Today's atos assessment

Hi all, I was wondering if a could ask a question of someone please, today I had to drag my husband to an Atos appointment because they refused him one at home, we were awarded pip 2 years ago till 2017 after my hubby suffered a total mental breakdown, he also has COPD, his phycitrist told them it was not advisable for him to have to attend a meeting but this was discounted by Atos.
They told us we were getting assessed now a year early so that we had the safeguard that our money would not run out while it is decided if we can stay on pip.
I must say the guy at the centre was very understanding, my husband was a complete wreck even though he was dosed on diazepam to get him there, he has been ill since we got The letter with the fact that he had to leave the house.
Two things that seemed strange at the interview were he asked if we had pets and wrote the answer on the computer? When it was over he asked us to wait outside while he photocopied certain documents, he asked if my husband needed the toilet and walked with him to show him where to go, a strange thing to ask or was this some sought of test, very odd.
We were told the report will go in and we should here within 6 weeks and if it is refused our money will stop but we could appeal if we wish, the thing is we are a week into our monthly payment would we get another or is it immediate, also someone has suggested that we can ask DWP for a copy of the report from the interview, should we do this soon or wait to see if we are refused pip, we are pretty worried about the outcome after hearing all the reports, I had to cut my working hours right down so I can look after my hubby, just don't know where to start if it goes against us,
Hope that someone can please give us a little info to help ease a very stressful day, thanks in advance.

Hi Grahamp,

I'm sorry that your poor husband was forced to attend an assessment centre, it can certainly be very difficult to get a home appointment!

Yes, DWP are initiating reassessments a full year before the award is due to end. The new decision will be implemented straight away.

The question about pets is very common, the assessor will extrapolate from this and decide how this fits with the PIP criteria. As for the toilet question, if your husband did not report any urinary or continence issues, maybe the assessor genuinely wanted to make sure he was comfortable.

You are entitled to have a copy of the assessor's report if you wish, many people find it helpful for future reassessments even if this one does not have to go to reconsideration/appeal. You should wait a few days, then you can request it from DWP.

Currently decisions are taking around 8 weeks after the face2face but it does vary a little from one area to the next.

If you have further questions or comments about your husband's PIP claim please respond to this message and we will do our best to help. You will find it easily in future if you bookmark/favourite it on your web browser now