Now that there are four different companies - Capita, Ingeus, Maximus and Serco - providing work capability assessments and PIP assessments, we’d like to hear about your experiences of dealing with them, so that other claimants can know what to expect.

Everything including:

  • are letters from them clear and detailed;
  • can you can get through on the phone,
  • do they offer face-to-face assessments at a nearby and accessible location,
  • can you easily change the date or assessment type,
  • are assessors courteous,
  • are assessments accurate.

Whatever you want to share with us that you think would be of interest to other claimants, you can post in the comments section below.

Remember to tell us which assessment provider you dealt with and whether it was a PIP assessment or a work capability assessment for universal credit or employment and support allowance..

You can post anonymously, but please bear in mind that comments are moderated before being published and they may not be published, or may be edited, if we are concerned they could lead to legal action being taken against us.

Comments

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    All of them lie, you can get through on the phone after many hours and then they may just hang up, you can change the date of the assessment once but if you tell the that you cannot do mornings or afternoons they will 100x give you the opposite of what you need, letters are not clear, even when you ask for bigger font's they give you smaller, assessors are courteous but they lie when you can't hear or see when writing about you, assessors lie.

    I have had many assessments, all except one(which was recorded) i scored zero points only to get full or greater award than previously at appeal.


  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    I think I was one of the lucky ones. I had a telephone assessment with a nurse via Capita and I can honestly say he was so lovely. He really put me at ease. The communication was great. Very Clear.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    I’ve had awful experiences with PIP reviews and Capita. On my last review they gave me a face to face appointment some distance away but simply quoted the law about the travelling time allowed to me. I would never have managed it. I wasn’t offered any alternative and if I cancelled I ran the risk of being offered the next appointment in the same place despite there being one nearer. It took my GP to intervene and tell them it was inappropriate and they agreed to a home visit……and didn’t turn up. 
    I was so distressed by the whole process I was put under the care of the crisis team. In the end my MP intervened and my review was decided on paper. PIP reviews should not result in extreme distress.

  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    Yesterday I called Serco to arrange for a PIP Assessment to be recorded and available. My first call did not connect properly and the woman could not hear me at all (I also had no music while waiting). On redial the chap heard me ok, but only after he did something his end. Arranging for the recording to be ‘set up’ was easy enough, and apparently I will be able to access it (but I don’t know how yet). Waiting times were a few minutes.

    Recording is not automatic, per the Haas-Serco website you must pre book it.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @SEdwards You can record ot yourself on a mobile phone or tablet. I wouldn't trust them to record it, it will probably go missing or have some coincidental technical glitch where it didn't record. My dad got sent a copy of his assessment, it was just a blank CD...
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    I will let you know this time next year when maximus calls me in for wca for universal credit they doing assessments in an Argos store now I hope for lcwra but lcw would do as long as I get 2 years keep it going bit longer this time it’s being recorded 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    The letters from Capita were clear & easy to understand.
    I always got through on the phone within a few minutes.
    They offered me a face-to-face assessment, fairly local. 
    I was able to change my assessment to a telephone assessment.  The date was bought forward due to this, which I happily agreed to. 
    Both assessors were fine.
    Assessments were accurate up to a point.  But I believe that due to assessors doing so many assessments, it can get confusing, & this doesn’t always work to our advantage. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    I was interviewed on two occasions by capita once was successfully the second time received zero points lost pip but 9 months later won my pip back at court
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Jon My experience is they are all a rotten to the core, and should all be held up in a court of law and made accountable for their horrendous behavior of, which they have inflicted on the masses (claimants)  They should be made to pay huge compensation sums, and be asset stripped, and in multiple cases be imprisoned, and they too can go out of business, and or go on the dole, or, and claim sickness benefits .

      They are all in it for making mega bucks, and bonuses on the backs of sick, ill disabled people.  And none of them ever hold their head in shame.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Jon Incredible you can be interviewed by the company twice and get opposite decisions, one being zero points. How could you lose all those in-between two assessments. Makes no sense, something not right with their consistency.  But glad you won it back although having to go through all of that malarkey must of been an unpleasant exhausting experience.

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