1. Unsympathetic approach to clients with certain conditions. These tend to be conditions which are difficult to diagnose or test such as fibromyalgia and mental health problems. 2. Attitudes to pain and discomfort. Decision letters often have statements such as ‘Whilst it is appreciated that you suffer from pain, it must be remembered that activities do not have to be performed without any discomfort or pain and that suffering from pain is not reason in itself to be found to have limited capability for work’ This despite the fact that the WCA regulations state that pain, tiredness, stiffness, breathlessness, nausea, dizziness or balance problems might affect how difficult it is to do things. If doing a particular task causes you too much pain or discomfort, you should be treated as not able to do it. Similarly if you find it so tiring or painful to do a particular task that you could not repeat it within a reasonable time, or could only do it so slowly that you could not effectively complete the task, you should be treated as being unable to do it. 3. A tendency to draw conclusions for which there is no evidence or to contradict evidence which has been presented and acknowledged elsewhere in the report. 4. Drawing the wrong conclusions from facts presented and implying that if a client is well enough to attend the assessment they are well enough to be employed. 5. Dismissive attitude to reports written by the medical profession and a tendency to assume that if client is not taking medication this is because it is not necessary, rather than because of difficulty with side effects.

I was initially denied PIP for my mental and physical health problems, which are significant and have a large impact on my daily activities. I think the claim forms and wording of the questions is set up to make people unsuccessful at gaining points. It is far too complicated and more guidance on using the descriptors, in a simplified format, is needed. During my face to face assessment I was checked in, waited an hour and then told I was marked as ‘failed to attend’! I then saw an assessor I’d not been allocated to, who hasn’t read my form. I was not examined nor asked about suicidal feelings yet her ‘observation’ of me performing various movements, including crouching down, were recorded in my report. As well as myalleged denial of suicidal feelings, which were not asked about. These were clearly untrue. I had assistance from a welfare advisor in applying for a mandatory reconsideration and was then granted high care and standard mobility components of PIP. I believe this is the correct decision yet could have been made sooner had my assessment been thorough and truthful. I have been awarded support group ESA twice without a face to face assessment.

I write on behalf of my son who has just had his second PIP assessment which this time has been rejected. I wish to add our voices to this assessment process which I feel no longer takes account of all disabling conditions. He was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum disorder/Aspergers aged 8. This condition brings a whole load of problems and difficulties most of which are mental and not physical. My son is now 18 and still struggles to cope with what life will throw at him needing my support. I feel this PIP which seem to have changed in its assessment criteria in the two years since my sons first assessment, doesn’t take account of mental disability. To this end he has been judged in all categories as 0 which would indicate that his disability has gone away and he is now judged to be neuro-typical or normal. Any clinical psychologist would tell you that people do not get better from an Autistic disorder. In my sons case he is physically fit and well and can perform many of the tasks that form part of the assessment if taken at face value in a question and answer session. What the assessor doesn’t take account of is that my son will answer what he ‘thinks’ they want to hear. The assessor has no idea that it has taken two days of preparation to get him to attend and will take a further day to discuss whether he behaved in the correct way and to reassure him. At no time during the face to face process do I feel that the assessor gets a true picture of the nature of his problems to manage his condition, mix with other people and manage budgeting decisions. These are the main areas that apply to someone with a mental health problem as the other categories judge physical competencies. I do not feel that to ask someone to perform a simple subtraction sum is enough to judge that they can make ‘complex budgeting decisions’ and the fact they they were able to engage with the assessor unaided (I was present to help facilitate this!) does not mean that they can ‘mix with other people’. Both of which are categories on the assessment form. The final decision is also laughable as they have made note of what we have said are my sons’ main problems but still judged him as being ‘normal’. My sons condition doesn’t go away and if you were to score him 1 in each of the assessment categories as being the lowest score that can be given but still acknowledges that he has a mental disability, then he would still achieve enough points to be awarded PIP. Finally as an example this award has allowed my son to purchase specialist equipment which helps to support him through further education and a modern smart phone so he may always be in touch with myself when there are problems. We are able to have face to face chats during which I can calm him down, reassure him and help him when he is faced with a complex situation that causes distress. I do not feel the face to face assessment takes mental problems into account adequately and I also have issues with the PIP form as this does not allow space to fully explain the impact of a condition before going to assessment. I will be appealing the recent decision and have drafted supporting evidence as to how this mental condition affects my sons’ life. It is also interesting to note that only 16% people on the Autistic Spectrum are employed full time which I feel gives some indication of how the condition can severely affect people.

I have Asperger's Syndrome (autism), an autistic spectrum disorder. It is a neurological condition (meaning it is caused by brain wiring). However, because it is a 'hidden' disabailtiy and not physically obvious, I found the PIP and ESA assessments inadequate in how they took my condition into account. Everything seemed to be geared towrads obvious physical capabilities.

I was moved over from DLA to PIP. I have uncontolled tonic clonic epilepsy. I get no warning when I am about to have a seizure. I also have Stiff person syndrome, which affects one in a million people. I was assessed by a nurse who admitted she hadn't heard of it. But she had a little read up about it that morning. The report was full of blatant lies and was deliberately misleading. In all the sections it says the claimant did not report any significant functional problems with this activity in their questionaire or at the consultation. I wonder why i bothered to fill the questionaire in and send letters from three different consultants,who have seen and written about my difficulties. In the moving around section it says. The HP was about to commence the MSO and she had a severe spasm and jerking The HP would not allow her to leave the room until she was settled NOR WOULD SHE BE CAPABLE TO WALK. The decision maker agreed with her but I only got 4 points. Not enough to get Mobility so I lost out If I was not capable to walk,why did I lose my mobility money. They also lied about my medication They said I take 30mg of mitazipine which is a moderate dose of second line medication. Wrong!! I take 23 tablets a day and mitazipine is not one of them. It goes on and on right the way through It seems ATOS and the DWP are both morally corrupt. they have only one agenda. They lie and mislead so they can take money from the sick poor and vulnerable in society It's a disgrace.I did not go to appeal as I could not afford to lose any more money I think all face to face assessments should be done at the nearest asssessment centre not miles away like mine was . I don't drive because of the uncontrolled epilepsy I'm sure if ATOS had an assessment centre on the moon they'd send us there,so they could fail us for not attending. Also all assessments should be video recorded so we can be seen and heard. And it would also show what dirty pieces of work they are and how low they would go to get money from us.

I have claimed DLA for my autistic daughter a few years ago, it was a difficult form to fill in about, and at the end asked details of professionals who could be contacted, and a statement by one of them about her difficulties. That seemed a common sense approach, and we received Middle rate care. So why bring in this mad system where the way you walk or how far you can reach made by unqualified medical assessors, who have a few weeks basic training and targets to meet, one said they had to go through 40 a day with no break, assess vulnerable people some with devastating mental conditions. Then their money stopped straight away. This is a barbaric system.

I had a pip assessment in July 2017 I suffer with osteoarthritis and depression and fatigue. Got the decision back which was full of many inconsistencies. The assessor was more observant on my appearance than assessing my health condition. Comments like I was smartly dressed, looked very well, didn't look tired. That I walked in carrying a medium sized handbag, it was a clear A5 document holder, the assessor said is he had observed some difficulty in my left hip. I've never had difficulty with my left hip, but difficulty in my right hip, and many more inconsistencies. I felt that because I was well presented this was how the decision was made. I don't have a visual disability, you can't see the pain I deal with daily every day of the year, yet had I turned up looking unkempt I may have scored 1 point. I asked for the MR and got my letter to them the day before the deadline. They responded with more inconsistencies and the date was dated the day after my form had racked them. I congratulate them for dealing woth MR immediately but feel failed again due to the lack of inconsistencies such as I don't receive medication for my depression which was provided to them in the initial pip form. Giving 1 month to appeal is insufficient for some, getting a consolation or doctors appointment can take weeks at times and we can't speed up the time to get these appointments. Nor can we speed up diagnosis or test results. Perhaps in the initial stage of the pip application they make it mandatory for your doctor to submit their own findings and any other professionals that deal with you to make the process less stressful. I was waiting for an MRI appointment during the pip assessment and received that after the MR period. Lack of time for some prevents us from including important evidence. I've now applied to the tribunal and awaiting a date. I work part time and would greatly benefit from someone to come and help me with the daily tasks that most take for granted. And dismiss the professionals that tell lies, I'm a tax payer and our taxes are paying to employ these people who are incompetent and wh bring further distress to people who are already suffering enough

My wife had a horrific experience of the PIP assessment process, directly resulting in a number of overdoses. The assessment person was unsympathetic, and the process itself was so inadequate and dysfunctional that the case (with its avalanche of supporting medical evidence) wasn't properly looked at by the DWP until our tribunal day had been set. They offered to award points if we cancelled the tribunal. But why not access properly from the start and avoid the waste of time money and humna cost?

My daughter has epilepsy, diagnosed at 17 years. She works as a nursery assistant, initially full time before her diagnosis,and part time since the medication and seizures made it too difficult to work full time.She has worked continuously since leaving education in 2008. Her annual income is less than £5000.She first claimed ESA in 2015 due to her low income and she was entitled to income related ESA and received it for one year. She was then told she was not eligible for the benefit for the next 12 months, when she would have to apply again, although her situation was exactly the same throughout. She applied for PIP but was told that she needed 8 points to qualify. She had 4 points for the mobility component and 4 points for the assistance at home component but because the 8 points were not all in the same category she was not entitled. When she went for her PIP assessment the lady who did the assessment said she did not make the decision and was not medically qualified, but just completed the form. She wrote that my daughter (A)'walked into the room unaided' as if this meant she should be able to work and not claim benefit. We explained that A is only affected when she has a seizure, which happens every week sometimes several times, and also that the medication makes her extremely tired. We do not think the lady had a proper understanding of epilepsy and the impact it has on your ability to work. At present A is 26 and living at home. She receives no benefit to top up her meagre income. She would like to be in a position to live independently but it is financially completely impossible and I cannot see how this situation will ever change. We have tried to get help from the Citizens Advice Bureau who helped A to appeal the PIP refusal but she was refused again. I think it is an appalling situation that a young woman who wants to work is not supported to do so. I cannot understand why she cannot continue to receive the ESA she was entitled to the first year she claimed it, as her health situation remains exactly the same. Someone please explain?

Assessor lied on assessment, said i could bathe, dress myself and do hair washing. I have a rotor cuff tear awaiting surgery and can't lift my arm/shoulder to do any of this yet DM went with her report even though I sent in a medical report stating this with MRI results. Said I didnt have MH issues even though I'm awaiting a MH worker to be assigned after having a MH exam, plus I won my ESA appeal in june this year with reg 35 which states that I am a danger to myself and or others because of MH issues, plus states as I drive 5 minutes once a week there is basically nothing wrong with me. I wall walk and cannot walk without pain in the hips yet again all info sent. Assessors should be sacked once the lies have not only been exposed but proved to be lies