I finally received the PIP assessement appointment letter. The made the appointment for 9am in the morning on the other side of London. There is no way I could make such a journey at that time of the morning and given the fact that it is on the form that I have R.A and Sarcoidosis why would they set such a time.
As luck would have it I wen to my R.A support group and asked for advice only for the hospital tell me that they have a centre four bus stops from my home so why would they ask me to go to South London is clearly designed to set me up to fail. They also agreed that the time is also unacceptable. My Rheumy nurse was kind and actually called them up and told them I could not make it and could they come and see me at home. They said no because i am mobile and they have no where closer, of course she argued that that is not true and if they have no where closer then they have no choice but to visit me because I cannot make it; they relented and made an appointment closer, not the one near my home but a lot near than they were sending me.
If they know they have centres within the area of where people live why send then appointments at the worst time of the day and as far away as possible. i have found out that I am not the only one this has happened to and clearly the DWP continue to not only wage a war against disabled people but are clearly doing everything in their power to get you to fail this so called assessment. So evil!
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Paisley58
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You're not alone in this I'm afraid. It happened to me & another person I know. In my case I knew no different, that there was actually an assessment centre closer to home, until my PIP review appointment came & it was at a different one, the same city but in a difficult place to get to. There was no parking on site only across a dual carriageway in a multi storey car park with an option of two pelican crossings with the assessment centre midway between the two, an unacceptable & difficult distance to walk. I'd read here that someone had a similar issue so checked online for Asos centres, lo & behold there was one in the next town, car parking literally steps from the front door! Needless to say I called & requested I changed to that one, I had another couple of weeks wait but it was worth it. The same happened to the other person, same assessment centre in the city when it was equally close for them to attend the one in the next town.
You're able to change the venue just the once but if it makes it easier for you I recommend you do it. I do know that they take distances as the crow flies which is ridiculous especially when the appointments centre staff have no clue of the area you live in & ease of journey.
Thanks, i have done just that, of course they refused to have the appointment changed to the centre four bus stops away, but the one they have sent me to is still a lot closer than the other side of London. I hope everything goes well for you.
I actually do feel like a criminal this process so far has been really horrible and the staff (DWP) speak to me like I crap on their shoe. Very disheartening.
When I had my PIP assessment last year the original centre was in South London. I live in West London and am unable to use public transport at the moment. I rang and asked if they would pay for a cab they agreed. I then received a letter rearranging my appointment to a centre in my local high street, literally five minutes from my home.... Why not allocate me that one in the first place..
The walking distance from the bus stop to the assessment centre in Edinburgh was given on the DWP website as 5 mins. It isn't, even for a fit healthy person it is a 7/8 minute walk, uphill, through cobbled streets. I emailed and complained about the misinformation on three occasions before they acknowledged that, it was in fact longer than a 5 minute walk and said they would change the information on the web page. They have, it now says a short walk.
When I arrived for my assessment , the first question I was asked was how did I travel to the centre.
I'm long enough in the tooth to suspect a bit skullduggery going on.
Definately, just reading everyone comments it's clear they are deliberately setting up disabled people to 'fail' it's disgusting and unfair.
Oh wow that is so bad I am so shocked by the antics. I am so glad you had someone on your side to call for you. I think the morale is don't get pushed around push back!
They did that to me, sent me miles away , had to get the train but then they slated me , in my report because “apparently “ if you can catch a train you are capable 🤬🤬🤬🤬
If I had gone by car I would have had to walk for over 10 minutes to get to the meeting
It's a total national disgrace. Being treated as frauds before any assessment can be made. Devious, obstructive, nasty system. Skullduggery is too mild a word for their activities
Reading everyone comment is making me re-think that word. What a nasty way to treat people who are already dealing with various levels of discomfort and discrimination and now criminalization has been added to the mix.
My appointment was on a business park near READING but was 2 jctsdown the m4 from me,luckily hubby is retired so drove me there as public transport was a no no . Parking was outside right by the door but I did notice the assessor walked out to meet me do you think might of been to catch me out walking,but saw me hanging on to hubbys arm . I think they should come to the house for the interviews xx
That's exactly what was done, received a letter today the appointment is at 2pm because for me morning appointments are the worse due to my slow coach functioning.
Yep I had mine recently too. The 1st letter they sent was in Birmingham city centre that is over an hour away by train without taxi ride etc. I couldn’t sit in a car for that long either and motorways terrify me. All of this I put on the 40+ page form. What part of housebound can’t walk don’t drive and need full time care don’t they understand??? Long story short they had to do a home visit and I must say I found it extremely stressful and humiliating. I sent loads of medical reports and evidence too.
I had a home visit. I too found it humiliating. I had a nice clean house and dress nicely. All went against me. No mention of my husband who sat the room with me and bless him had cleaned and tidied the house.
Will leave dirty dishes and knickers around next time.
That sounds horrific and what the hell does a nice house and dressing nicely got to do with disability. The levels of ignorance never ceases to amaze me
I am so sorry this happened to you, makes you wonder if they actually read the form which I suspect they did and decided to call your bluff just to see if you would come all that way. So shady!
Yeah I thought a complete stranger basically asking you if you can manage to wipe your own arse and trying to get you to stand on one leg and bend down on two legs, pretty disgusting thing to try and make someone do. I have evidence from a works tribunal doctor which said the NHS found I incapable of working and signed by docs when I was forced to retire (was the right decision in hindsight). But along with two consultants and one GP saying my disability has made me virtually unable to walk and my disease is not controlled. What more do these people want ? I’ve never been so angry that I had to be put through it. I felt like a fraud which I am not. They don’t consider that getting DLA or PIP is the only independence that I have left and I use it to help with disability aids and to keep our car on the road. Grrrrrr 🤬🤬🤬 sorry still a sore subject. We will see in 6 weeks time.
That's horrific!!! I understand your rage. It's kind of how I feel. I was on DLA indefinately, had to give up work by my Consultant, all I did was basically ignore him, retrained in something else and went on to work for another 41/2 years before my body got the better of me. Suddenly under this PIP thing I am literally being told I am not disabled and lazy, it is truly offensive and you're right this entire process does make you feel like a fraud.
They did the same to me, I rang them and said I can't travel that distance and do they have one nearer to my home. The man who answers was very helpful and explained that I can change my appointment only once and yes they had one very close to where I live so they changed it to that one for me.
Sorry I should have also said this happened last year and yes it was successful, thankmyou for you good wished though and I hope you are just as succesful too
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Posture/Gait specialist - recommendations & advice pleeaasse :)
appointment with the rheumatologist 
Why do people do the things they do?
Been resting, but writing, well, talking into a computer, as the hands have decided not to play ball.
Blog Virgin!
