Universal Credit Review

wwfwilla

My brother has received a request from DWP for a review. I assumed it was because it's been 12 months since the last contact.
My brother has been on the lower PIP for many years because he has Asperger's.
He was quite happy working a part time job until they made him redundant almost 18 months ago. He slowly went into a downward spiral and probably had a bit of a mental breakdown. He's barely communicative and my chosen way to describe him is like a robot in standby mode waiting for an instruction. He has been assessed many times by his GP, counsellors and DWP workers. He takes maximum dose anti-depressants and was placed onto the high level of PIP and my mum is now his carer. He's so bad now that she literally has to check he's been to toilet as he isn't always in the frame of mind to care for himself. Nothing much has changed since but just recently there's been some good news that he might be able to take part in a 3-month volunteer campaign at a local farm where they take in various people with special needs and try to help them get back into doing a few bits, interact with others and build confidence.

I think he was initially signed off for 3-years by DWP for his higher PIP as he's under GP and counsellor care so easy to note if anything changes.

To my frustration DWP have today had an appointment (mostly speaking to my mum) and they have requested 4 months of bank statements and a copy of photo ID stating it's so they can check he is receiving the correct amount of money. Call me a cynic but they know exactly how much he is getting as they pay him. When the reason for review was queried by my mum she was told it's just something they do.

The way they word it is like they are trying to help the individual, whereas I believe the reality is that they are actually trying to see if he gets additional income so they can stop the payment. The fact that the medical people at DWP have signed him off for 3 years but the UC people want to check stuff makes it seem like the left hand of DWP doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
This has just put more pressure and stress onto my mum when she's trying to care for my brother.

Additionally, she was also told that my brother would have to have some sort of interview that my mum wouldn't be allowed to sit in on (she has sat in and spoke at all of his appointments during the claim process).
She has been given a telephone number to contact the "Inbound Line Team to discuss an appointee potentially being placed on the claim".
Is this how the DWP operates - they separate the individual from their carer and interrogate a vulnerable person??
My mum stated they wouldn't be able to get my brother to say hardly anything but this didn't dent the workers need for my brother to be interviewed alone.

If you've read this far then thank you.
Can anyone offer any guidance, support or comments if this is typical practice of a DWP review?
Thanks

marcia_

wwfwilla said:

My brother has received a request from DWP for a review. I assumed it was because it's been 12 months since the last contact.
My brother has been on the lower PIP for many years because he has Asperger's.
He was quite happy working a part time job until they made him redundant almost 18 months ago. He slowly went into a downward spiral and probably had a bit of a mental breakdown. He's barely communicative and my chosen way to describe him is like a robot in standby mode waiting for an instruction. He has been assessed many times by his GP, counsellors and DWP workers. He takes maximum dose anti-depressants and was placed onto the high level of PIP and my mum is now his carer. He's so bad now that she literally has to check he's been to toilet as he isn't always in the frame of mind to care for himself. Nothing much has changed since but just recently there's been some good news that he might be able to take part in a 3-month volunteer campaign at a local farm where they take in various people with special needs and try to help them get back into doing a few bits, interact with others and build confidence.

I think he was initially signed off for 3-years by DWP for his higher PIP as he's under GP and counsellor care so easy to note if anything changes.

To my frustration DWP have today had an appointment (mostly speaking to my mum) and they have requested 4 months of bank statements and a copy of photo ID stating it's so they can check he is receiving the correct amount of money. Call me a cynic but they know exactly how much he is getting as they pay him. When the reason for review was queried by my mum she was told it's just something they do.

The way they word it is like they are trying to help the individual, whereas I believe the reality is that they are actually trying to see if he gets additional income so they can stop the payment. The fact that the medical people at DWP have signed him off for 3 years but the UC people want to check stuff makes it seem like the left hand of DWP doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
This has just put more pressure and stress onto my mum when she's trying to care for my brother.

Additionally, she was also told that my brother would have to have some sort of interview that my mum wouldn't be allowed to sit in on (she has sat in and spoke at all of his appointments during the claim process).
She has been given a telephone number to contact the "Inbound Line Team to discuss an appointee potentially being placed on the claim".
Is this how the DWP operates - they separate the individual from their carer and interrogate a vulnerable person??
My mum stated they wouldn't be able to get my brother to say hardly anything but this didn't dent the workers need for my brother to be interviewed alone.

If you've read this far then thank you.
Can anyone offer any guidance, support or comments if this is typical practice of a DWP review?
Thanks

 Refusing to speak to your mother about your brothers claims is normal and correct. Your mum needs to be assigned as his appointee to talk on his behalf and manage his benefit claims. Your brother if able needs to agree to your mother being his appointee. 

Robbie64

A Universal Credit review happens to many people claiming UC. The usual starting request is for 4 months worth of bank statements. It's not connected with PIP nor dependant on how long someone has been awarded PIP.

Benefit reviews have always been a feature of means tested benefits, going back decades. Under the old benefit system (pre UC) a review form was sometimes sent out (and the initial claim was also made on a paper form). UC, being digital by default, means that the review system is slightly different. The UC review team do sometimes appear to be confrontational, as is evidenced in threads here at MSE and elsewhere.

The appointee advice given by marcia is good advice. However, the DWP cannot insist on someone being interviewed alone, especially if the person is vulnerable, even when there is no appointee in place. They can refuse someone being present during an interview if that person is seen as taking over the interview (i.e. hijacking it and insisiting on answering every question, often not letting the claimant speak). In an appointee situation that is allowable (the appointee is, for all intents and purposes, the claimant. In non-appointee interviews, it comes down to how the other person present at the interview behaves. For some claimants it may be necessary for the other person present to do the talking but initially the claimant has to be given the chance to speak. However, as I posted above, the DWP cannot insist on a vulnerable claimant being interviewed alone.

rosewalk

I think that your brother needs someone to act as his appointee if he is going to struggle to engage with DWP. UC are carrying out a lot of reviews and this can be distressing for some people. It sounds as if would be easier for your mum to act for him.  I agree that the wording UC use when carrying out the reviews is a bit misleading as it makes it sound that they checking that someone is getting all that they are entitled to but in reality it is largely to do with checking whether someone has undeclared income or capital. 

Spoonie_Turtle

rosewalk said:

I think that your brother needs someone to act as his appointee if he is going to struggle to engage with DWP. UC are carrying out a lot of reviews and this can be distressing for some people. It sounds as if would be easier for your mum to act for him.  I agree that the wording UC use when carrying out the reviews is a bit misleading as it makes it sound that they checking that someone is getting all that they are entitled to but in reality it is largely to do with checking whether someone has undeclared income or capital. 

Yes, it's definitely a case of 'checking you're entitled to what you're getting' rather than the other way round.

The neutral way of wording it is checking people are getting the right amount according to their financial circumstances.  Which is what the review is actually for, OP.  It's normal, it sounds like a routine review (by which I mean routine for the review team, not any specific frequency for the claimant), he's not been singled out for any reason.

wwfwilla

Thank you all for your responses so far.
I do agree that the Review Team maybe need a little more compassion in this circumstance with my brother being vulnerable. I've seen him take phonecalls before and he's started breathing heavily, shaking, sweating and either not speaking or only answering closed questions. It's like an anxiety attack. So its in their interest to allow mum as an appointee.
I'll let her know this is all commonplace (i.e. not being singled out) and that she should give them a call to request being an appointee.
We shall see how it goes from there. Thanks again all!

P.S. Myself and my mum aren't quite happy with the approach of his counsellor so far. He has a monthly meeting where he basically states everything is the same as last month and then he arranges to see him again in a month. Would you suggest maybe a private counsellor as it honestly feels like his current monthly appointment is more of a "check-in".