EXTRACTS
There was a trainee listening in and she had two people walk through the room sniggering at bowel and bladder questions
I heard sniggering and muffled laughter and a mobile phone ring which was answered and not by interviewer
. . . after having to give humiliating answers about myself and my disabilities/illnesses, I heard a man's voice and then shortly after I heard a small excitable child's voice!
I could hear other people in the background and at more than one point the assessor spoke to another person whilst interviewing me.
Was asked to make noises like I make while in pain, felt humiliated and degraded
Still trying to work out why assessor asked 'How often do you change your underwear'!
The form asks if you can make a simple meal. When I replied that I could not, he asked “So can you boil an egg then?”
But they wanted to know, if my husband got the ready meal out of the fridge and gave it to me, if I sat next to the microwave, could I put it in the microwave.
My son has many mental health problems. Has ME and is autistic. But he [the assessor] made silly jokes and seemed to be making fun out of things written in his autism report.
The assessor was relentless and the more I cried and became distressed he would just repeat "I have to do this, I have to ask these questions".
PIP telephone assessments update: the horror stories continue
Some PIP claimants are still facing illegal breaches of confidentiality, unlawful lack of notice and bizarre and remorseless questioning as part of their telephone assessments , according to our latest survey results.
As a result, we are urging claimants to ask to have their assessment recorded and to consider recording it themselves.
Last May, we published two article on What PIP telephone assessments are really like and What PIP telephone assessments are really like, part two.
The articles were based on over 250 responses to our survey on the subject. They found widespread evidence of unfair and unlawful practices.
We left the survey open and we have now assessed 392 additional responses received between June and the beginning of November.
What they show is that whilst some aspects of telephone assessments have improved, others have grown worse and, most worryingly, the horror stories about things that should never occur at all have continued.
