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Help with Face to face please

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7 years 1 day ago #184834 by iamboz1
Help with Face to face please was created by iamboz1
Hi. I'm a long time member, but first time poster.

My wife has higher rate DLA care and mobility for both mental and physical problems. We've filled in her form for PIP and had a date for a face to face at a Capita centre. This will be her first face to face since she was awarded these rates at an appeal several years ago.

My wife suffers with PTSD and severe anxiety, which has got many times worse since her appeal and, as you can imagine, it's off the charts right now. She feels she'd be better having the face to face at home so I rang and requested it, but they said I'd need a GP letter to change our appointment.

Our GP policy is no letters unless DWP asks directly, so she's had a letter from the counsellor she sees on a regular basis saying that she'd be better with a home visit and, crucially, with a female.

Will this letter do? Are we doing the right thing or is going to the centre actually better?

Also, she's concerned that if we are granted a home visit that the person doing it will want to look around. Our house layout is simple so you come from the front door into the living room, passing a door one side to the toilet (if the person needs to use it), and the kitchen entrance on the other side. This means that technically, they can just come straight into where the F2F will be held and not go anywhere else.

Are they allowed to go around the house? We don't have visitors apart from her sister and she goes no further than the kitchen. My wife's anxiety means our house is her "fortress" that's kept locked at all times - sounds strange to many, but is apparently a common thing for people suffering certain types of anxiety. My wife is terrified that the visit person will want to look around.

Sorry for all these questions from a new poster, and hope someone can help.

Blue

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7 years 1 day ago #184855 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Help with Face to face please
Blueberry

I'm afraid a letter that says it would better if she had a home assessment is unlikely to be sufficient, the letter needs to explain in specific terms why she is unable to attend at the Assessment Provider's offices.

I know you say your GP does not provide these letters but I would ask them for one, if the AP has not contacted them by now then they are not going to, this assumes that the GP would agree that she cannot attend.

The assessor is a guest in your house, they have no right to go anywhere other than where you allow them. Most don't ask, you can make a decision if they do.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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7 years 1 day ago #184919 by iamboz1
Replied by iamboz1 on topic Help with Face to face please
Thank you, Gordon.

I have asked the GP and was flat out refused, saying it was their policy and they would not provide letters under any circumstances.

I'm surprised to hear that her counsellor's letter won't be accepted. He is a NHS specialist psychosexual counsellor that is currently dealing with, amounts others, her issues regarding men - hence the request for a female assessor. I honestly do not know how she would be able to face a male. It sounds odd that she's seeing a man for these issues, but she was seeing a female for several years, who introduced her slowly during sessions to her current counsellor.

Thank you for the great work with this site and forum. Reading the posts here really hammers home what a soul-destroying task it is for anyone involved with trying to claim benefits. My wife self-harms and I can tell by her agitation that she's contemplating doing so again. The last time she did it she cut herself deeply and needed stitches, but halfway to A&E she had a massive panic attack and refused to attend. I dressed her myself as well as I could (thankfully I have first aid training), and, after getting diazepam from the GP, finally got her to the nurse where she was told it was too late to stitch. She now has an ugly scar that I know upsets her when she sees it.

I wish this site and some of the heartbreaking posts here could be presented to our government in the hope that they would come to their senses regarding the awful procedures they make people go through.

Again, thank you all at B&W.

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7 years 14 hours ago #184942 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Help with Face to face please
Blueberry

I'm not saying that the letter won't be accepted, just that I think it unlikely based on your description of it. The issue is the lack of a definite statement that they cannot attend, the phrase "better with a home assessment" implies that she can still attend.

If she needs to have a female assessor then you should definitely pursue this as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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6 years 11 months ago #185002 by Maggie
Replied by Maggie on topic Help with Face to face please
Dear Blueberry,
So sorry your GP is not supporting you at this difficult time. My health problems sound similar. I went through ESA & PIP concurrently between June-Dec 2016.
If your wife is at substantial risk of self harm & has serious mental health problems
( past hospitalisation or even difficulty in complying with the assessment process) the DWP should have marked the file as both VULNERABLE & crucially REQUIRING ADDITIONAL SUPPORT (to comply: sinister undertones here!).
I would check if this has happened. Ask to speak to a case manager.
Also I'm sure Gordon will correct me if I'm wrong, if this is the case the assessment provider should have looked at your form & asked for a GP Factual Report to decide if a paper assessment is possible (if they have enough evidence of functional impairment)?
If your wife is afraid to let people in the house & is at substantial risk of self harm if she had to attend a F2F at home or at a centre you have a chance of a paper assessment.
Can the counsellor not provide robust evidence including records showing functional impairment related to the descriptors?
I had help to contact my MP. I believe MP's office was instrumental in making sure DWP had the correct safeguards in place & crucially making sure the assessor was a mental health specialist. My GP was initially reluctant to provide evidence until I begged him & offered to pay. I didn't have to have a F2F.
To my shame my award was actually increased! Unfortunately I still haven't managed to recover from this 7 month ordeal: still very ill & can't do much or go out. I feel very scared of the future.They'll only get me next time.
Best wishes :) :)

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6 years 11 months ago #185007 by Maggie
Replied by Maggie on topic Help with Face to face please
PS Sorry forgot to say the assessor was a woman, you have every right to INSIST on this. There should be a box on the PIP2 form. Explain in all the embarassing detail if you have to : they will back down. It makes no difference if the counsellor happens to be male, he is a trained specialist & not a stranger. Clear reasonable adjustment under the EQUALITY ACT.
Again get the MP's officeon to this.

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