capita

Hi lottie

I am so sorry this has happened to you. We always advise people to make their own covert recording of assessments in case something goes wrong with the official one.

What are you going to do now? You can put in for a Mandatory Reconsideration. You have one month from the date on the decision letter. This time has passed for you - so you need to ring them and ask for permission to put in for a late Mandatory Reconsideration. Explain that you did not realise that you had to do it immediately and you were busy putting in a complaint first. Hopefully, you will be allowed to put one in.

Then go through the report highlighting the inaccuracies and then go through each descriptor one at a time why you disagree with the assessor and try and match it with any supporting documents you may have sent in.

Understand that the assessor is offering an opinion when they say 'in my opinion' you can do the PIP activities, tackling these head-on is unlikely to be successful, you need to show that the basis of that opinion is founded on incorrect information, so try and refer to your evidence to undermine what they have said, remember they are just an opinion which is not based on fact.

Also, try and stick to issues that lead to your scoring points, I often hear members referring to the assessors spelling, as an example, whilst it may show a lack of professionalism, raising it as an issue isn't going to help you get an award.

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.

Do also look at our Guide to PIP Apeals - which also has information regarding Mandatory Reconsiderations. benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/pip (scroll down the page)

Hopefully, your support worker will be able to help you.

BIS