PIP claimants are being failed by the system – and when you see how, you will be angry

Last Updated: February 10, 2018By

[Image: www.disabledgo.com]

It’s all very well for Parliament to say a “substantial minority” of PIP claimants have been failed by the system – but it’s the way the system has failed them that matters.

The report quoted below mentions individuals who were asked when they caught congenital conditions, or why they had not committed suicide. I myself could produce dozens of such cases. All I have to do is ask.

And there are probably hundreds – thousands? – of cases in which assessors have lied about a claimant’s abilities.

So Parliament can play down the numbers if MPs wish to do so, but you need to remember that even one per cent of the three million claims that have been made since 2013 comes to 30,000 people. And I would expect a “substantial minority” to be much larger than that.

This report will shame the Conservative government to its core. Anything less will be a whitewash.

A “substantial minority” of long-term disability benefit claimants are being failed by an assessment system that is too often undermined by basic errors, insensitivity and ignorance about people’s conditions, MPs have said.

A report by the work and pensions select committee highlighted a person with Down’s syndrome asked when they “caught” it, a woman reporting frequent suicidal thoughts asked why she had not yet killed herself, and someone whose assessment said she walked a dog daily, when she can barely walk and does not own a dog.

The MPs will next week publish the full findings of their investigation into the personal independence payment (Pip) and employment support allowance (ESA) systems. The two benefits support disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

The committee, chaired by the Labour MP Frank Field, said it was “so impressed and moved” by the 4,000-plus individual submissions it received after asking for people’s experiences of the system – a record number for a select committee inquiry – that it decided to publish a separate report highlighting them.

The 39-page document, released on Friday, stressed that Pip and ESA, for which assessments are carried out for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) by contractors including Capita and Atos, work well for the majority of claimants. It also noted that while the overwhelming majority of the responses were negative, this was to be expected, as these people were more likely to want to speak out.

Source: ‘Substantial minority’ of disability claimants failed by system – MPs | Politics | The Guardian


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7 Comments

  1. JohnDee February 10, 2018 at 3:20 am - Reply

    ” … 𝐼𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 …”. So that’s all right then – never mind that those most affected were too beyond it to make a decent complaint.

  2. jeffrey davies February 10, 2018 at 6:16 am - Reply

    its a one big Brian rix a farce wITH us has the stock ,yet they our mps now that it has caused wide side casualties us that have suffered when in history has a government caused so much damage to the sick the mental ill the unemployed yes you got it aktion t4 they followed this to the letter helped by unum who can’t wait for the ohs to be sold off in all this its not 97000 brought up by ids rtu who showed how many. its well past these figures they caused misery on a big scale traitors gate needs opening up for them but what will happen bugger all. jeff3

  3. Florence February 10, 2018 at 11:04 am - Reply

    As always the DWP play fast and loose. They claim those who don’t lodge an appeal as being “satisfied”. Better measure would be how many would challenge if they (1) received benefit during appeal (2) had Legal Aid to appeal and (3) were not suffering from additional .MH issues as a result of the process itself , and (4) had a fixed time and process for MR? We know that the number of appeals dropped by a massive amount directly as a result of these four being implemented primarily to achieve just that. This wasn’t even touched on by the committee .

    As for a “substantial minority”, the minimum could be estimated as being the number of substandard reports produced which from memory has varied up to 60%? Even the 30% admitted to by some ” providers” is approaching a million claimants, I think.

  4. Fibro confused February 10, 2018 at 11:13 am - Reply

    What galls me is they are basing their figures on a ‘scientific survey’ of approx 1200 people that are ‘in’ the system, this doesn’t take account of how many have just given up, I know several people myself who can’t cope with tribunals or reapplying.
    I was a lucky one who just got enough points but several things were wrong on the assessment, as for the assessors behavior I won’t repeat it really was disgusting. I complained but at the end of the day it’s my word against theirs and until recording devices are provided and used as part of the assessment the horrendous treatment of mental and physically disabled people will go on, just as this Govt wants!

  5. the ramblings of a deluded mind February 10, 2018 at 3:02 pm - Reply

    this is yet another nazi trick and frank field has about as much sense as a brick. his request for information was sent out in the most inept way possible, expecting disabled and ill people in the country to be able to see the account he posted the request on. add to this the fact he has himself caused offence to women and all disabled by suggesting, they should be paid less as they are not worth the full wage, and we have a nazi in labour clothing. i wonder how many more there are still hidden in the labour party.

    • Mike Sivier February 10, 2018 at 3:14 pm - Reply

      I thought it was Philip Davies who said disabled people weren’t worth the full wage?

  6. JohnDee February 10, 2018 at 7:55 pm - Reply

    I received a Mandatory Reconsideration Notice (for PIP) when I complained that my PIP WCA assessor admitted not following published procedures by not having read my PIP application form prior to the interview. The assessor said this in front of my companion, and it was also caught on audio tape.

    In the DWP’s Mandatory Reconsideration Notice (for PIP) that I received, it says words to the effect that if I have any complaint about the WCA assessment that the DWP were ” … unable to take up my complaint on my behalf …” and I should therefore ” …complain to Atos directly…”. !?

    So if the DWP are telling people ” … no-one’s complaining … ” it’s because they are refusing to accept complaints. How do they get away with it?

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