Falsified PIP medical report - Help needed

Hi all, another sad story to add to the very growing list. I really need some advice please.

I've transferred over from DLA to PIP. I had my PIP F2F and was extremely ill on the day and barely functioning.

The HP refused to let us record it even though we'd told ATOS we wanted to record it and told me that my claim would be cancelled if I left the assessment room. She would not let me called ATOS to try to resolve this. She told us that she had not read my claim in it's entirety before she started the assessment.

I received the decision and was given 6 points for care and 4 points for mobility, so turned down for PIP. I got the HP's report and the entire thing was falsified and of such poor quality that it was laughable if it wasn't so serious.

The most immediate thing we noticed is that she gave a false name at the assessment as it has a different name on the report. We can prove that she has lied in it, shown medical incompetence in several places and repeatedly demonstrated that she had not read my initial claim in it's entirety or my medical evidence as she has made up large parts of it; so much so, that it directly contradicts the evidence in my medical letters.

She missed off 7 of my conditions from the report entirely, misrepresented many others, she has directly lied in many places and altered anything that would have got me points to reflect that I don't need any help.

I suffer with severe depression and anxiety and I am going under with this. She said that I made good eye contact throughout the assessment when I started at the ground the entire time with tears in my eyes so they have taken her word about my mental health situation over that of my GP and Psychologist who both provided letters stating that I suffer with severe depression and anxiety. It goes on and on.

The decision had very clearly been made purely off the descriptor choices that the HP had chosen and NOT off my claim, medical evidence or the rest of the report so basically copy paste from the falsified report.


I had the help of two professional friends to complete the mandatory reconsideration and we produced a 25 page document disputing the HP's report on points of law using the PIP guidelines and referring to my medical evidence.

We produced another 25 page document disputing the descriptor choices, also on points of law and referring to my medical evidence.

Literally everything had to be disputed as it was so incorrect. I provided them with signed statements from both myself and my witness that attended the F2F to state what was ACTUALLY discussed and said at the F2F.

In summary we supplied a huge amount of evidence to prove that both the assessment and medical report were not of an acceptable standard (and breached many PIP guidlines), and that she had lied in the report.

The reconsideration has come back, and it is based on the falsified report once more. They have awarded me the standard rate care and standard rate mobility this time, 10 points and 10 points.

So they have admitted that they got it wrong but I believe I have supplied adequate medical evidence to prove my entitlement to the enhanced rate for both. I have multiple, severe health conditions that leave me housebound a lot of the time and in constant, high levels of pain, I have regular falls and blackouts, major cognitive issues the list goes on.

How on earth can this be acceptable practice and is there anything at all I can do about this other than take it to Tribunal which I'm not sure that I will cope with.

My mental and physical health are both deteriorating rapidly and I have now lost my Motability car too. To my mind they should have provided me with another assessment as we have very clearly demonstrated that bot the F2F and report were a very long way from acceptable, contains lies and breached many PIP guidelines.

I spoke to the CM for the mandatory reconsideration and he also admitted that he hadn't read all of my claim and actually told me that there was no point him reading my medical evidence as he wouldn't understand it.

I am so overwhelmed by all of this and struggling to deal with any of it. I am awaiting a call back from the CM on Monday and I will be asking how he can justify using the original report as evidence and why he has used the false evidence in that rather than the medical evidence I have provided which has again been largely ignored.

I will also be asking why I haven't been offered a new assessment. I am really struggling to speak to anyone at the moment and every phone call is causing more upset and distress.

Sorry for the long winded post but I really am struggling with everything so much and feel that my entire life ha been taken away right now. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

Lee wrote: Hi all, another sad story to add to the very growing list. I really need some advice please.

I've transferred over from DLA to PIP. I had my PIP F2F and was extremely ill on the day and barely functioning.

The HP refused to let us record it even though we'd told ATOS we wanted to record it and told me that my claim would be cancelled if I left the assessment room. She would not let me called ATOS to try to resolve this. She told us that she had not read my claim in it's entirety before she started the assessment.

I received the decision and was given 6 points for care and 4 points for mobility, so turned down for PIP. I got the HP's report and the entire thing was falsified and of such poor quality that it was laughable if it wasn't so serious.

The most immediate thing we noticed is that she gave a false name at the assessment as it has a different name on the report. We can prove that she has lied in it, shown medical incompetence in several places and repeatedly demonstrated that she had not read my initial claim in it's entirety or my medical evidence as she has made up large parts of it; so much so, that it directly contradicts the evidence in my medical letters.

She missed off 7 of my conditions from the report entirely, misrepresented many others, she has directly lied in many places and altered anything that would have got me points to reflect that I don't need any help.

I suffer with severe depression and anxiety and I am going under with this. She said that I made good eye contact throughout the assessment when I started at the ground the entire time with tears in my eyes so they have taken her word about my mental health situation over that of my GP and Psychologist who both provided letters stating that I suffer with severe depression and anxiety. It goes on and on.

The decision had very clearly been made purely off the descriptor choices that the HP had chosen and NOT off my claim, medical evidence or the rest of the report so basically copy paste from the falsified report.


I had the help of two professional friends to complete the mandatory reconsideration and we produced a 25 page document disputing the HP's report on points of law using the PIP guidelines and referring to my medical evidence.

We produced another 25 page document disputing the descriptor choices, also on points of law and referring to my medical evidence.

Literally everything had to be disputed as it was so incorrect. I provided them with signed statements from both myself and my witness that attended the F2F to state what was ACTUALLY discussed and said at the F2F.

In summary we supplied a huge amount of evidence to prove that both the assessment and medical report were not of an acceptable standard (and breached many PIP guidlines), and that she had lied in the report.

The reconsideration has come back, and it is based on the falsified report once more. They have awarded me the standard rate care and standard rate mobility this time, 10 points and 10 points.

So they have admitted that they got it wrong but I believe I have supplied adequate medical evidence to prove my entitlement to the enhanced rate for both. I have multiple, severe health conditions that leave me housebound a lot of the time and in constant, high levels of pain, I have regular falls and blackouts, major cognitive issues the list goes on.

How on earth can this be acceptable practice and is there anything at all I can do about this other than take it to Tribunal which I'm not sure that I will cope with.

My mental and physical health are both deteriorating rapidly and I have now lost my Motability car too. To my mind they should have provided me with another assessment as we have very clearly demonstrated that bot the F2F and report were a very long way from acceptable, contains lies and breached many PIP guidelines.

I spoke to the CM for the mandatory reconsideration and he also admitted that he hadn't read all of my claim and actually told me that there was no point him reading my medical evidence as he wouldn't understand it.

I am so overwhelmed by all of this and struggling to deal with any of it. I am awaiting a call back from the CM on Monday and I will be asking how he can justify using the original report as evidence and why he has used the false evidence in that rather than the medical evidence I have provided which has again been largely ignored.

I will also be asking why I haven't been offered a new assessment. I am really struggling to speak to anyone at the moment and every phone call is causing more upset and distress.

Sorry for the long winded post but I really am struggling with everything so much and feel that my entire life ha been taken away right now. Any advice would be great. Thanks.

Hi L,

Welcome to Benefits and Work Forum

An all too common story, I'm afraid !

MR success rate are very low, but success rates at Tribunal are much higher at circa 60%.

Claimants are allowed to record their F2F, but this can only be done by prior arrangement with ATOS, the PIP Assessor must agree and the claimant must provide the equipment themselves.

Only dual deck cassette recorders or CD recorders are allowed where two simultaneous recording can be made and one of the recordings is handed to the PIP Assessor at the end of the assessor.

Where recording of the F2F has been requested by the claimant we always advise that written confirmation of permission to record is obtained beforehand.

Although it will invariable help to discredit the PIP Assessor's PA4 Medical Report, even if you managed to totally discredit the report this would only result in a fresh F2F and not the guarantee of the PIP award that you expect.

The important issue now is to submit your appeal to The Tribunal Service within one month of the date of the Mandatory Reconsideration Notice letter that you have been sent.

In your challenge, if they are stating that you can carry out a particular PIP Activity, has it been taken into account that to be classed as being able to carry out a PIP Activity, you must be able to do so Reliably and Safely for The Majority of Days

If the Assessor has stated that they witnessed you Walking a set distance have they taken into account the above, the time it took you to do so, and any pain, discomfort and breathless, etc that you may have suffered whilst doing so ? etc, etc, etc !!

Importantly, you should also concentrate on reiterating where and why you should have scored the extra points with respect to the applicable PIP Activities and the appropriate scoring PIP Descriptor for that Activity, whilst cross-referencing to any medical evidence that you have, or may have already provided which indicates that you should have.

Now that you have unsuccessfully gone through The MR Process, you have one month from the date of The MR Decision Notice Letter to appeal directly to The Tribunal Service. (TS)

You should do this using one copy of The MR Notice letter (keep the other copy) and the : SSCS 1 Form (Download Link)

All this is explained in our : PIP Appeals Guidance

& : Disability Rights UK Factsheet - Appeals and Mandatory Reconsiderations.

See also : PIP Self Test



&

PIP Claims Guides

You might want to Bookmark/Favourite this page in your Internet Browser so that you can return to your topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have.

If you wish to make a separate complaint about The PIP Assessor (HP), you can still do that as a separate issue to your appeal.

This complaint should be made to ATOS, and you can also complain to The HP's governing body. e.g. The NMC for a Nurse/Midwife, GMC for a Doctor, etc ,etc.

bro58

Thank you for replying. This is just such a difficult time for me - and I know many others are going through this. I had told ATOS in advance that I wished to record it so I thought all was fine. We had a professional dual recorder that had been used for other ATOS medicals. I wish we'd walked out on the day and called ATOS but I was too ill to make a good decision and she threatened to cancel my claim if I left.

On speaking to the Case Manager that made the decision this time, she has told me that they do not deal with the reports being inaccurate there, no matter what evidence you provide, it is apparently irrelevant that you can prove the assessor has lied and falsified the report and that it breaches many PIP guidelines. She was arrogant, refused to answer many of my questions and hung up on me. This was recorded and will form part of my complaint and tribunal evidence. No offer of a fresh F2F even though I requested one & told her that I was entitled to a fair assessment which they hadn't given me. I would accept a fresh F2F in the hope that it was to be a fair one this time and I would make sure it was recorded and conducted correctly which would give me a better chance of being assessed fairly. Have people succeeded in gaining a fresh F2F? If so, how did they do it?

The reliability guideline has been completely ignored throughout both decisions. They cannot possibly have assessed my average daily abilities or problems as the assessor did not complete the Functional history section and left the Variability section completely blank. I have CFS and the post exertion malaise has not been taken into consideration. I have such high pain levels that I black out when they are very bad - this has not been taken into consideration either despite 3 of my specialists confirming the pain levels and one confirming the blackouts.

The assessor said that she saw me walk 25 metres to the consultation room. The building is less than 20 metres from front to back so that is impossible, and I walked that smaller distance in 3 sections with substantial, seated rests in between. From where she collected me to the consultation room was less than 4 metres. I struggled to walk this distance, was in severe pain, dizzy and breathless, none of this was noted. She walked to the consult room with her back to us so ACTUALLY saw me walk about 1.5m from the doorway to the chair. When I got up to leave I went very dizzy so told her that I was extremely dizzy and needed a moment. She asked me if I was going to be ok twice so could clearly see I was struggling. She has not noted any of my problems and in short has lied.

My GP and my psychologist have both confirmed in letters that I suffer with severe depression and anxiety, multiple letters from my specialists state that I have cognitive issues and I have 5 conditions that cause cognitive issues but because the assessor has stated that I showed no sign of depression or anxiety or any cognitive issues they have taken her word over that of my medical specialists & GP when she is clearly not qualified to diagnose me or challenge their diagnosis. The cognitive issues are very well documented worldwide for my conditions.

My Gp's letter states that my pain and fatigue at times restricts me TO the house. In the new decision, this has been altered in quote to say that my pain and fatigue at times restricts me IN the house. There is a big difference from being left housebound and being tired at home.

I intend to put the tribunal papers in this week but I'm not sure whether to go through with it. My health is very poor and suffering badly as a result of the stress. I have only been given a two year award (which is ridiculous as I have been severely disabled for over 27 years and my health is only getting worse) and after reading that they are sending out reviews a year early, that means I only have 11 months of award and I will have to go through all this again. I am concerned about losing the award I have finally managed to get and I'm concerned about the impact on my overall health.

I don't know whether to just sit it out for the 11 months and accept the award that I have then wait to be reassessed & hope that the F2F is good, i.e. not falsified, or whether to push to tribunal and fight it & ask that the award be extended. I am not even sure how I will cope going through all of this again in 11 months. What is the point of giving a 2 year award when it is actually only for a year?! If I accept the lower award for now will that affect my future chances of claiming PIP? If I was to lose everything at the tribunal, how soon could I apply to be reassessed? I honestly don't think that I would lose the award I have with all the evidence I have but I have to think about it all. How long are cases taking to get to tribunal at the moment - i.e. how long will I have to wait?

I have already done the challenge to the descriptors as part of my Mandatory reconsideration so that bit will be fairly easy I guess. Thanks for posting the links, it's appreciated.
I have sent a complaint in to ATOS but I'm not holding my breath for them to be honest and do something about it. I'm currently getting help to write a complaint to the DWP.

Apologies again for the long post. I'm really struggling with all of this and don't know what to do.
Thank you.

Lee wrote: Thank you for replying. This is just such a difficult time for me - and I know many others are going through this. I had told ATOS in advance that I wished to record it so I thought all was fine. We had a professional dual recorder that had been used for other ATOS medicals. I wish we'd walked out on the day and called ATOS but I was too ill to make a good decision and she threatened to cancel my claim if I left.

On speaking to the Case Manager that made the decision this time, she has told me that they do not deal with the reports being inaccurate there, no matter what evidence you provide, it is apparently irrelevant that you can prove the assessor has lied and falsified the report and that it breaches many PIP guidelines. She was arrogant, refused to answer many of my questions and hung up on me. This was recorded and will form part of my complaint and tribunal evidence. No offer of a fresh F2F even though I requested one & told her that I was entitled to a fair assessment which they hadn't given me. I would accept a fresh F2F in the hope that it was to be a fair one this time and I would make sure it was recorded and conducted correctly which would give me a better chance of being assessed fairly. Have people succeeded in gaining a fresh F2F? If so, how did they do it?

The reliability guideline has been completely ignored throughout both decisions. They cannot possibly have assessed my average daily abilities or problems as the assessor did not complete the Functional history section and left the Variability section completely blank. I have CFS and the post exertion malaise has not been taken into consideration. I have such high pain levels that I black out when they are very bad - this has not been taken into consideration either despite 3 of my specialists confirming the pain levels and one confirming the blackouts.

The assessor said that she saw me walk 25 metres to the consultation room. The building is less than 20 metres from front to back so that is impossible, and I walked that smaller distance in 3 sections with substantial, seated rests in between. From where she collected me to the consultation room was less than 4 metres. I struggled to walk this distance, was in severe pain, dizzy and breathless, none of this was noted. She walked to the consult room with her back to us so ACTUALLY saw me walk about 1.5m from the doorway to the chair. When I got up to leave I went very dizzy so told her that I was extremely dizzy and needed a moment. She asked me if I was going to be ok twice so could clearly see I was struggling. She has not noted any of my problems and in short has lied.

My GP and my psychologist have both confirmed in letters that I suffer with severe depression and anxiety, multiple letters from my specialists state that I have cognitive issues and I have 5 conditions that cause cognitive issues but because the assessor has stated that I showed no sign of depression or anxiety or any cognitive issues they have taken her word over that of my medical specialists & GP when she is clearly not qualified to diagnose me or challenge their diagnosis. The cognitive issues are very well documented worldwide for my conditions.

My Gp's letter states that my pain and fatigue at times restricts me TO the house. In the new decision, this has been altered in quote to say that my pain and fatigue at times restricts me IN the house. There is a big difference from being left housebound and being tired at home.

I intend to put the tribunal papers in this week but I'm not sure whether to go through with it. My health is very poor and suffering badly as a result of the stress. I have only been given a two year award (which is ridiculous as I have been severely disabled for over 27 years and my health is only getting worse) and after reading that they are sending out reviews a year early, that means I only have 11 months of award and I will have to go through all this again. I am concerned about losing the award I have finally managed to get and I'm concerned about the impact on my overall health.

I don't know whether to just sit it out for the 11 months and accept the award that I have then wait to be reassessed & hope that the F2F is good, i.e. not falsified, or whether to push to tribunal and fight it & ask that the award be extended. I am not even sure how I will cope going through all of this again in 11 months. What is the point of giving a 2 year award when it is actually only for a year?! If I accept the lower award for now will that affect my future chances of claiming PIP? If I was to lose everything at the tribunal, how soon could I apply to be reassessed? I honestly don't think that I would lose the award I have with all the evidence I have but I have to think about it all. How long are cases taking to get to tribunal at the moment - i.e. how long will I have to wait?

I have already done the challenge to the descriptors as part of my Mandatory reconsideration so that bit will be fairly easy I guess. Thanks for posting the links, it's appreciated.
I have sent a complaint in to ATOS but I'm not holding my breath for them to be honest and do something about it. I'm currently getting help to write a complaint to the DWP.

Apologies again for the long post. I'm really struggling with all of this and don't know what to do.
Thank you.

Hi L,

Yes, it can be most stressful !

Even though I am aware of a few members obtaining a fresh F2F, I cannot recall that many.

As previously advised, even if you did have a fresh face to face, that would not guarantee the correct PIP award.

If you have already submitted your appeal, you have little to lose by letting it take its course.

The Tribunal Panel will re-look at the adverse decision with a fresh pair of eyes and success rates at Tribunal are currently running at over 60% as opposed to MR success rates which we believe are coming in at around 5 to 10%.

Many look on the MR process now as a rubber stamping exercise and an obstacle to overcome before being allowed to appeal.

Remember, a Tribunal cannot reduce your current award, if they were considering doing so, they would first have to warn you and give you chance to withdraw your appeal.

You can withdraw your appeal at any time if you wish.

Try to separate your complaint to ATOS from your appeal to The Tribunal if you can.

We can't advise on how you should progress, but please let us know how things are progressing !

bro58

Make a formal complaint to the HCP's Regulatory Authority.
If a nurse the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

Thanks for your replies. I tried to post yesterday but I'm not sure what happened to my post as it never appeared.

I have been told today by Welfare Benefits that a Tribunal do not have to tell you if they are thinking of reducing your award. They tell me that they will tell you that it can be reduced, stay the same or be increased and ask you if you still wish to proceed with your appeal. They said that the outcome is just that, the outcome, whether it's good, bad or the same. This has left me confused after bro58's post yesterday, could someone please clarify?
I'm very worried about taking my case to tribunal as I cannot afford to lose the amount they have finally awarded me - I do have a lot to lose as I could not have any quality of life whatsoever if I lose the award I have got. I do feel that I have a very strong case, and so does the chap at Welfare Benefits that I've been in contact with but I'm finding it very stressful trying to source the correct information and assess the risks involved. I'm really struggling to understand everything due to the cognitive issues and exhaustion.

I am currently working on my written submission to send the tribunal paperwork in but I and struggling with it immensely. Trying to do it in small sections and will hopefully have some help from the guy at Welfare Benefits tomorrow. I will definitely be sending it in but am unsure whether to take it to the tribunal hearing or not at this stage.

The ATOS complaint has gone to ATOS so is separate but obviously the documents I sent to the DWP as part of my Mandatory Reconsideration request that disputed the report and descriptors will be sent to the Tribunal by the DWP as part of their evidence.

I have asked ATOS to supply me with the assessor's registration number so that I can report her to the nursing and midwifery council.