face to face assessment, 'what if'

claimant doesn't have an appointment for a face to face assessment but asking a 'what if' type of question,claimant has mental illnesses, physical conditions and higher functioning autism, last time claimant filled in form, n sent a letter from GP requesting against a face to face assessment with the form, but DWP/Atos wanted a face to face assessment anyway, claimant couldn't cope with prospect of a face to face assessment and ended up taking an overdose, in the end it was assessed just with paperwork, claimant has just sent off renewal form, if they want a face n face assessment this time, what happens if claimant does not attend face to face assessment, due to overwhelming psychological distress? bearing in mind that DWP have previously identified "claimant has a mental, intellectual or cognitive impairment and may need additional support to comply with future claim processes".

limited

Failing to attend an appointment can and often does result in the claim being closed, whilst the DWP may accept the OPD as reason for not attending this may simply result in a less stressful assessment being offgered, for example a telephone one.

If they don't accept the reasons then their Decision to close the claim has a right of appeal but this would likely take months to resolve at best. Is there any chance the GP will right to the DWP about this?

Gordon

If there are good reasons why attendance will be a problem it is better to present these in advance of any appointment in the hope of actually avoiding one in the first place.