PIP Renewal form, should you enclose the tribunal findings

Jon_01

Hi Everyone,

A mate of mine has just had the renewal form for his pip (which is totally freaking him out).

He had to go to tribunal after the he was moved from DLA to PIP due the face to face being a complete joke. This took almost a year with him getting no benefit payments at all.

His condition has gotten worse in the time since the tribunal, but if you google saying that on the renewal form it seems the odds are you get another face to face. Which he really doesn't want to go through again.

Is it therefore a good idea to include a copy of the tribunal report with the form (after saying everything is 'No change'. Or does this just goad the DWP into forcing another face to face anyway??

Thanks

poppy12345

Filling out the forms saying just "no change" will definitely not help any renewal and it won't stop a face to face assessment. Most people have them as it's rare to have a paper based assessment.


There's no harm in sending the Tribunal decision but this isn't going to help if their condition's got worse.



All claims should be treated as a new claim, whether it's first time claiming or a review. When filling out the forms he should state exactly how his conditions affect him and put as much information as possible. Adding a couple of real life examples of what happened the last time he attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to him.



There's never enough of space on those forms so using extra sheets of paper will most likely be needed. Don't forget to put name and NI number on everything he sends.



Evidence should be sent with the form to support his claim because they rarely contact anyone for this.

Jon_01

poppy12345 wrote: »

Filling out the forms saying just "no change" will definitely not help any renewal and it won't stop a face to face assessment. Most people have them as it's rare to have a paper based assessment.


There's no harm in sending the Tribunal decision but this isn't going to help if their condition's got worse.



All claims should be treated as a new claim, whether it's first time claiming or a review. When filling out the forms he should state exactly how his conditions affect him and put as much information as possible. Adding a couple of real life examples of what happened the last time he attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to him.



There's never enough of space on those forms so using extra sheets of paper will most likely be needed. Don't forget to put name and NI number on everything he sends.



Evidence should be sent with the form to support his claim because they rarely contact anyone for this.

Thanks Poppy, not the info he wanted to be honest!

He did add a number of pages of info when he was first moved from DLA to PIP, got to the face to face and the DWP hadn't sent any of them to Atos! The report that came from the interview was total fiction anyway...

I'm not sure why we put up with this from the DWP? There are enough reports that Atos and the other company are only in for the money and that the face to face interviews they conduct are unfit for purpose.

poppy12345

Jon_01 wrote: »

Thanks Poppy, not the info he wanted to be honest!

He did add a number of pages of info when he was first moved from DLA to PIP, got to the face to face and the DWP hadn't sent any of them to Atos! The report that came from the interview was total fiction anyway...

I'm not sure why we put up with this from the DWP? There are enough reports that Atos and the other company are only in for the money and that the face to face interviews they conduct are unfit for purpose.

Sorry it's not what you wanted to hear. Sadly, he does need to expect the face to face assessment because most people have them.

calcotti

Jon_01 wrote: »

I'm not sure why we put up with this from the DWP? There are enough reports that Atos and the other company are only in for the money and that the face to face interviews they conduct are unfit for purpose.

Because the government takes no notice of these reports.

Jon_01

One further questions he's asked me to post.

He's had two face to face interviews with Atos, both times the (supposed) HCP had no experience or knowledge of his condition. In the last one she asked about symptoms, he got part way through explaining them and she cut his off with 'That's enough about symptoms' and then got annoyed when he brought up symptoms later that she hadn't let him cover at the start!

The question therefore is: Can you walk out of an interview if the HCP clearly knows nothing about the condition that the person they're interviewing has?

Alice_Holt

Jon_01 wrote: »

One further questions he's asked me to post.

He's had two face to face interviews with Atos, both times the (supposed) HCP had no experience or knowledge of his condition. In the last one she asked about symptoms, he got part way through explaining them and she cut his off with 'That's enough about symptoms' and then got annoyed when he brought up symptoms later that she hadn't let him cover at the start!

The question therefore is: Can you walk out of an interview if the HCP clearly knows nothing about the condition that the person they're interviewing has?

Not advisable.

Better options would be to:
a) Have a friend / family member attend with him who takes a pen and notepad and summarises the interview.
b) Request the interview is recorded.

calcotti

Jon_01 wrote: »

Can you walk out of an interview if the HCP clearly knows nothing about the condition that the person they're interviewing has?

Agree with Alice, not advisable. Strong risk of having benefit refused if you did this. You can, of course, make a complaint after the assessment and definitely make notes about the assessment that you can use if you subsequently need to challenge a decision.

poppy12345

Jon_01 wrote: »

He's had two face to face interviews with Atos, both times the (supposed) HCP had no experience or knowledge of his condition. In the last one she asked about symptoms, he got part way through explaining them and she cut his off with 'That's enough about symptoms' and then got annoyed when he brought up symptoms later that she hadn't let him cover at the start!

This is the whole point of filling out the form with as much information about how your conditions affect you as possible. There's never ever going to be enough of time during any face to face assessment to cover everything they need to about anyone's conditions.



If the form is done this way then during the assessment they will only need additional information.

Jon_01

Alice_Holt wrote: »

Not advisable.

Better options would be to:
a) Have a friend / family member attend with him who takes a pen and notepad and summarises the interview.
b) Request the interview is recorded.

Thanks, Alice,

I go with him, take notes ect. But that doesn't stop the interviewer just moving comments around from one section to another or leaving things out.
For example: The question was something like 'Can you dress yourself?' The answer was something like 'Yes, but it takes a lot of time, but I try to make the effort'.

One the report this turned into: 'Mr XXX has no issues dressing'. And under general 'Mr XXX says he makes an effort to live normally'. So misrepresenting one comment and moving one from a specific area into a general comment applying to every aspect.

And, I'm sorry, the option to record is just a complete joke. First time, 'We have no equipment available.'
Second time. 'The recorder broke this morning.'

Alice_Holt

Jon_01 wrote: »

Thanks, Alice,

I go with him, take notes ect. But that doesn't stop the interviewer just moving comments around from one section to another or leaving things out.
For example: The question was something like 'Can you dress yourself?' The answer was something like 'Yes, but it takes a lot of time, but I try to make the effort'.

One the report this turned into: 'Mr XXX has no issues dressing'. And under general 'Mr XXX says he makes an effort to live normally'. So misrepresenting one comment and moving one from a specific area into a general comment applying to every aspect.

And, I'm sorry, the option to record is just a complete joke. First time, 'We have no equipment available.'
Second time. 'The recorder broke this morning.'

The advantage of having someone with him is that if the assessment report doesn't reflect what happened at the interview, then should an appeal be necessary there is supporting evidence to confirm the claimants version.