My PIP Assessment story

ooogemaflip

I had a assessment date for the 18Th April at 9am.

I received no call and complained the same day. I then had an appointment on the 5th May and received no call I again called to complain and was told it was cancelled and I was not told and they made a new appointment for May 17th. I asked why so long and they made a new appointment for May 10th which happened as expected.

Today I received the results of the complaint. The first assessor who did not call was apparently called into a meeting along with her line manager. She had marked it as did not attend saying she tried to call 3 times as per guidelines and if there was a voicemail option she said she would have left one. She then went on to say the Capita call system was not working and used her work mobile but it was so long ago it no longer shows in call history and she could not remember if there was voicemail or not.

She apparently has been issued guidance for not following protocol. One assumes the interviewer knew she was lying as tbh it is blatant BS to save her job.

The investigation has ended and they have apologised for the stress and offered me a good will gesture of £60. They have ruled and acknowledged.

The assessor did not adhere to guidelines
They cancelled an appointment without notification
Incorrect information was given by an enquiry agent
Acknowledge the upset and distress caused

Now the point is the first assessor lied stating she made the calls. He has been paid as working on that day when she was not. Had I not complained and this is what makes this as terrible as it is is the fact the claim would have been passed back to the DWP as a none attendance and then possibly cancelled totally.

This obviously has happened to others, many of whom would have not complained many of whom would have just given up and some would have been left in a terrible state both mentally and financially and some may have even committed suicide.

End result though I was award PIP 13 days after the assessment and have had my back pay 

peteuk

Are we talking April this year?

So just to iron out a few issues in your post.  

Stuff happens to assessors, sadly and their workload is such that there is not much wiggle room.  When I worked for Atos, if I wasn’t going to make an appointment the “office manager” would advise the client,

Assessor was at work, in a meeting with their line manager so is due his pay for that day.  I was doing 4-5 assessments a day, so it might have been just your assessment that was effected.  

I was given a mobile phone to do PIP assessments on, although having also worked with capita (different field) we used Skype to call out on.  Either way, if they used their mobile it will still show on the call log.  So I agree, you should have been contacted by the assessor or by their office manager.

So they have paid you £60 as an apology.  Wonderful.

So your assessment was 17 May and you've got your award in writing already (13 days after assessment) and it has been back dated.  Thats remarkably fast how long is the PIP back to?

ooogemaflip

The PIP is back to March 8th and yes the speed once I got the award after the assessment is remarkable but that is the DWP not Capita that achieved that. My assessment was moved to the 10th May after I requested a change so my support could be here

You say you want to iron out issue in my post but then you seem to miss the point totally.

She said she called, She did not
She said there was an issue with the phone lines and used her mobile. She did not call
She lied and said I did not attend which could have ended my claim. 
She said if there was voicemail she would leave one. There is and she didn't

My phone was working fine on the day, I managed to call Capita after all. I do not have spam calls blocked and I do not have with held numbers blocked. She simply did not call and lied on the the assessment saying I did not answer and then lied when under investigation to cover her butt. The meeting she was called into with her line manager was after the fact and part of the investigation into the case. Sorry if I did not make that clear 

HillStreetBlues

Well done for complaining.
They should also pay the £60 when they lie in the assessment, I would have a few hundred quid by now.

poppy12345

You've been offered a £60 good will gesture for the trouble they caused. What more exactly do you want?

ooogemaflip

poppy12345 said:

You've been offered a £60 good will gesture for the trouble they caused. What more exactly do you want?

I personally do not want anything for myself and tbh I find it very short minded that instead of reading what happened and focusing on the lies and deceit the agent did and the damage it could have done to someone not willing to complain (part of my condition by the way is I lose it if I do not have control of situations or do not know what is happening. I have panic attacks and severe anxiety that leaves me in a mess) you bring up the payment.

What I would like to see is an organisation that works day in day out with the most vulnerable of us is one that does not lie does not deceive and does the job fairly with compassion.

A message to anyone out there who finds this thread and has been treated in the same way please complain to capita or they will try to screw you 

poppy12345

I did read your whole comment and not just the payment part. The reason i said what i did was because you complained, which is good and you were then offered a good will gesture.

As the sticky suggests at the top of the thread, this forum is for help with benefits entitlement.

peteuk

ooogemaflip said:

The PIP is back to March 8th and yes the speed once I got the award after the assessment is remarkable but that is the DWP not Capita that achieved that. My assessment was moved to the 10th May after I requested a change so my support could be here

You say you want to iron out issue in my post but then you seem to miss the point totally.

She said she called, She did not
She said there was an issue with the phone lines and used her mobile. She did not call
She lied and said I did not attend which could have ended my claim. 
She said if there was voicemail she would leave one. There is and she didn't

My phone was working fine on the day, I managed to call Capita after all. I do not have spam calls blocked and I do not have with held numbers blocked. She simply did not call and lied on the the assessment saying I did not answer and then lied when under investigation to cover her butt. The meeting she was called into with her line manager was after the fact and part of the investigation into the case. Sorry if I did not make that clear 

Not to labour the point but you also said they had a meeting yet shouldn’t have been paid as they weren’t working. 
Why would they call if they have a meeting, assessments can take an hour or two, so why start a conversation knowing they were heading into a meeting.

As a previous PIP assessor I am aware of the system,  I found a decision 13 days free assessment somewhat impressive.  But given the mess around with the assessment I’m glad they sorted it out quickly.

With it being back dated to March then I assume thats when you started the process, so even more impressive as others have been waiting months just for the assessment, 

ooogemaflip

I said this and you are misunderstanding it,  maybe I did not make it clear so let me now

"Today I received the results of the complaint. The first assessor who did not call was apparently called into a meeting along with her line manager. She had marked it as did not attend saying she tried to call 3 times as per guidelines and if there was a voicemail option she said she would have left one. She then went on to say the Capita call system was not working and used her work mobile but it was so long ago it no longer shows in call history and she could not remember if there was voicemail or not."

The said meeting she was called into was as a result of not making the call and lying about it. She was not called into a meeting on the day of the call but a week or so after. Now I hope the penny drops 

Why would she make excuses as to why the phone call was not answered or a message left if her reason for not calling was because she was called into a meeting. All she would have said is "I was called into a meeting with my line manager" and that would have been reason enough.

D924

I wish I could get PIP. Technically I can work but due to autism everyone hates me and I am unemployable. It's so brutal.

ooogemaflip

D924 said:

I wish I could get PIP. Technically I can work but due to autism everyone hates me and I am unemployable. It's so brutal.

There is a woman on Tik Tok helps people in your position. My daughters half brother has Autism and gets PIP. I will find out her name. You can reach out she even joins telephone assessments and attends tribunals 

Charlotte Knight @adhdcareerwoman she does all neuro diversity I believe. There is also Benefits and Work. You pay £19.99 for a year but they guide you through everything.