Closing claim as client unable to find venue

I have a vulnerable client who was being verbally assaulted while waiting for his PIP assessment and left due to distress. They re-arranged it to a different venue, and on the day the client couldn’t find it.

PIP claim disallowed as no good cause for FTA

Tactics : do you recommend I appeal this and make a new claim? I don’t want a closed period as the complications will distress the client, but if I appeal and lose there will be complains aplenty

Any experience of PIp appeals when clients cant find venue?

Thanks

benefitsadviser - 18 May 2018 10:38 AM

I have a vulnerable client who was being verbally assaulted while waiting for his PIP assessment and left due to distress. They re-arranged it to a different venue, and on the day the client couldn’t find it.

PIP claim disallowed as no good cause for FTA

Tactics : do you recommend I appeal this and make a new claim? I don’t want a closed period as the complications will distress the client, but if I appeal and lose there will be complains aplenty

Any experience of PIp appeals when clients cant find venue?

Thanks

I think normally the outcome of the FTA appeal would be for the claim to be reinstated but the client to still have to attend a medical. The sensible way to deal with the claimant then would be for that rearranged medical to be used for both claims. So I’m not actually sure if a closed period claim would complicate things all that much, assuming the DWP use common sense.

The last one I had similar (appealed and made a new claim) the DWP changed the first good cause decision re. Failure to Participate (client had been sent away from the assessment centre due to his erratic/aggressive behaviour) before it reached a hearing and then made award decisions on both claims without a medical. I was a bit surprised to be honest, although the client had well documented PTSD and the kind of personal history that I think tends to get some sympathy from decision makers.

In terms of not finding the venue obviously any evidence re. his vulnerability/mental health would be relevant, plus I’d take a look to see if you could argue that the venue was ‘objectively’ hard to find.

It seems unlikely to occur in practice, but an appellant should probably be aware that it may be possible that a PIP appeal panel will not just consider good cause, but could go on to consider the actual PIP entitlement.
See:
https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/10852/