I could not believe my ears when the assessor said dont wear a bra ,I had my assessment on the 6th March a electronic copy of the report was received by dwp on 13th March and a hard copy received on the 18th March , i think i phoned up and requested the copy of the report on the 19th March , i think i received the report on the 26th March which listed all the points i had so
My assessor asked me about budgetting and i did tell him i have on a couple of occasions asked for cash back in shops and walked off without it totally forgot i asked for it it was only for the fact someone was with me and they realised what i had done , my assessor put that i cannot budget due to memory issues
hi candy. who was your acesser atos or capita. ive never had to do a assesment as i have back trouble also dbs,high bp clucoma,nerve pain my paper work as all ways been enough who filled in you application.
i was reading you said you wash your hair with a jug ! is this not the same as lifting a pan,i dont mean to be nasty but you should have said your husband washes you as you are in to much pain also you can not wash your self right also need help getting in & out of bath also need help drying yourself as it is hard to reach places I'm so sorry you was not repaired for it they do not realise that you have bad days & good.chin up it might have gone better than you think !
I have been reading these comments about not wearing a bra get lighter pans use your right hand. Apart from the fact they should not be making personal remarks are they there for that? I mean should they not just do the job there paid for and carry out the assessment and keep the personal remarks to themselves. I am an ex union representative and well used to helping others providing things are factual you can never tell lies as then more lies are needed to cover up the original lies. Personally I would place a formal complaint against the asseser explaining in the case of the pans that she was suggesting something that could ultimately cause an accident and also the whole attitude and looking over her glasses was wrong. You went there because you were asked to attend a face to face interview not to be humiliated and verbally abused As for the bra the remark passed was personal and totally out of order peoples preferences to what they wear is there own personal business...............Paul
I see your point about lifting a jug to wash my hair, But dont you think a metal pan filled with boiling water and veggies would weigh more than a plastic jug with a bit of water in it.
Shelly I phoned the DWP, They told me it would be at least 6 weeks before they would recieve a copy of my assessment and they also told me that I wouldnt be allowed to have a copy until my claim had been to the assessor and a decision made, I dont mean this to sound rude but how did you manage to get a copy off them so quickly? I was told I coulldnt have one until it had all been sorted but you had one almost straight away?
Well I think I have totally buggered it up anyway, because if Gus picked up that if I could lift a jug then I could lift a saucepan what hope have I got?
Wait and see but i know from a friend how bad they are you can appeal i think that is a good way aswell its all a shame ,its to do with the people who don't really need it,you would think a consultants letter would be enough just like when you have to get a 3yr driving licence .good luck candy how long have you had pd.
Capita did my assessment, I think they are so intrusive because of all the fraudulent claims that have been in the press recently, Which is a shame for the genuine ones,
I sent a copy of my neurologists letter which she had logged on her files.
I have had PD for about 2 years altogether, I was only diagnosed last November it took nearly a year for them to diagnose me.
Yes I will appeal if I am turned down, I am hoping I will get the lower rate at least but I still have a feeling I will be turned down.
Just have to wait and see nothing I can do about it until I get a decision.
The main problem with these assessments there not balanced at all and with Parkinsons this is the most important thing. I had my assessment on the 3rd of April and I was having a reasonable day I went in told everything the way it was listened to and answered all the questions and also noticed some of the sly questions they asked.Now 2 weeks later my symptoms have changed I am stiffer my walking has got much worse I am starting to get very emotional and I am suffering chronic indigestion which never seems to ease and this has happened as I have increased my ripinorol by 2 mg a week as the PD nurse told me to. but the assessment has ben done and I may not even get it or a lower rate so its not a balanced view its basically at best a waste of everyone's time these interviews should have certain illnesses excluded and PD is one of them as no 2 days are the same its very misleading and utterly the wrong way to treat people with PD.........Paul
I did keep telling my assessor that PD is a progressive illness and that the symptoms can vary from day to day.
Her reply was that the assessment had to be recorded on how I am at the time of the assessment.
I think it is unfair because like you say, You could be ok on the day of the assessment and then ten times worse the next, The problem is they have no knowledge of the condition.
It is one assessment fits all and it really cant be like that with our condition
Paul , i agree the do not wear a bra comment was very personal and the lighter pans was uncalled for
Candy , i suspect my getting hold of the report had a lot to do with getting my MP on there case and also to do with the story i gave to the Daily Mirror , on the morning before my story was due to go in the paper the journalist telephoned DWP and Capita for there comments , , DWP called the journalist back on the afternoon indicating a decision had been made on my claim that day , how amazing they made a decision a few hours before the story hit the papers , the next morning my report arrived in the post , i was not aware of what decision they had made as i did not pick up the email that the journalist sent me informing me what DWP said till late evening but when the report arrived in the mail next day and i read it i decided to ring DWP and ask and they told me the award over the phone
But originally they did tell me i could not get a copy till the decision was made by DWP .
I have published the link to PUK PIP publication a few messages up and it does give some good advice and it does say in there your condition should be judged on your worst day not on how you are at assessment ,
Candy/ Paul read through it and if you do have to appeal { i hope you dont } it gives really good advice and examples of how you can put your point across to the assessor/decision maker
If you have to appeal just write in saying you feel you did not get a chance to properly put across how your condition affects you and you felt intimidated by the assessor and go through every section of the daily living activities and write down how it affects you , as Gus said dont underestimate what you cant do , i would say you need your husbands help to wash your hair and to bath as whilst you can do it with difficulty it is not to a acceptable standard the same with cooking , just try go into as much detail as you can something like ' i do not cook a meal from scratch as i find it very difficult to lift pans when they are filled with food/ boiling water , due to pain in my arms/ tremors there is a high risk that i will drop the pan and burn myself but i can put a ready meal in the microwave ' ' you could adapt this to your circumstances but can you see how you are painting a picture for the assessor rather than saying ' i cant lift pans because they are heavy ' the key facts to PIP are you have to be able to do something reliably ie to a acceptable standard if you was your hair with a jug and your not washing it properly its not to a acceptable standard , safely , there is no risk of harm to you or others agin we are back to the boiling water and risk of burns and repeatedly ie are you tired and exhausted after say walking to the local shop so much that you could not do it a second time or third time
Hope all this helps Candy it may just be a case you need to paint a bigger picture for the decision maker as to how your worst day affects you
Very well said shelly acceptable standard is the key lets hope an appeal wont be needed however the link you posted is very useful.Of course one of the things people tend to say when asked how they are is I am not to bad thanks a big mistake at a pip assessment You have to say I am feeling awful even if on that day your not feeling to bad people should not be forced in to a corner to tell lies because there worried that they wont get a benefit they are entitled to by being truthful how ridiculous.The system needs adapting to suit various medical conditions and very importantly the assessors need better medical knowledge, and that's the way forward.............Paul
I am glad you had your decision so quickly as you had waited so long, I really wasnt being rude when I asked you about the speed you had it, I think you deserved to have it sorted because you had waited a horrendous amount of time.
My husband did say that he had to take over the cooking and he also said how exhausted i was all the time.
I did a PIP self checker online and according to that I should get the standard rate at least, But then I dont know what she has written in her report.
I think the biggest worry for me is not really being turned down for the money, But if I am turned down it will make me feel like a fraud and a liar and thats what is worrying me the most.
I agree with you Paul, The system does need adapting and the assesors do need better medical knowledge even though mine was a district nurse and surely should have met some PD patients on her rounds
Thank you for your continuing support, I will keep you informed
No worries no offence taken as i said i am more than positive that my quick decison from the time my reports were done by Capita was due to the story going into the papers dwp made a point of calling the journalist back on the afternoon to duly inform them they had made a decision it was damage limitation on there part me thinks , but saying that it is a awful system when we are forced to go to such extremes in a system that is supposed to help the sick and disabled
Yes Paul the link to PUK PIP publication is very informative and has you say the key facts are safely . repeatedly and to a acceptable standard and in a reasonable amount of time if you cannot say yes to all or indeed any of them you should be scored as not being able to do the activity ,
Candy /Paul
Whilst i am not by any means a expert if you need any help private message me i will try to help if i can .
you are most welcome ,i have to make a claim for esa towards the end of May so i am hoping it goes much quicker and smoother than my pip claim although i wont hold my breath , not sure if i am correct in thinking it is Atos that do the esa assessments .
Yes i must say i am feeling a lot better than i have been , finally found the drug regime that suits me at the moment although tiredness is still a major problem but i just try to compensate and have a nap in the afternoon if i need to ,
I hope everything goes ok for you Candy , try not to get to stressed out your in the final stages wont be to long now
No .i was actually caring for my mother but due to my own ill health i had to stop so was given a 8 week run on with the benefit i was getting so have to either claim JSA or ESA in a few weeks , looks like it is going to be ESA