtain their right to a recorded interview. Lobby groups have repeatedly asked the following two plus one supplementary questions, without as yet any reply from DWP / ATOS :

* if Atos recording equipment is broken/not available, are people permitted to bring their own equipment? and
* if Atos recording equipment is broken/not available, can people ask to reschedule their assessment until equipment is available, without having their application affected?

Supplementary - if it was possible for people to take video as well as audio recordings

NOTE1 : There are [June 2012] a measly 11 recording devices for over 140 medical assessments centres, and that assumes none are broken.

NOTE2 : A recent FOI made the DWP spell out that ATOS can not try to penalise claimants for its own inability to meet demand for recorded assessments, something they have known to try to do in the past.

NOTE3 : """Can you refuse to have the medical if they agree to record it and then refuse to record it?""" - I'll have to think about that one, I would normally have said no you must attend, now I'm not so sure, I'll do an Arnie and get back to you.

NOTE4 : Individuals should continue to make the request for recording facilities otherwise the DWP / ATOS will suddenly discover there is a miraculous lack of demand for this service and discontinue the recording facilities as they will be statistically shown to be not-required !

________________________
An official DWP modification to the above

Following the announcement of the availability of audio recording the increase in requests applications is making it difficult for Atos to fulfil these requests [good I'm pleased about that] . New machines were ordered, but as far as I'm aware not yet delivered [as I expected] and / or in use.

The DWP however has asked ATOS to try to accommodate requests for an audio recording where the claimant makes the request in advance of their assessment.

Where its not possible to get the equipment to the location where your WCA is to take place ATOS must inform you in advance of your WCA appointment and offer a 4 week deferral on the appointment. The DM's guidance however has not been changed and the absence of audio recording equipment itself does not of itself constitute ‘good cause’ and each case will continue to be considered individually as is the current process.

kayla99

Just to jump on this post, my husband had an ATOS medical done at home a few weeks ago, the assessor being a GP.

I have read before advice from others recommending that you record the assessment, but didn’t believe that ATOS/or anyone professional would be so deceitful

The report we received was full of LIES –

- “He drives a manual car” – We told him my husband hadn’t driven for 6 months+ as it was not safe for him to do so, car on SORN
- “He shops at ASDA” – No, they asked where we did the shopping, I do it
- “Not depressed”– On antidepressants for depression and paranoia (paranoia which was explained to the assessor)
- “He walked downstairs when I arrived”- If you had seen, he descended the stairs on his bum!
- “There was no stair rail” – FACT . . . . But that is because we are trying to get a stair lift fitted!
The list goes on . . . I would never face one of these assessments again without recording equipment as these guys have no shame!

Tightgit83

If you want to pass the test you have to tell them as little as possible and keep in mind they are looking for any reason to take your benefit away from you.

So if they want information about where you go shopping.
You say.
How is that relevant?
If they say answer the question!
You say.
I am not the one has the disability. The person beside me is. Why don't you ask him/her.
Then if they ask the Disabled person the Disabled person must not answer. Or even better just grunt or something.
They will get really tired of this due to your inability to provide them with information that they cannot manipulate.


This is what the current Government has pushed disabled people to do.

A disabled person is better to just sit down and be quiet and be like cabbage while his/her carers should just do the same and tell the assessor what don't want to know.

battleofbritain

Having got through appeal and amazed that hubby actually won we are still waiting for payment owed from January.does anyone know how long it takes as we were told 2-3 weeks but already waited nearly 7?

Invalidation

battleofbritain wrote: »

Having got through appeal and amazed that hubby actually won we are still waiting for payment owed from January.does anyone know how long it takes as we were told 2-3 weeks but already waited nearly 7?

Just pop them a letter telling them you will be expecting interest on the amount owed.

rogerblack

Invalidation wrote: »

Just pop them a letter telling them you will be expecting interest on the amount owed.

There is no interest legally payable, and this will be correctly refused.

If their excessive delay causes financial hardship, or stress, there is provision for compensation.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/financial-redress-for-maladministration.pdf
is the guide for staff

Makeandsave

battleofbritain wrote: »

Having got through appeal and amazed that hubby actually won we are still waiting for payment owed from January.does anyone know how long it takes as we were told 2-3 weeks but already waited nearly 7?

Call them and chase them for it, i did that and he worked it out Friday and paid it in my bank on Monday. Now i am going through the medical all over again.

fairyclicks

I just came across this thread and thought i should pop in and say that despite my own assessment being full of rubbish i was able to successfully appeal and get my points award changed from 0 to 21. The whole appeal process was one of the most stressful situations i have gone through and i certainly wouldn't wish it on anyone, however i also wanted to just let people know that it is possible to come out the other side. Unfortunately i am now going through the same thing for DLA BUT having been there and done it once i am much more prepared.

The main things i would suggest are:

to make sure you have as many different types of evidence from as many sources as possible relating to your condition.

request ALL of the information used to make the decision.

Go through every piece of information with a fine tooth comb and write a full and detailed explanation of how something could have been misinterpreted - note they will not respond to you saying the assessor 'lied' but you can say things like the information has been mixed up or is written in a way that does not reflect the situation properly.

Get as much of the information in to them asap - my current situation is due to not getting the info in on time (even though it was hand delivered on the deadline day which was agreed by them on the phone - and yes i will be complaining about it)

Make use of the full process - there is the option to ask for a reconsideration after the decision is made and before an appeal.

Make sure all your actions reflect the information on your form - if you can't go anywhere alone then make sure someone accompanies you to all the assessments for example (not just waiting in the waiting room).

I hope that helps and if i can ease the stress on anyone by providing info please just ask!

Good Luck with it all!

battleofbritain

Phoned a week ago to find out why we had not received back pay after winning appeal and was told they knew nothing about it!Funny when the details were sent at begining of September! Then told that money would appear in our bank account within3 days.no sign yet!

KxMx

Get your MP involved, was a few years ago now but my appeal money came through pretty quick after I got mine on the case.

Thanks to everyone posting re recording medicals, i'm on the list for one at the moment- after they tried to wriggle out of it mind.