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Assesor lied and iv recorded it
- Johnylee
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5 years 5 months ago #240437 by Johnylee
Assesor lied and iv recorded it was created by Johnylee
I'm really hoping someone can help me out, I had a pip assessment last week and asked for the report to be sent even before a decision had been made.
I recorded the assessment in secret and good job because the assessor has lied about many things including writing in the report about my upper body movements when not once did she ask me to do any, none at all and this has severely affected my award because I have gone from having higher rate for both daily and mobility to now only standard on mobility and nothing for daily.
There are other things she lied about too and I can prove these, I know secret recordings are not generally taken in to account but I am reading other peoples similar experiences and some are even taking the dwp / atos / assessor to court.
I would like advice on what I can do regarding this blatant fraud, I of course will be doing the mandatory reconsideration but I don't know where to start in regards to trying to pursue some sort of claim against the assessor.
I called dwp yesterday and made them aware of the recording and they seemed to be sympathetic and even suggested a re assessment but when I called back a few hours later they had made a decision on my claim and made me worse off. I had an aswer to my assesment in about a week, surely it takes longer and if so why was mine fast tracked? Standard time is 6 weeks.
I have also read that now the dwp have made a decision even though i made them aware the assessor lied and I have a recording then they can be held accountable.
I am only going off what I have read, I am hoping someone can clarify things but more importantly point me in the right direction especially towards a solicitor who can possibly take on my case.
Regards
I recorded the assessment in secret and good job because the assessor has lied about many things including writing in the report about my upper body movements when not once did she ask me to do any, none at all and this has severely affected my award because I have gone from having higher rate for both daily and mobility to now only standard on mobility and nothing for daily.
There are other things she lied about too and I can prove these, I know secret recordings are not generally taken in to account but I am reading other peoples similar experiences and some are even taking the dwp / atos / assessor to court.
I would like advice on what I can do regarding this blatant fraud, I of course will be doing the mandatory reconsideration but I don't know where to start in regards to trying to pursue some sort of claim against the assessor.
I called dwp yesterday and made them aware of the recording and they seemed to be sympathetic and even suggested a re assessment but when I called back a few hours later they had made a decision on my claim and made me worse off. I had an aswer to my assesment in about a week, surely it takes longer and if so why was mine fast tracked? Standard time is 6 weeks.
I have also read that now the dwp have made a decision even though i made them aware the assessor lied and I have a recording then they can be held accountable.
I am only going off what I have read, I am hoping someone can clarify things but more importantly point me in the right direction especially towards a solicitor who can possibly take on my case.
Regards
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- Gordon
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5 years 5 months ago #240452 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic Assesor lied and iv recorded it
Johnylee
I would not rush to see a solicitor, there are required processes you would have to go through before you could even think of pursuing an action against the assessor.
I'm afraid, at this stage, your recording is not going to help as the DWP are not going to review it but that does not mean that you cannot still challenge the comments in the report.
You can make a complaint about the assessor to the relevant Assessment Provider.
Complaining to the PIP Assessment Providers
The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the PIP area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip
Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;
"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"
than their opinions
"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.
When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.
Gordon
I would not rush to see a solicitor, there are required processes you would have to go through before you could even think of pursuing an action against the assessor.
I'm afraid, at this stage, your recording is not going to help as the DWP are not going to review it but that does not mean that you cannot still challenge the comments in the report.
You can make a complaint about the assessor to the relevant Assessment Provider.
Complaining to the PIP Assessment Providers
The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our PIP MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the PIP area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/pip
Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;
"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"
than their opinions
"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.
When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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- Johnylee
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5 years 5 months ago #240482 by Johnylee
Replied by Johnylee on topic Assesor lied and iv recorded it
Thank you for your reply Gordon, you say there re many reason I may of failed but the truth is I failed because she lied she made things up. She did a report on how I move my upper body but not once did she ask me to do any upper body movements but also I can be clearly heard stating I have issues with upper body pain and not once is she heard asking me to do any upper body movements.
She said I can stand at the sink to wash but I can be clearly heard saying I don't stand at the sink. She said I could walk 20 metres from my seat to the assessment room but it was not a 20 metre distance. There are many other fabrications too. The whole report is a lie.
I understand you think it is best I stay calm but you suggest I don't criticise the report but how can I not when my recording proves she has made most of her report up, how do I go about not criticising her report to get my point accross. It is not just her opinion on my health it's made up stuff, I am grateful of all advice but please explain how I go about this.
Do you think it best I don't bring up the recording or not mention how she has lied? For example, the upper body movements she did not ask me to do, do I say I struggled to do the movements she claimed I did even though they were never carried out? I'm just not sure how to move forward with this.
She said I can stand at the sink to wash but I can be clearly heard saying I don't stand at the sink. She said I could walk 20 metres from my seat to the assessment room but it was not a 20 metre distance. There are many other fabrications too. The whole report is a lie.
I understand you think it is best I stay calm but you suggest I don't criticise the report but how can I not when my recording proves she has made most of her report up, how do I go about not criticising her report to get my point accross. It is not just her opinion on my health it's made up stuff, I am grateful of all advice but please explain how I go about this.
Do you think it best I don't bring up the recording or not mention how she has lied? For example, the upper body movements she did not ask me to do, do I say I struggled to do the movements she claimed I did even though they were never carried out? I'm just not sure how to move forward with this.
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- Gordon
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5 years 5 months ago #240489 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic Assesor lied and iv recorded it
Johnylee
Assuming the two comments are based, with reasonable accuracy, on what is written in the report then the assessor is offering an opinion in both cases. So even though you may have said that you cannot stand at the sink, their view is that you can and they are not saying that you walked 20m but rather that in their opinion, you could.
I'm not saying you should not tackle the issues raised in the report but tackling the assessor's opinions head-on is unlikely to be successful, from the DM's perspective the assessor is an expert in disability assessment so why would they not follow their recommendation.
Your approach has to be to undermine their opinion through reference to your testimony in your form and the evidence that is attached to it, So, think about how you tackled the issue of your standing in the kitchen? Did you cover off the use of aids, the standard response to being unable to stand is the use of a perching stool, would this be a reasonable compromise as it will score you two points?
As to the walking, what did they recommend? To score the 12 points needed for an Enhanced award you will need to show that you cannot reliably walk more than 20m, this is actually a very short distance. Claimants that are this restricted will typically have very limited movement around their own home and trips outside of the home will likely be limited to the GP and hospital, does this fit with your issues?
You can tell them about the recording just don't expect too much from your doing so, for example; at this stage, it is not going to offer any more weight to your just saying that the physical examination did not take place.
Gordon
Assuming the two comments are based, with reasonable accuracy, on what is written in the report then the assessor is offering an opinion in both cases. So even though you may have said that you cannot stand at the sink, their view is that you can and they are not saying that you walked 20m but rather that in their opinion, you could.
I'm not saying you should not tackle the issues raised in the report but tackling the assessor's opinions head-on is unlikely to be successful, from the DM's perspective the assessor is an expert in disability assessment so why would they not follow their recommendation.
Your approach has to be to undermine their opinion through reference to your testimony in your form and the evidence that is attached to it, So, think about how you tackled the issue of your standing in the kitchen? Did you cover off the use of aids, the standard response to being unable to stand is the use of a perching stool, would this be a reasonable compromise as it will score you two points?
As to the walking, what did they recommend? To score the 12 points needed for an Enhanced award you will need to show that you cannot reliably walk more than 20m, this is actually a very short distance. Claimants that are this restricted will typically have very limited movement around their own home and trips outside of the home will likely be limited to the GP and hospital, does this fit with your issues?
You can tell them about the recording just don't expect too much from your doing so, for example; at this stage, it is not going to offer any more weight to your just saying that the physical examination did not take place.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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- Johnylee
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5 years 5 months ago #240504 by Johnylee
Replied by Johnylee on topic Assesor lied and iv recorded it
Gordon I have taken your advice on board but wandering what you suggest or what would you do in regards to the upper body assessment. How would you tackle this, there was no upper body assessment on me but a report was made as though there was and ultimately it's played a big part in the award being taken away from me
This isn't her opinion of my health this is a lie about something that just didn't take place, what would you do in this situation ?
This isn't her opinion of my health this is a lie about something that just didn't take place, what would you do in this situation ?
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5 years 5 months ago #240507 by BIS
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Replied by BIS on topic Assesor lied and iv recorded it
Hi Johnylee
As Gordon has said - the assessor is offering an opinion of what she thinks you can do. Her 'report' may just be down to observation and she may not have carried out what we might think of as an 'assessment' of your upper body movement by asking you to undertake certain movements.
You need to go back to each individual question where you think you should have scored more points than you did and counteract what the assessor said, with what you said on your form and any medical evidence you have provided about your condition.
So if you look at the question preparing a meal - what are your restrictions and why? What aids have you tried and what impact do they have? Here you need to talk about your upper body movement and how it restricts you. Can you manage alone, or do you need help? You can say here that the assessor mentioned that you can stand at a sink, but simply say that they are mistaken. They do always want to know if you can't stand why you don't sit - so you need to answer that. If you are saying on this question you cannot stand at a sink to prepare meals - how does this also impact when you are washing and bathing? You need to ensure that the message is consistent throughout. I'm not saying you didn't already do this - but even if you did you need to point it out again by highlighting the evidence you have already given. Also if you have medical evidence that confirms any of your restrictions or the pain that you are in, highlight it for every question that you are disagreeing with.
There is no point in just contradicting the assessor's opinion about your upper body movement without linking it back to the specific PIP criteria.
BIS
As Gordon has said - the assessor is offering an opinion of what she thinks you can do. Her 'report' may just be down to observation and she may not have carried out what we might think of as an 'assessment' of your upper body movement by asking you to undertake certain movements.
You need to go back to each individual question where you think you should have scored more points than you did and counteract what the assessor said, with what you said on your form and any medical evidence you have provided about your condition.
So if you look at the question preparing a meal - what are your restrictions and why? What aids have you tried and what impact do they have? Here you need to talk about your upper body movement and how it restricts you. Can you manage alone, or do you need help? You can say here that the assessor mentioned that you can stand at a sink, but simply say that they are mistaken. They do always want to know if you can't stand why you don't sit - so you need to answer that. If you are saying on this question you cannot stand at a sink to prepare meals - how does this also impact when you are washing and bathing? You need to ensure that the message is consistent throughout. I'm not saying you didn't already do this - but even if you did you need to point it out again by highlighting the evidence you have already given. Also if you have medical evidence that confirms any of your restrictions or the pain that you are in, highlight it for every question that you are disagreeing with.
There is no point in just contradicting the assessor's opinion about your upper body movement without linking it back to the specific PIP criteria.
BIS
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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