Atos refusing to refund travel

Hi there

I haven’t come across this before so would be interested to hear what people’s experiences have been and what they have done to try and reverse it!

My client attended an ESA medical at Romford 4 weeks ago and duly claimed her taxi fare there and back (aprroved by phone).  She claimed for the travel (£9 each way) and Atos have only refunded her £5 stating that she was able to travel back by public transport, the examining doctor apparently said that she could!!  She suffers from Sacriolitis and various other conditions that seriously inhibit her walking, hence the taxi.

Has anyone else heard of such lunacy?

Thanks

This is going to get more common due to spending cuts.  Tribunal clerks are asking appellants who come by taxi if they have had prior authorization and if they haven’t then they need to provide a good reason why they could not have come by public transport.  The clerks are usually pretty good and will accept reasons such as “the bus stop/train station is too far away from my house/the venue for me to walk there due to pain, etc”.  It’s not going to get any better anytime soon.

Tribunal’s are paying as they are authorised before the hearing.  This was authorised before by Atos yet they are refusing!