PIP Assessor Lied? Here’s what to do next (A guide)
By
PsychReel
In this brief guide, we will look at what to do if your PIP assessor lied, and some other related situations that often occur with PIP assessment and claims.
PIP Assessor Lied
If your PIP assessor lied about your assessment and they have recommended that your PIP be reduced or the rate changed, and you know that they have done this, you are entitled to complain about the PIP assessor as well as ask for another assessment.
PIP is essential to many people suffering from disabling problems, and often they may have to depend on the will of the assessor, and there have certainly been instances where the PIP assessors have lied for whatever reason.
If your PIP assessor lied on their report and is perhaps costing you your claim in any way, you can either write a letter to the DWP, or you can even phone them, and this process will start a process of investigation into the assessor as well as repeat assessment for you so that you can get the help you need.
You can start by filing a mandatory reconsideration as well, which is the right of anyone going through a problem with their PIP assessor, and this process will help you out.
PIP Assessor Lied: Assessing the Assessors
PIP assessors lying is not that uncommon, in fact, grassroots campaigns have found that it continues to be a huge problem, which is why WOWcampaign, which is an offshoot of one such grassroots campaign, came up with the process of “Assessing the Assessors”.
The primary purpose of this campaign was to highlight the continued flaws within the assessment processes in the area of personal independence payment (PIP) and employment and support allowance (ESA).
WOW wanted to give disabled people a chance to express their “pent up anger and frustration” because of the ordeals they were being forced to undergo at the hands of government contractors Atos, Capita and Maximus, who are the ones that take care of the necessary assessments, and people often complain that their assessors can be very ruthless and blatantly lie on the assessments.
The assessing the assessors campaign designed a questionnaire that people with disabilities could fill in to describe their assessment experiences, and about 6 or so months into launching the campaign, WOW had already received about 50 questionnaires and were hoping for and expecting even more responses, which they eventually planned to turn into a report, which would be sent to MPs.
The questionnaire includes questions such as whether the assessor had taken account of information provided by the claimant’s healthcare professionals; whether the assessment report was accurate; and how the process had affected their physical and mental health, and it makes for a good opportunity for the person to talk about the fact that their PIP assessor lied.
WOW also talked about all the instances that they did find where the PIP assessor had lied, and said the responses they received proved that the assessment processes were deeply flawed.
Common flaws mentioned across most assessments included: assessors dismissing the reports of experienced doctors; a failure to follow government guidelines; a lack of understanding of impairments and health conditions; and a tendency to jump to conclusions and “disregard and twist the facts”, and many people filling the assessment report also spoke of the effect the assessment process had on their already fragile physical and mental health.
One respondent, for example, said the assessment was “more like an interrogation”, saying: “The assessor bombarded my husband with questions he struggled to answer, he has a brain injury and processes things slowly, gets anxious, the assessors was a physiotherapist with no qualification to assess brain injury.”
Another respondent said that when the assessor carried out a physical examination, she failed to mention that she was performing the actions with the aid of a walking-stick.
She added: “She stated I could carry, grasp, handle, lift, manage, pick up and reach clothing and papers – I wore my coat the whole time, did not have a bag and my companion carried my papers.”
The PIP assessor lied, after their assessment, saying that the respondent had “no difficulty expressing or understanding verbal communication” and said her speech was “normal in content, rate and volume”, even though the lady had had to ask the assessor or her companion to clarify or repeat questions and her companion had had to prompt her with some of her answers because of her cognitive difficulties, and her speech had been “slow and hesitant and quiet”.
Yet another respondent told WOWon this assessment questionnaire: “I took a mountain of paperwork every time and every assessor refused to read any of it. I felt violated at each assessment.”
WOWCampaign’s Laura Stringhetti, who oversees a lot of these assessments, says about the whole debacle that the assessment process is clearly very flawed and needs reform, and that it is “extremely damaging, very expensive and not fit for purpose”.
Another Wowcampaign member, Michelle Maher said the questionnaires repeatedly described both the “horrific impact” of the assessment and of the PIP assessors lying, and the “unbelievable lies” included by assessors in their reports.
Eligibility for PIP
According to the PIP website, here is the criteria for one to be eligible for PIP:
“You can get PIP whether you’re working or not.
You must be aged 16 or over and usually have not reached State Pension age to claim.
You must also have a health condition or disability where you:
have had difficulties with daily living or getting around (or both) for 3 months
expect these difficulties to continue for at least 9 months
You usually need to have lived in England, Scotland or Wales for at least 2 of the last 3 years, and be in one of these countries when you apply. If you’ve recently returned from living in an EEA country, you might be able to get PIP sooner.
There are different rules if you’re terminally ill.
You cannot get PIP and Armed Forces Independence Payment at the same time.”
After reaching the State Pension age, here are the criteria for receiving PIP:
“You can get PIP if you:
- were already getting PIP before you reached State Pension age and your condition has not changed
- have been claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and you’ve had a letter inviting you to apply for PIP
You may get PIP if you previously got it and you were still entitled to it within the last year.
If you cannot get PIP, you can apply for Attendance Allowance instead.”
PIP Assessor Lied: What to do?
If your PIP assessor lied on your assessment and you are lost about what you can do, here are some helpful tips from people who went through the same thing:
“Write a request for mandatory reconsideration and post it to them for recorded delivery. Do it while emotional and don’t be afraid to put that emotion into your request. Solidarity and good luck.”
“Mandatory reconsideration is the next step. But please also consider a formal complaint to the assessment provider – most people don’t do this as they are so busy challenging the actual outcome, which is why their complaint numbers are low.”
“If you can, it’s also good to reach out to your MP, because it’s their job to advocate for you in government on exactly these issues, and while they might be aware of it on a vague nonspecific level, it’s great to show them exactly what happens”
“Also consider that when it goes to tribunal, there are people out there building a huge legal case against pip for assessors outright lying on the forms and interviews. If you can find any who are willing to add you to their ongoing reports it could help with getting pip completely destroyed and all these “healthcare professionals” sacked. Or hopefully locked away from society for being bigoted abelist c*nts with insulting salaries.”
“Everything on my pip report was lies. They said I hardly suffered from depression despite being on three medications and being under a psych. Gave me 0 points. I put in a mandatory reconsideration and wrote a letter taking apart the report and explaining why it was wrong and what points I should have been awarded. About six months later I got enhanced on both and back pay for what I missed.”
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we looked at what to do if your PIP assessor lied, and some other related situations that often occur with PIP assessment and claims.
PIP can be a very important benefit for many individuals suffering from disabilities, as well as their caregivers, which is why it can be very difficult to deal with any situation in which the PIP assessor lies in their assessment of the person’s disability.
The benefits of the PIP may stop for many people because their assessor lies about their health condition, or they lie on the regular review processes that have to happen for PIP, in which case it may seem like there is nothing that can be done, but there are still things that one might be able to do.
If you have any questions or comments or if you are confused about what to do because your PIP assessor lies, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): PIP Assessor Lied
Do DWP go with the assessor’s report?
Yes, the DWP PIP case manager usually goes with the PIP assessor’s report.
How do I complain about a PIP assessor?
To complain about a PIP assessor, you can start by writing a complaint letter to the DWP and when you are sending it you can use the address at the top of any letter you have about your Personal Independence Payment.
Another way you can complain about a PIP assessor is by phoning the DWP and if you choose this method, you need to make sure that you keep a record of when you call, who you speak to and the reference number for your complaint.
Do PIP assessors make a decision?
No, PIP assessors don’t make the final decision, but when you are assessed for Personal independence Payment (PIP), a health professional will look at your ability to carry out a range of daily living activities and mobility activities and the DWP will make their decision about your PIP eligibility based on the recommendation of the PIP assessor.
Do PIP assessors check Facebook?
No, the PIP assessor may not check your facebook, but the DWP can, because they often need to know if there is any possibility of fraud, and therefore, if you are getting dla/esa / pip, you should ensure there are no public photos that may be misconstrued showing on their facebook profile or twitter, and you need to make sure you check all of your own photos as well as ones you may be tagged in.