3 ms·

Friend of mine gets disability benefits and your comment is inaccurate.

by dazc 9y ago

pjc50 9y ago
Several friends of mine and a family member get disability benefits and the assessment process is horrendous. We've encountered lots of variants of "if you're able to attend this interview there can't be anything wrong which would prevent you from getting a job, so no money for you".
- gambiting 9y ago
  There's a semi-famous case where the person had a heart attack during the medical interview(in a way he was lucky that the attending nurse recognized the heart attack and called an ambulance straight away) - but because they had to stop the interview half-way through, he was declared no-show and had all his payments cut to zero.
9point6 9y ago
You're aware there's a mass of evidence that the DWP is, at best, ineffective and trending towards excessively cruel in its capability assessments? It's not exactly something that's gone unreported. Your friend is lucky, I know several people personally who have been dragged through the courts for months before they were able to get their incorrect assessment overturned.
- dazc 9y ago
  You know someone who's been refused because he can walk to the shops (re my comment)?
  - jdietrich 9y ago
    I used to be a welfare benefits adviser. Even under the old system, I saw absurd decisions that were overturned on appeal. Under the new system of ESA and PIP, assessments have become a complete farce. ATOS/Maximus assessors have no real training in health and social care and appear to be incentivised to reject claims. The stricter regime for both ESA and JSA has created a dreadful gap in the benefits system - people who aren't sick enough to claim ESA, but too sick to claim JSA. Many people with health conditions that vary over time are refused ESA because their condition is quite mild at the time of assessment, then repeatedly sanctioned on JSA because they become too sick to keep up with their jobseeking activity obligations. There appears to have been a particularly severe impact on people with mental health conditions and learning disabilities. Our benefits system has become overly complex and extremely unforgiving. A relatively minor error can leave someone completely destitute. The services that help people navigate the benefits system are under severe pressure due to austerity cuts. I'm no bleeding-heart liberal, but I think that our benefits system has become callous, unreasonable and ineffective in preventing poverty.
- dazc 9y ago
  Yes, a mass of evidence yet none to refute my challenge?
  - nothrabannosir 9y ago
    Your hollow anecdote? There were some to the effect of the opposite. Granted: Nobody’s linked to any papers or studies. But neither have you.
    - TomK32 9y ago
      Even if there were govt reports on the topic they would be too dangerous to publish and if the parliament dares to force govt to publish them there weren't any reports in the first place... Man, I'm happy not to live in the UK.
  - 9point6 9y ago
    Double reply, eh? - I've been doing my job. Sorry I can't drop everything to respond to you on HN. As I said it's not exactly under-reported, that was your cue to search and find something like: https://fullfact.org/news/how-many-fit-work-assessments-are-successfully-overturned/ https://fullfact.org/news/how-many-fit-work-assessments-are-... And (to address your other comment) I assume you aren't being literal with your specific example (because the guy you were responding to didn't literally mean people were assessed on their ability to walk to a shop specifically), but yeah there have been reports of people who can't walk very far getting told they're fit for work (For instance this guy: https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/photographer-told-hes-fit-work-1184852 https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/photographer... from earlier this week) Where's your evidence?
    - dazc 9y ago
      OK, I didn't realise the guy wasn't speaking literally. I thought he actually knew of a case that supported his statement in some way.
      - TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

Friend of mine gets disability benefits and your comment is inaccurate.

by dazc 9y ago

Friend of mine gets disability benefits and your comment is inaccurate.

Several friends of mine and a family member get disability benefits and the assessment process is horrendous. We've encountered lots of variants of "if you're able to attend this interview there can't be anything wrong which would prevent you from getting a job, so no money for you".

gambiting 9y ago
There's a semi-famous case where the person had a heart attack during the medical interview(in a way he was lucky that the attending nurse recognized the heart attack and called an ambulance straight away) - but because they had to stop the interview half-way through, he was declared no-show and had all his payments cut to zero.

9point6 9y ago

You're aware there's a mass of evidence that the DWP is, at best, ineffective and trending towards excessively cruel in its capability assessments? It's not exactly something that's gone unreported. Your friend is lucky, I know several people personally who have been dragged through the courts for months before they were able to get their incorrect assessment overturned.

dazc 9y ago
You know someone who's been refused because he can walk to the shops (re my comment)?
- jdietrich 9y ago
  I used to be a welfare benefits adviser. Even under the old system, I saw absurd decisions that were overturned on appeal. Under the new system of ESA and PIP, assessments have become a complete farce. ATOS/Maximus assessors have no real training in health and social care and appear to be incentivised to reject claims. The stricter regime for both ESA and JSA has created a dreadful gap in the benefits system - people who aren't sick enough to claim ESA, but too sick to claim JSA. Many people with health conditions that vary over time are refused ESA because their condition is quite mild at the time of assessment, then repeatedly sanctioned on JSA because they become too sick to keep up with their jobseeking activity obligations. There appears to have been a particularly severe impact on people with mental health conditions and learning disabilities. Our benefits system has become overly complex and extremely unforgiving. A relatively minor error can leave someone completely destitute. The services that help people navigate the benefits system are under severe pressure due to austerity cuts. I'm no bleeding-heart liberal, but I think that our benefits system has become callous, unreasonable and ineffective in preventing poverty.
dazc 9y ago
Yes, a mass of evidence yet none to refute my challenge?
- nothrabannosir 9y ago
  Your hollow anecdote? There were some to the effect of the opposite. Granted: Nobody’s linked to any papers or studies. But neither have you.
  - TomK32 9y ago
    Even if there were govt reports on the topic they would be too dangerous to publish and if the parliament dares to force govt to publish them there weren't any reports in the first place... Man, I'm happy not to live in the UK.
- 9point6 9y ago
  Double reply, eh? - I've been doing my job. Sorry I can't drop everything to respond to you on HN. As I said it's not exactly under-reported, that was your cue to search and find something like: https://fullfact.org/news/how-many-fit-work-assessments-are-successfully-overturned/ https://fullfact.org/news/how-many-fit-work-assessments-are-... And (to address your other comment) I assume you aren't being literal with your specific example (because the guy you were responding to didn't literally mean people were assessed on their ability to walk to a shop specifically), but yeah there have been reports of people who can't walk very far getting told they're fit for work (For instance this guy: https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/photographer-told-hes-fit-work-1184852 https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/photographer... from earlier this week) Where's your evidence?
  - dazc 9y ago
    OK, I didn't realise the guy wasn't speaking literally. I thought he actually knew of a case that supported his statement in some way.
    - TheOtherHobbes 9y ago

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]