‘We’ve been wronged’ says outsourcing firm after death of claimant whose benefits were wrongly stopped
It must be great to be so rich you think you can buy justice.
Take government-contract outsourcing firm Capita, that (among other things) conducts health assessments for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the main disability benefit, on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The company was ordered to pay £10,000 in damages following the death of PIP claimant Victoria Smith after it recommended that her benefit claim should be refused.
Ms Smith suffered from agoraphobia and fibromyalgia, and died of a brain haemorrhage in July last year after a worsening of these conditions. The assessment had taken place in March, four months previously.
While the decision over whether someone receives the benefit is made by a DWP official, Capita’s assessment of how a person’s disability affects their life is a crucial part of the process.
The week after Ms Smith’s death, a social security tribunal decided she had been eligible for PIP. Mother Susan Kemlo took legal action against the company for maladministration – that it had made inaccurate statements – and was awarded £10,000.
Now the firm is taking the case back to court, hoping the judgement will be set aside.
It says problems with its internal email system mean it never had a chance to defend itself.
And court papers suggest that the firm is bringing this costly court action, not for justice, but to offset the reputational damage it has suffered.
In those papers, the company states: “Capita has been on the receiving end of significant negative press which suggests that it has been held liable following a successful claim by the claimant,” it says.
“This causes significant reputational damage to Capita’s business.”
Never mind the merits of the case; it seems to me that Capita is trying to overturn the judgement because it can afford to.
Put the shoe on the other foot; if Mrs Kemlo had lost, would she have the cash to appeal against the decision?
This is about corporate pride, money, and a bid to buy justice.
Source: Capita seeks to reverse ‘reputational damage’ after death of claimant – BBC News
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Sorry Capita, but if your letters don’t turn up, WE lose our benefits. If you are so irresponsible that you are incapable of employing a developer who can create a software system capable of delivering internal emails, why should you be let off the hook? What are you doing with our tax money?
And to prevent the ruling from becoming a “floodgate”.
Let’s hope the Judge hearing Capita’s appeal against the judgement knows the truth of the appalling lies and inaccuracies these outsourced companies seem to encourage “hcp’s” to fill our assessment reports with.
If it stands through all appeal stages, cos you know damn well Capita will appeal the appeals trying to get the results they want, until there’s no where higher to go. Then all PIP and WCA dodgy hcp reports, from ALL the outsourced private companies that have caused “harm and hardship” through being substand (aka bs and lies), could sue Capita, Maximus, Atos, citing this case and have far better odds on winning.
Oh the heartwarming thought of them all being sued into oblivion.
Capita also run TV Licensing and its operatives (known as “goons”) lie and cheat in order to try to prosecute people like me who don’t watch TV and have no licence – no licence needed to listen to the radio as the Radio Licence was abolished in 1971. Capita’s goons get a £20 bounty for a successful prosecution so there’s plenty of incentive. Should a TV Licensing goon doorstep you just say “Not needed here. Goodbye” and shut the door. Nothing more. Never, ever sign a goon’s “TVL178” form which forms the basis of a prosecution. The usual gambit is the goon just produces a blank TVL178 form and asks the victim to sign it saying it’s just proof he called. Afterwards the goon fabricates evidence in order to claim their bounty. The goons are trained to extract information from victims so don’t even acknowledge your name.
10000 a life’s worth hmmm crapita it seems doesn’t like the Monica of death captain’s only following orders well let’s see crapita maximus or atos sit at the dwp table free of charge while a decision makers ask vital questions sometimes of these people’s they can and will offer advice that dams the claimants to ask for reconsideration whot a farce slot die
Waiting for this culling the stock through benefits denial aktion
T4 rolling along without much of a ado .
Nasty Tories and the nasty companies who aid and abet them.
we been wronged say crapita after following government orders down playing their roll in benefits denial by numbers ops sorry you are you sit dwp building offering advice to decision makers if thats not helping them push more and more to suicide then nowt is culling the stock through benefits denial aktion t4 rolling along without much of a ado
I wasn’t aware Capita had a good reputation in the first place.