Complaint Against Capita Continued

Thanks BIS,
Despite my daughter having a lifetime disability I wasn't expecting an 'ongoing' award - even if she had received one I'd never be 'taken in' by that ............... so many claimants had 'lifetime' awards under the old DLA system, my daughter included, which was taken away when DLA claimants 'migrated' to PIP and found that they'd lost 'lifetime' status - in my opinion proving that an 'ongoing' PIP award could possibly also be taken away following the next migration/shake up/name change whenever it suits whomever is in government at the time!

Going forward the one thing that I am doing is, I hope, future proofing the headache that is the 'Review' process - creating a working file for my daughters use, containing every piece of medical evidence, historical and future, replies to the descriptors, (as they stand at this time), a covering letter with evidence from others - work and home, an all important diary that will be documenting odd typical days, carers interventions, any accidents/incidents etc (the file will be both hard copy and electronic, (plus copied to a USB).

And for carers with adult children - My husband and I have had a few health 'near misses' in the past few years, so preparing a folder could possibly aid someone else that, prospectively, could be helping her in any future reviews - I know that it will make the process smoother for us if we are lucky enough to be the ones receiving the 'brown envelope' when it lands on the doormat! (it's all too easy to forget about it then go into a panic when you only have a few weeks to get everything together again).

Despite getting the award for her, this process has left me really angry at the system -

* had I not been 'bullish' enough to argue our right to complain to Capita, (original advice from Capita agent was that we couldn't!).
* Pessimistic of their complaints process - so didn't wait around for their 48 hr 'call back' (which never happened)
* Sensible enough to put the complaint in writing and email it to Capita straight away - despite the Capita agent insisting I didn't need to do this (providing DWP with a copy too)
* Sending daily emails asking for an acknowledgement of the complaint for the first week after complaining which was against their own documented complaint procedure!
* Following up with a phone call to escalate my complaint, as their procedures hadn't been followed

- then my complaint would not have been addressed in good time and we would have been facing what could be months of MR & Appeal - this would in no way have been moral/fair and would not have been entirely the fault of the DWP - bottom line, the fault for what could have been a negative award would have initially lay in the lap of our Capita Assessor, (who, I also sincerely hope is getting major backlash from this instance and is having her past assessments audited).
As to the DWP's part:
* Maybe the DWP held up the award decision with the knowledge that a complaint was being investigated, or
* Maybe the Decision Maker would have realised the original PA4 was inconsistent, and would have made a fair award despite the PA4, or
* Maybe the decision was just in a queue and it was a coincidence that the paperwork landed on the Decision Makers desk at the same time as Capita asking for the PA4 to be returned for amendment,

Only one thing is sure - We'll never know!

Hello again Sheila,

Congratulations once again! I endorse every word you've written and I shall follow your example in compiling a "dossier" of evidence for future claims - I've already got quite a large file!

Despite what I said in my previous post, we can never completely relax, can we? Planning for the future is impossible in any meaningful way - we just go from day to day, hoping for the best, fearing the worst and reacting as best we can to whatever unpredictable events occur. What I have tried to do, ever since my son was born, is to live in the moment, not think too far ahead, to enjoy each small success and try not to dwell on failures. However, the PIP assessment procedure makes this impossible because you need to focus on the negative side of things.

Although I'm pleased for everyone who has, ultimately, had a good outcome from this demeaning process, I am also, like you, angry at a system which targets the most vulnerable people in society and makes them the scapegoat for the failures of the system itself. As Kate Garraway said recently, it seems the system is there to catch you out, not catch you when you fall! We should remember that the assessors and the DWP are merely doing the bidding of others higher up the chain of command and, only this morning, Mel Stride reiterated his ambition to reduce the welfare bill by targeting those with mental health issues.

Sorry, I don't mean to detract from your victory - I had a very strong sense of injustice on your behalf and I'm so glad common sense prevailed in the end and the right decision was reached. I really hope reading your posts will inspire others (especially Anji) to fight on - I'm not sure I could have done all this myself!

As you say, what we're all most worried about is what will happen when we're no longer around to continue the fight ourselves, so a good collection of documentary evidence (backed up online and with memory sticks, as you advise!) is a really good idea.

And what would help us all most of all would be a much more sympathetic Government! (Well, I can dream.........)

With my very best wishes,

Wendy Woo

Exactly that Wendy x

Hi Sheila,

I am so happy for you, that is great news! It does show that fighting is worth it in the end. And, thanks Wendy for thinking of us. My son was told that the DWP "expected" to look at his MR by 18th April, which was yesterday. Not at all hopeful that we won't have to keep on fighting to a tribunal, but your successes have given me hope and spur me on to keep fighting for what my son is due.

Well done, Sheila...at least you have a few years now to relax before the next round of fights begin!!

Anji 😀

Thank you, and keeping everything crossed for you both x