Assessment venue difficulties

A young man has been offered a home assessment but he lives in a shared house & there is no where private to do the assessment other than his small bedroom which is opposite the kitchen & backs onto garden where people are often outside his window or in the kitchen He was concerned others might hear private conversation about his mental health problems we informed capita & were told there was not an assessment centre in his town. He is unable to travel without assistance this will involve a trip over 100 miles to the nearest centre with his mother who is in a wheel. chair I have just read telephone interviews can be offered but this has not been suggested his assessment is tomorrow.
We have been told that if he doesn't attend his dla benefit will stop He has recently been awarded ESA supported work rate based on medical evidence after 3 yrs of basic rate payments but capita have said the medical evidence is not enough to make a pip decision on Is there any solution to this problem ?

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The criteria for ESA and PIP are very different with little cross-over. It is not unusual to need an assessment for one even after the other has been awarded.

The claimant is able to change assessment arrangements once only without problems. Any re-arranged appointment must be kept, come what may, otherwise you run the risk of the claim being closed and the claimant being found 'Fit for work' on a technicality (this is appealable but it is far better not to get into this situation in the first place!).

Whilst 'Work Focussed Interviews' can sometimes be held over the phone, the face2face assessment needs to be just that - face2face.

Is There anywhere 'safe' locally that the claimant could use for the assessment? This could be the home of a relative or trusted friend. It might also be possible to use an empty consulting room at the claimant's surgery, the Practice Manager would be the person to speak to about this.

If you need to change tomorrow's appointment, I suggest you do this without delay. You can always use this as a delaying technique while you try to sort something out.

It might be that someone else can suggest another option that has not occurred to me.

I would also suggest that you use the time before the assessment to have a good look at our PIP guides if they were not used when making the claim. There is a section towards the back that explains what to expect at a face2face assessment.

PIP help for claimants

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