Disabled folk treated like criminals

[craigmason 10]

Why do the DWP think its fine to treat disabled like something they have stepped in send them to assessment's were the person doing it lies to make sure the disabled person loses out and has to appeal and even go to court to get the disability payment they are entitled to :rant:

[medusa 16]

I feel that it's got to the point where everybody going to an assessment really should take an able bodied friend and a voice recorder to their assessment, to act as objective witnesses and proof of what has been asked and said during the assessment.

 

It's really rather sad that there are literally hundreds of complaints that I'm aware of which claim similar things, that the assessor wrote down something different to what was said, in the only stage of the application process where the applicant cannot have a copy of what is going on in writing as a record of proceedings.

 

Even if you believe that every applicant is trying to con the system (when even the government state this figure at a rate of only 0.5%) surely they have the right to the people employed by the system to report truthfully on what has happened?

[zach 235]

Oh, I hear you!

 

I have always worked up until recently when I was made "redundant" I use quotes on the word redundant as that's what happens when an employer doesn't want to support you any longer.

 

I had the assessment in town and scored a grand total of zero. Apparently it was because of "How you answered the questions" Now I'm no angel but I'm not a liar either.

 

Q. Can you make a cup of tea? A. Yes

Q. Can you touch the end of your nose? A. yes

 

And so the totally dumb questions continued. Humiliated is a word that barely described how I felt. As a result all money was stopped and off to job seekers I went. My GP issued a sick note which they wouldn't accept as it was the same condition that the DWP decided I didn't have. When I asked what medical qualifications the people at DWP have that are above a GP, Consultant and Nurse, they said that had nothing to do with it and sign on or get your money stopped. They handed back my sick not and said "That's no use to us"

 

I went through the appeal process and won that immediately but as I was on contributions based payments, I couldn't get any help with medical costs. It has been, and still is, an utter minefield that is designed to trip you up at every opportunity. I can fully understand that some folk do try it on and they want to catch these people out but some of these assessors really need a kick up the backside to bring them back among the real world people.

 

The hoops are still there to jump through but things are getting a tad easier.