Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

Only January 2nd and already a contender for 'post of the year' ;)

Cheers

Grim

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

No examples have been provided, which is telling in itself.

Have you got anything relevant to contribute to this thread?

Nearly 2/3 of people transferring from DLA to PIP who were initially turned down are allowed it upon appeal, so I strongly urge those refused PIP to appeal.

It is believed that the bad attitude and lack of training of those sent out to assess people is playing a major part in this.

Some examples are:

- Fiona Ensall's 16 year old daughter Abigail has clear complex physical and learning difficulties One of the questions was "do you wear incontinence pads?". The girl did not know what an incontinence pad was, so said "I don't know". The inappropriate response was "surely you know if you wear incontinence pads dear". The girl began to get confused, to which the assessor started saying "come on, we need an answer to this"! This was despite her going blue/grey due to the effects of oxygen deprivation due to one of her conditions.

- A man who suffers from Huntingtons disease was giving incorrect information as part of his condition. His doctor wrote a letter to Susan Fletcher (his wife/carer) stating that Huntingtons is a very life limiting condition, that people are likely to say that they can do things that they can't and that it would be better to obtain the information from his wife/carer.

The assessor was asked and confirmed that she had knowledge of Huntingtons disease at the start.

The man incorrectly stated that he took the dogs out in the car the week before, which the woman wrote down as fact! The doctor's letter appears to have been unilaterally ignored.

An ex assessor (Occupational Therapist) has told Radio 4 that she "failed the audit test" because she took too long in trying to find out the true way that a persons disability affected them (which was supposed to be the whole point of these tests).

After four and a half months she left because she could not work in the way that they wanted her to eg changing her reports.

Assessors are also under pressure and can make more money by doing more and more assessments, so the quality goes down, for example checks about conditions weren't done to speed things up.

This whistleblower also said that many assessors had a "all sick/disabled people are slackers" attitude, referred people to fraud based upon the most flimsy evidence and prejudiced attitude.

Often, those who don't normally go out are simply regarded as liars because "they are here today in the assessment centre aren't they"?

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

How about this one.
People on Carers Allowance to be studied more closely.

The girl would or should have been accompanied.

Huntingdon's is a progressive condition, the symptoms vary greatly, and there are some treatments to alleviate some of the symptoms. So not a simple "I have this, therefore I can't do that".

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

what they should have done was got a power of attorney done before hand. ( i point out this isn't because i think they have a responsibility to do so but because its the best way to defend yourself in this situation) . As soon as i had the change over notification we applied for this ( we did both medical and financial though medical one is likely all that's required). This gave us two benefits one instead of doing any telephone interview which i find hard often as i am often out of breath and it can take me a while to hear people on the phone properly. So they had to deal with my wife. then two at the interview ( which i did at home ) at any point I could hand over to her or she could ( in their situation ) take over to act as him which as she would have the legal right to do they would have to take her answer. I would also as i did insist on the interview being recorded.

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

Our interviewer wanted specific dates for things that happened decades ago. That was alarming. If we had been prewarned I could have at least made a rough list of dates, occasions and incidents. She also had no real grasp of arithmetic as she almost put down that my son had an op "as a toddler" in 2006 (and not 1996) when I told her it happened "20 years ago".

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

Fingers crossed Taf that all goes well for your son and he gets the award he needs. I hope and pray that happens then all the worry will be over. Remember if you do need to make a appeal get a copy of the medical report and seek advice from CAB etc.

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

That was not "scaremongering". This was made perfectly clear in the thread and I'm surprised that you're trying to do the dirty work on behalf of the stirrers in here.

Abigail Ensall was accompanied by her mother, it was her that had to intervene to stop her daughter from being harmed due to oxygen problems and being further exposed to inappropriate questioning and an appalling attitude.

Re: Huntingdon's Disease. The point is that the assessor did not know as much about the condition as was claimed and the doctors letter was wholly ignored- the questions were still directed to Mr Fletcher.

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

Careful Nomadking or you will get one of these threats, like I did. LOL

A further screenshot has been taken should I need to take matters further.

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

This thread is designed to help members, many who either have severely debilitating illnesses and disabilities (like myself) or care for those that do.

It's really disappointing that all you appear to want to use it for is to stir things up to continue your attempts to harass me as a disabled person.

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

it was others who had to point out that it was scaremongering, not you. You kept insisting it wasn't.

Can't find any other reference to that story.

All the doctor did was comment on the generality of the condition. As the symptoms can vary greatly and it could be in the early stages, the impact could be less. It is the impact that they are looking at.

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

But not severely debilitating that allows you to work, attend late night dinner functions with the rich and famous CEOs of broadcasting with accompanying many whiskey sessions it enjoys :shrug:

You don't help yourself Richard

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

above just shows the attitude and why people need to be aware when attending or answering questions as the person asking may have the same attitude

the whole point of pip and dla formally was to allow people with disabilities to get around and or work on a slightly ( and i mean slightly as there still remain huge differences )

Just because we have the temerity to leave the house and eat or do some work does not mean we are not in pain while doing that or that we wont pay later with even more pain and discomfort

these benefits are supposed to help with that not be there only because some of us cant do them

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.
 

if that's to me i would have to say its on the topic of worrying news

If you have as I have done gone through this process of changing over it is not for quite a few an easy or fair

Lots of the questions do not reflect the rule they are asking about and often the person asking doesn't really know what they are asking about either ( and that's me being diplomatic as a few are positively trying to trip people up or just lie about answers you give)

i will just so some may learn ( i may have mentioned this in other threads ) mention just 1 question one that in real terms decides if your worthy of a car ( mobility component )

you are asked Can you stand and then move more than 1 metre but no more than 20 metres, either aided or unaided.

the rules this applies to though is not mentioned this needs to be answered as yes but fails to mention that this is supposed to be something you can do more than once in a reasonable time and with out pain.

I quote from another place



"On 1 February 2013, the government agreed to amend the proposed rules so that the assessment of PIP eligibility should take account of whether the claimant can not just complete an activity, such as walking 20 metres, but do this:

• Safely
• Reliably
• Repeatedly, and
• In a reasonable time period."

however some of the assessors seem unaware or just ignore this and as of last form i have seen is not mentioned in it.


so if a persons who have the attitude you can leave the house and work you cant be severely disabled could be assessors I would say it is something you should worry about and be forearmed for.