Is ATOS deliberately deceiving both the DWP and the Public?

Redleaf

I am based in central Londonand had waited over a year for a PIP appointment. When I did get one inDecember 2014 it was set for outside of Londonat a cost of £100 in travel costs and over 90min journey time. I contacted ATOSand asked why the venue was not set closer to Central Londonand was told there were no appointments available in London– not one. I decided to ring the closest Consultation Venue (of the 10 listedon the ATOS website for the whole of London).One of the 10 listings is Islington and Clerkenwell Chiropractic Clinic, 178 Goswell Road. When I spoke to the clinic directly they confirmedthey had rented out part of their premises to ATOS – but ATOS hadn’t been inthe building for approximately 6 months now……..

Why are they still listing a Consultation Centre for North London when it is clearly not in use? Are there other “Centres” listedon their site across all regions that are equally defunct?

Hidden in plain sight – no one questions whether the Centreslisted are actually being utilized – we all assume they are “fully booked” butin this case it is a lie.

Deliberate deceit – or pure incompetence – either/or.

dori2o

Redleaf wrote: »

I am based in central Londonand had waited over a year for a PIP appointment. When I did get one inDecember 2014 it was set for outside of Londonat a cost of £100 in travel costs and over 90min journey time. I contacted ATOSand asked why the venue was not set closer to Central Londonand was told there were no appointments available in London– not one. I decided to ring the closest Consultation Venue (of the 10 listedon the ATOS website for the whole of London).One of the 10 listings is Islington and Clerkenwell Chiropractic Clinic, 178 Goswell Road. When I spoke to the clinic directly they confirmedthey had rented out part of their premises to ATOS – but ATOS hadn’t been inthe building for approximately 6 months now……..

Why are they still listing a Consultation Centre for North London when it is clearly not in use? Are there other “Centres” listedon their site across all regions that are equally defunct?

Hidden in plain sight – no one questions whether the Centreslisted are actually being utilized – we all assume they are “fully booked” butin this case it is a lie.

Deliberate deceit – or pure incompetence – either/or.

IMO it's a deliberate act. Not only on ATOS's behalf but I believe the DWP are complicit in this.

The harder these organisations make it to apply for these benefits the less people will apply/continue with their application.

By making people travel such distances, incurring such costs, refusing to see the person in their home, refusing to record the assessments, failing to keep information up to date, it means that people will read forums like this and simply think it's not worth claiming, or in many cases that it would actually cause further health issues (stress/anxiety etc) by applying, based on the experiences of others.

Then there's the cost implications of getting to these centres. As you point out the cost can be in the hundreds of pounds, especially if you cannot manage public transport and have to rely on taxi's or have to drive yourself there (parking fees, petrol etc)

We've seen stories with other assessments, such as those for Blue Badges. There was a topic on this very forum where a person applied for a blue badge due to mobility issues and had to attend the assessment centre which was on the top floor of a building which had no lift. If you refused to attend you didn't get the badge. If you attended then you were obviously mobile as you had climbed 'x' number of steps.

It's all a ploy to systematically deny people their rights to benefits which they are entitled to claim.

People may point to those who are fakers or whom they believe are 'undeserving' (however that is quantified), but the answer is to act against them, not to attack and deny the genuine/'deserving' claimants.

savemoney

It does seem very wrong to not give disabled people an appointment local to them. Have to agree with 2nd poster though I also think its a ploy to deter others from claiming its very wrong

Morglin

There is a medical centre in Bromley, that ATOS use for ESA and DLA claims, so I don't know why, if you live in London, they didn't send you there. All claims from this area, that need assessments go there.

Probably due to the fact that the whole thing is in chaos, and nobody seems to know what is going on!

Lin :wall:

rds60h

Tell ATOS that you are unable to travel that distance and that they are required to give you an appointment at the nearest available site, and if that is the nearest site which you disbelieve, then you will require a home visit.

keep_flyin

I went with a young friend to her PIP assessment. The place she had to attend was 35 miles away, with no public transport and she doesn't drive. I was worried about the accessibility of the building, as it is an old building, so we phoned and asked if it was accessible for wheelchairs as I am a wheelchair user. When we got there there was no ramp into the building and my husband ended up lifting me and my chair in. The corridor was not wide enough to manouver a chair in. When I complained I was told that the building met the requirements, as you could use a rollator (sp?). If it had been my assessment I would have refused to go in.

Needless to say my friend got the daily living component not the mobility. The lady doing the assessment said my friend had a normal gait walking, which she couldn't have observed as she had to go down a corridor so I could get out.