At my wits end with the dwp.

To make things clearer I had supporting evidence why I was in sling from my doctor that the assessor saw at the home assessment. I also made it clear that my 15 year old son has to cook for me as I cannot chop,peel veg or lift anything. This has not been mentioned .I will be asking for a copy of the assessors report tomorrow. The thing that really annoys me us why was I awarded PIPS for two years on the enhanced rate back in May before surgery???? Then put on the support group status with EST last week.??????????

Also my son has to cut up my my food too. I am having to use a bath support rail and stair rails.

The thing that really annoys me us why was I awarded PIPS for two years on the enhanced rate back in May before surgery???? Then put on the support group status with EST last week.??????????

Simply because you would have had two different ATOS assessors look at your case and two different case managers (decision makers).

It is quite common to have two totally different outcomes for the same problems - depends who reviews and assesses your claim and who actually decides it.

Each claim (first and any subsequent re-assessments) are treated as new claims with no reference being made as to what was decided last time around.

If they were to always agree, there woud be no point in doing regular re-assessments - you have to prove it every time with up to date evidence.

 i meant this one plain evil thats what it is and a total mess 

Lol i give up, wrong expression coming up hear twice, not the one i chose! 

Can someone remind us what PIP actually stands for!   i can think of a few choice words! 

Hi Poll

I'm only guessing but maybe the decision maker thought post-surgery the frozen shoulder was corrected and you are abler than pre-surgery.

Of course this would depend on the surgeon’s report. Your problem might be that the surgeon due to his vanity has claimed to have done a brilliant job and cured your problem (even if it hasn’t), I have come across this before.

The Fibromyalgia might be enough to stop you working but in the DM’s opinion not enough to warrant personal care. Did you supply a written statement from your son confirming his caring for you? Also a daily diary of care needs is good additional evidence.

Permanently Impossible Payment?

I would suggest that you have actually hit the nail on the head.

Incorrectly or not, most people including a Decison Maker might genuinely believe that corrective surgery will reduce the level of care needs.

This can be compared to a Pain Clinic assessing and prescribing pain killers that actually work for you. Consequently taking that medication will/could reduce the level of pain previously suffered which caused the previously claimed for care/mobility issues.

As for the vanity of a surgeon, I have had first hand experience of this.

To be told that no further problems would arise ended up with me being transported 300 miles to a specialist hospital unit to save my life!!

More and more, third hand reports and statements from family members are now being treated with more suspicion by the DWP. I have personally seen this happen in one family where mum, dad and both adult children used to receive substantial DLA awards for similar claimed needs and difficulties. Under PIP all of them were refused an award simply because there was no independent evidence just statements from each other. 

 

 

I would agree that family based statements carry less weight, but DWP would expect to see something. If the statements are consistent (rather than contrived as in your example) they can be beneficial to the claim.

Why do you suppose that the DWP would expect to see something?

Personally I have never even considered any biased statement to be of any real value. To be honest in all of my claims and re-claims for ESA, IIDB and DLA I have never asked anybody to supply that level of evidence including a diary that I have completed which may or may not be factually correct.

My general attitude is that what I put on the various claim forms and talk about at the many many assessements and re-assessments that I have had is the truth which is neither exaggerated or understated. They can believe what they want as far as I am concerned. There is not much that the DWP can do with a true statement when evidenced by independent and well respected sources.

If you claim someone is giving you personal care then it would be reasonable for that person to confirm it. You may not have submitted such evidence and obviously that is your choice.

However, I know from my time at the Citizen's Advice that it is always prudent to supply a carers statement and a care plan or care diary.

I agree the weight of carers statement pitched against an OT's or HCP will be far less but something is better than nothing.

Lol Anthony spot on, good one! 

Thanks. Having spent all of my career dealing with people that lie, cheat and deceive, it is very difficult to accept that a statement confirming that they care for the claimant is always going to be truthful and honest. Personally having had many letters, over the years, of support from family members of the person that I was investigating, most I dismissed as being blatantly biased at best or downright deceptive at worst.

Put it another way - would a family member refuse to give such evidence on the basis that it was untrue?

 

Les obviously any statement would have to be backed up by medical evidence. There will always be people who want to cheat the system but I believe the numbers involved are far smaller than you seem to perceive.

Dismissing such statements on the grounds that a ‘relative must be lying’ is very harsh. There are checks and balances including the face to face assessment. If the statement of care is obviously deceptive then it shouldn’t be too hard for the HCP to pick up.

Not all family members lie for each other.

Maybe then I have spent too much of my life dealing with the dregs of the pond life!

Unfortunately I would view such a statement on it's own in that way. I am suspicious of everything and everyone. That is until those suspicions are proved groundless.

As for giving any credit to the run of the mill assessors in being able to 'spot' some level of deceptiveness - I personally wouldn't. The best that I have come across so far in my life, have been wholly unable to tell the difference between a green lime and a yellow lemon!

I remember years ago telling a young bank manager (Lloyds)  in South East London, that i could take the bank's money and he wouldn't even know about it.To say the least he didn't last long with that employer.

I agree fully, any statement made by the claimant or other associated member of their family should always be backed up with reputable evidence. I have no problem with that. But I question the need then for such a statement in the first place if that quality of evidence is available in any event.