PIP and Care allowance stopped

Hi All,

I am in a bit of a predicament. My Family have been advised that the care allowance they get for my Sister and her PIP will be stopped following an assessment by Atos. When reading the report I was really surprised to find she was given 0 points in every category possible even though she has full blown paranoid schizophrenia and is taking in excess of £500 worth of medication every month to keep her mental illness at bay. She needs round the clock supervision in case she harms herself or someone else as well as to look after herself. She also has very low IQ so finds it difficult to make rational decisions and can be manipulated easily (think of a adult with the mind of a 7 year old).

I attended the interview with her and the interview was a stark contrast the one we had two years ago. The lack of professionalism was very apparent with this interviewer. I was being told off consistently for not answering the way she wanted, she would get aggressive, it was rushed, she was not really monitoring the benefit claimant but appeared to be stuck in her laptop trying to achieve a 'target'. She was also asking very leading questions and I had to stop her from putting words in to my sisters mouth.

As mentioned earlier my sister is mentally slow and she thought I was putting her down and making her look bad in front of this 'stranger'. When I was asked whether she could eat and dress herself for example my sister would retaliate to my answer because she felt like I was making her look stupid saying 'no I do dress myself'. She did not understand the purpose of the interview. The interviewer played to that, stopped talking to me and continued to talk to my sister stating she did not believe me. I advised her that it is her condition to portray being more confident and able then she is to strangers because she is trying to hide her illness. This is why we even have to supervise her medication and watch her swallow it as she will hide it. The interviewer said she understood but carried on ignoring me for the rest of the interview (clearly from the final report submitted she couldn't give a monkeys).

I gave evidence of the medication she was on and she said she needed to speak with her mental hospital where she goes to visit every week for an update on her condition. She said she would but never did as we got no phone call asking for permission for her records.

I came out of the interview feeling very frustrated and surprised as I felt it rather biased, the interviewer had abused her powers and was very condescending towards me. I mentioned it at the time to my family but we decided not to do anything until the report came back. My biggest regret is not recording the interview and the option was not given to me at the time.


The assessment has come back giving my sister the all clear to be able to work. Reading the report all of my comments have been left out, no follow up with Mental Hospital. She claims there is no symptoms of delusion which I was so shocked to find. If she had even bothered to take her head out of her laptop and just watch she would have seen my sister muttering, talking and laughing to herself when she wasn't being engaged in conversation. She failed to add that she does not look before crossing the streets, the physical attacks my family endured, the wires in the house being cut' etc. How can such a person be fit to work?

I don't know where to go from here? I have asked for the DWP for another assessment but my fear is that given my sisters condition and her wanting to cover up her delusions we may end up with the same results. My sister-in-law who looks after her is unable to take a full time job due to the amount of work involved looking after her. My sister is the only member of the family who does not work and this will be a huge blow to the family finances which are already tight. We have been told by doctors her condition is getting worse not better with her medication being increased every few months. Atos and the DWP don't seem to recognise this.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Hi somethings up,

You say your sister was assessed for PIP but later state that she has been found 'fit for work'. Will you please confirm whether she has been assessed for PIP and ESA, or just PIP (which has nothing to do with working or not)?

Hi Gordon and thanks so much for the response.

I don't know how these things work and never had felt the need to 'research' before filling out a form as the facts have always spoken for themselves. It just feels this time it's so different and the rules have changed so much.


In the walking example you gave what if the person could physically walk but is there was a road they would not bother to stop and look before they crossed it to see if a car was coming thereby putting their life in danger would that count?

Mental illness is so subjective, I feel these questions are not that straight forward to answer.

Many Thanks

B

Hi Mrs Hurtyback,

You are right. Her PIP and DLA will be ended in September.

I just checked it on the letter to be exact. She will be left with no form of financial support which will mean my family having to do it. It is impossible she will be able to work due to her condition. She lives in her own world in her head and the medication has made her physically and mentally slow.