PIP assessment & appointee

iklepig

Hello,

I am writing this on behalf of a friend of mine. They are the appointee for their brother (brother = 43 yrs, learning difficulties & autism, brain damage & stroke). The brother’s PIP review has come round and they have decided he needs a zoom-call assessment (why? Nothing has changed!). 

Anyway, does both the appointee AND the disabled brother have to attend the computer assessment? 

I thought the whole point of having an appointee was because the disabled person can’t manage their affairs and so they need and appointee to deal with it. 

Also, the brother can’t cope with sitting still like this & answering questions so my friend just wants to know whether his (disabled) brother has to be there when he will have to talk as his appointee. 

Any clarification would be gratefully appreciated. 

Muttleythefrog

Have a read of https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-1-the-assessment-process

Points 1.15.16 to 1.15.23  (Appointees section regarding assessments)

May be helpful as it is the official guidance and it covers all the points requiring response in your post

iklepig

Muttleythefrog said:

Have a read of https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-1-the-assessment-process

Points 1.15.16 to 1.15.23  (Appointees section regarding assessments)

May be helpful as it is the official guidance and it covers all the points requiring response in your post

Thank you! This is really helpful and I have already told him to look these sections up.

A further question if I may ask….  My friend’s brother has been mentally disabled his whole life and has always needed help. My friend became his appointee when their mother died as there was no other family member to take on this role. His brother has never been able to work and has been on disability (DLA/PIP) from childhood and then into adulthood. His condition will never get better. The DWP know this and yet they have still insisted on a reassessment. Is there any way my friend can persuade them at this point to reconsider a paper-based assessment (or no assessment at all) because it just seems bonkers to go through this process yet again. Is there any way to try to persuade them the folly of another assessment or is the DWP hell-bent on inconveniencing people? (My friend will need to take a half-day off work just to have the online meeting as his brother’s appointee).

Muttleythefrog

iklepig said:

Muttleythefrog said:

Have a read of https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-independence-payment-assessment-guide-for-assessment-providers/pip-assessment-guide-part-1-the-assessment-process

Points 1.15.16 to 1.15.23  (Appointees section regarding assessments)

May be helpful as it is the official guidance and it covers all the points requiring response in your post

Thank you! This is really helpful and I have already told him to look these sections up.

A further question if I may ask….  My friend’s brother has been mentally disabled his whole life and has always needed help. My friend became his appointee when their mother died as there was no other family member to take on this role. His brother has never been able to work and has been on disability (DLA/PIP) from childhood and then into adulthood. His condition will never get better. The DWP know this and yet they have still insisted on a reassessment. Is there any way my friend can persuade them at this point to reconsider a paper-based assessment (or no assessment at all) because it just seems bonkers to go through this process yet again. Is there any way to try to persuade them the folly of another assessment or is the DWP hell-bent on inconveniencing people? (My friend will need to take a half-day off work just to have the online meeting as his brother’s appointee).

For the review they should have sent out the review form for completion. Can't comment in this case but is it possible it was not completed 'as if a new claim' as is often advised.... for example just saying 'no change' to the various PIP activities can work but it can invite further assessment requirement. I describe dealing with PIP assessments/reviews/applications as a bit like guiding a supermarket trolley... you cannot be complacent and have to continually guide it for fear of it veering horribly off course. You may get different advice but perhaps the horse has bolted.. it's hard to appreciate why they've concluded the assessment necessary especially given the durability and robustness of apparent disablement and the elevated requirement with an appointee to strongly consider a paper based assessment.

Importantly the decision has likely been made by the assessment company rather than DWP... the DWP will have referred to that assessment provider for advice and they have concluded an assessment of this sort necessary and suitable. The level of skill involved in determining this could vary enormously... I mean we've seen assessors query in assessments when a disabled person first suffered from their genetically inherited condition they had from birth... medical knowledge is not always great in 'disability analysts' and I've personally experienced extremes in terms of mental illness understanding from pub level gossip to beyond that I got from Psychiatric specialists.

What they could do as appointee (assuming they have some days to play with before assessment) is write email to the assessment company querying the requirement for this assessment when paper based should be first considered, there has been no change in disablement and the disablements are of (they can better describe) particular lifelong endurance/permanence or similar. It can't do any harm and the assessment companies are often quite responsive to emails.... they'll have to look up contact details for the particular assessment company which they likely will know from letter but if not refer https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-your-health-assessment-provider and hopefully they'll be able to find email address suitable.. if not come back with name of company and someone will try to find it.

iklepig

Thank you Mutley, this was really useful. 

The welfare centre that helped my friend fill in his brother’s forms filled them in comprehensively (so I am told). Also they sent lots of medical evidence - although much of it dated because he (the brother) hasn’t had much input with relation to his learning disability, autism, brain damage. The stroke & its effects were a few years ago also now so that info maybe wouldn’t be considered up-to-date. Not to mention the review forms were sent back Dec 2023 before the deadline expired. I would like o think that it would be bloody obvious to anyone that the brother’s issues are lifelong and not improved throughout his adult life. I mean, it’s only going one way… he had a stroke a while back and he’s only likely to have another and deteriorate. Maybe I credit the DWP with more sense than I should, but surely it’s obvious this case is a minimal review or a paper-based one surely? 

Emailing the assessment company might be an option. It’s maximum but there no email address in the letter apparently. does anyone have their email address please?  Do they respond quickly to emails? 

Kind regards. 

Muttleythefrog

iklepig said:

Emailing the assessment company might be an option. It’s maximum but there no email address in the letter apparently. does anyone have their email address please?  Do they respond quickly to emails? 

Kind regards. 

The assessment companies seem reluctant to give out email addresses perhaps as it means extra staffing expenses in admin for them... they basically won't want customers to contact them..lol

Try 
Lot1.Customer-relations@haas.dwp.gov.uk

From
https://haas.maximusuk.co.uk/contact-maximus/

Not sure on response rates but in my historic experience of assessment providers fairly quick. If anyone has a better alternative email for Maximus please advise but this is their current advertised one for customer of these assessments.