Benefits and Work has heard from a member who says they were refused a copy of the audio recording of their PIP assessment, even though they have a legal right to it. We want to know if this was a one-off occurrence or if it is happening more regularly.
On 29 June Benefits and Work published a news story that automatic audio recording of PIP and WCA telephone and face-to-face assessments had been introduced. Only video assessments are exempt, apparently for technical reasons, although there’s nothing to stop you doing an audio recording yourself.
Our member says they had a PIP assessment with Capita and subsequently, on the advice of the assessor, requested a copy of the recording.
However, their request was refused “on the grounds that the recording of my assessment did not contain "security identification" details such as my name etc. and that Capita had very strict rules and would not send out such recordings.”
In fact, our member recalls that immediately after the recording started they were asked for details from their driving licence and heard the assessor typing the information into their system.
It is hard to imagine how Capita could claim that they could not establish the identity of the person in the audio recording and yet they still provided the assessment to the DWP, in order for a decision to be made. If they didn’t know who the recording was about, how did they know who the report was about?
As our member pointed out, paragraph 1.6.63 of the PIP assessment guide stipulates that “APs [Assessment Providers] should use the audio recording solution provided by the Authority and must ensure that a copy of the recording is provided to the claimant upon request, including any reasonable requests for multiple copies.”
A Benefits and Work moderator suggested that our member make a Subject Access Request for the recording and also make an official complaint.
For the benefit of other readers, we would reiterate the advice in our guides that as well as the official recording, it is worth ensuring that you make your own recording too.
But we would be very interested to hear if any other readers have had problems getting a copy of the audio recording of their assessment and, if so, what reasons they have been given for not providing it.
