Well, it could be that Maximarse /CHDA are up to tricks,i recently rang their appointments line, in order to rearrange the F2F farce appointment that they had sent me, which was at the nearest farce centre which is on a 1st floor (can't do stairs) so that on it's own is a health & safety issue,

The person i spoke to was being funny IMO as they asked for my reason, which i said that i don't even need a reason, but gave the 1st floor h&s grounds (which should have been obvious to them) they don't like it when you know the rules do they?

Anyhow they told me that they would have to tell the DWP (I'm scared, what are they going to do, stop my money? which wouldn't be very wise of them)

Why do they ask you twice why you cannot attend their waste to time f2f farce?

is it supposed to be some form of intimidation?

they gave me a number to ring regarding booking an audio recording (why i should have to waste further time and money ringing non-free phone numbers i do not know)

but the number seems to be always engaged, which is why i suspect there are up to something underhanded?

and no i do not trust them at all

Got a new appointment at a ground floor centre, As by travelling by public transport to the farce will make it easy for them to score zero points , I've been looking into getting a taxi to the F2F farce, my GP has already agreed to write a letter to maximus explaining why it isn't reasonable for me to use public transport /why in his opinion i am unable to use public transport to and from the farce, which is some 20-25miles away from my doorstep ,

But from the info, i have only some centres have accounts with taxi firms, and will pre-book the taxi and pay the bill for us , & were they don't we are supposed to pay for the taxi and be out of pocket until they process the reimbursement, if same time frame as other travel expenses that's 2-3 weeks And as the taxi fare would be around £35 each way that's 1 weeks ESA without waiting time being added,

So how is this deemed reasonable or acceptable (waiting weeks to be reimbursed travel fares) ?? surely it would be a seen as a "good reason" for not attending, as if they won't pay on account, i can't afford the taxi fare, and also eat keep warm and clean i would have to apply to the DWP's social fund and they aren't going to make any decision before the date of the farce

For info'

Nurses are registered with the nursing and midwifery council.

Physiotherapists and some other professions are registered with the health and care professions council.

I hope this helps someone.

As i have asked my GP to write a letter to Maximus to explain to them why i am unable to travel on public transport , to the farce AKA WCA ,

( travel by taxi ) which my GP has agreed to do,

I rang them to check if they had received it or not, which they say not, but they did sort of offer a home visit instead of a Taxi,

Here is my question about this,

although i do have some mobility issues i am not housebound, so would having a home visit go against me, ?

As the cynic in me says probably could do, as soon as i answer the door

(too quickly for their liking) I am not saying i cannot mobilise at all,

And with public transport, there is no guarantee of a seat, and having to stand on a moving vehicle (bus/train) would be very painful due to the unexpected movements slowing down, rolling from side to side etc, hence it's a taxi or a lift in a private car, but getting a lift on the day may not be possible

As for the taxi fare i believe i will have to pay the fare to the assessment, and they will pay on their account for the return journey (book a taxi), so i would need to apply and get the funds from the dwp social fund due to the high costs

Also forgot to add the walking distances involved are too far the only way to cut the walking down is travel by bus , 3 different buses in fact in order to get as close to the assessment centre as possible, as trains involve long walks at each end, this would take over 1hr

I don't see why having a home assessment would go against you, if it's offered I'd jump at it.

Regarding taxi fares, you may well end up having to foot the bill yourself for both journeys and then wait weeks for Maximus to reimburse you.

With hearing what others have had happen,

(by answering the door to them too quickly, and scoring no points)

plus i want it audio recorded

I don't want them forming the opinion that i'm trying to pull a fast one,

ie having a home visit (although was suggested by them,not myself) when i could get there in a taxi,or private car (lift from a friend ) though getting someone to take me there unless they need to go that area themselves ain't easy, when you consider what they pay per mile (doesn't fully cover the associated costs)

I'm surprised that i was offered a home visit as i have said I'm not house bound/bed ridden ,

as for the taxi fares

i will have to get a bugeting loan from the DWP social fund before i go,

as i cannot go without one weeks money for 2-3weeks whilst they hum and harr processing the payment

Spoke to the CAB adviser who has been helping me, and said go for the home visit too, since they have offered one, so long as it can be audio recorded i shall be doing this,

Does anyone know if they are able to do audio recordings on home visits or not ?

Well after some research i found what i think to be the reasons that i was offered a home visit, As the nearest assessment centre to my home is on a 1ST floor and due to H &S rules those who struggle with stairs (like me) would not be able to evacuate the building safely and quickly,

travel time by bus was just over the 90mins maximum, not including any delays ect, 2 buses

And to the assessment centre, it's nearly 2hrs and a total of 3 buses The train involves more walking distances greater than 200mtrs to both venues

you can still have your assessment recorded at home.

may as well go for the home assessment then saves me a lot of agro,

funny thing when i saw my GP last i was asking if they would write a letter to explain why i wasn't able to use public transport, and when asked me where it was, then asked me if there was a venue nearer locally in my own town? and if not would they come to my home?

the GP was of the opinion they should,

but i didn't feel that i would meet the criteria,

so said it was doubtful but after doing some research it appears,

I do in some ways meet it.

ie door to door travelling time using public transport, and the not being able to afford the taxi

my home assessment was audio recorded, however it took quite a long time to co-ordinate a HCP willing and able to do home visits and an audio recorder and someone to operate it (supplied by them, not you).

they needed someone to operate a portable twin cd recorder and set up the microphones, lol unbelievable

I actually ended up with three people coming out to do my assessment, though one of them did stay in the car.

A bit of a waste when the actual assessment lasted less than 10 minutes,

however I have no objection at all to wasting ATOS' (as it was then) money.

the recorder was a twin tape deck, so though I have the recording, it's not of much use when I don't have anything to play it on.

I do however have two other recordings made at the same on mobiles that just happened to be lying around.

Well home WCA booked i hope, And it's looking like i will have to send the GP's letter myself, as my Gp's office are getting an error message when trying to fax it over to them, looks like their fax machines aren't expecting incoming faxes

GP's Letter sent, and received (rang them to check, they confirmed this) i now have another appointment letter at the same venue & cancelling the previous one, But is at an unacceptable time in some 3 weeks time, this letter was sent the day before my previous WCA was supposed to be, and no mention of taxi fares being agreed???

My question is this, if they haven't looked at my case for a home visit, yet would they send out another appointment, is this what they do?

or have they reneged on their offer ?

Probably an automatically generated letter. Ring them on Monday.

Turns out that now they have reneged on the home visit,

And are saying the usual blurb about the f2f farce still required at the date & time given,

but should i wish to go by taxi,

i will be able to claim a refund for the taxi when i attend the appointment,

and to bring bank details so they can arrange bank transfer,

no mention of how long i would have to go without that money for or if they are paying for the taxi on their account for the return journey

This, of course, assumes that i will have enough money to pay upfront for the taxi

And travel by public transport would take in excess of 90 mins in either direction door to door using public transport, and 90 max travel time is their rule, anything outside this i believe they are supposed to offer a home visit?

After further conversations with them on the phone,

i now have written confirmation from them that they are able to offer a home visit,

and will contact me in due course with the appointment details,

I can't be sure if it was because i knew their rules regarding max acceptable journey times to assessment centres, or because they had offered a home visit previously and were just trying it on ???

WCA will have to be rescheduled again, the HCP who they sent didn't have the audio recording equipment ,wasn't informed it was a audio recorded WCA ,

Just an update, been a long time i know,

Following several WCA appointment reschedules, the first in Feb 2017, Which was @ 09:15 located in a 1st floor venue, some 20 miles away from my home, and around 1hr min journey time,which would also cost more due to public transport peak time rates ( 06:30-09:30 ) So re-scheduled on fire safety grounds my Stage 4 OA of the knee and stairs don't mix well

Several other appointments at a venue slightly further away but on the ground floor, Which i was foolishly going to travel to using public transport (like a lamb to its slaughter)

until that was i discovered some less known information surrounding maximum journey times to WCA's using public transport and private car/taxi public transport is 90mins to or from the WCA including any waiting times, time spent walking in between journeys & 1hr in a car, all journey times are door to door

I requested they pay for a taxi to & from the WCA, I was given a national rate number for the area office, So mentioned about this, when as i had used the same online journey

calculator to calculate the journey time using public transport and it would have been over 90mins in both directions due to needing several buses to cut the walking distance to a minimum

At first they said that they didn't know if the venue i had chosen had a taxi account or not,so informed me that i may have to pay and have the fare refunded, due to the cost to a taxi being in the region of £30 minimum each way

I asked if they would reimburse my costs on the day from petty cash, they said not, so i informed them that in order to travel by taxi, i would have to apply to the dwp social fund for a loan and that they would have re schedule the WCA again,Iwas then offered in principle a home visit, at first i was a little sceptical about accepting,

because i though i may be scoring an own goal, in that the HCP on a home visit may find me ffw just because in their opinion i answerd the door too quickly or that i wasn't bed ridden plus i wasn't sure if the HV could be audio recorded or not

So initially i got a letter to explain why i was unable to use public transport to the WCA from my GP, sent that in,(recorded) after talking to the CAB adviser who said if they are offering an HV take it, and that he couldn't see any reason why they couldn't audio record it

So i rang them a few days later to check that they had the letter from my GP, they did, and i told them that i wished to accept the offer of that HV now, due tio the cost of the taxi, and the financial hardship it would cause whilst i waited for them to re emburse the fare ,

I received a letter from them saying that the could not authorise an HV, So i rang them again, this time i spoke with the same person who offered the HV and said he would ask the manager, and did this whilst was on the phone, he came back with a yes that's ok, we will do an HV audio recorded

About a few months later i get the appointment letter about 10 days before the appoinment date, a DR turns up, but has no audio recording equipment, so WCA aborted, re scheduled, until last month , another DR or so it said on the appointment letter turned up at my home, this time with the audio equipment,

He was a lot more civil than those at the farce centrer, he did most of the talking, and from what he said he accepted the evidence from my gp and the consultant surgeon's report as well as the gastroenteritis report, and made up his mind that i was not fit for work , infact he even prompted me a little to provide the info that could make a difference, unlike those at the farce centrers who seem to take pleasure from finding as many as possible ffw when they clearly are not,

But i didn't allow this to get my hopes up, so i wouldn't be as disappointed if i got a negative result again, right up until today some 6 weeks later when i receive some long awaited good news , Awarded support group, and arrears in the bank too

This Christmas and new year won't be a bleak as i was prepared for it being after all,

my new weekly total wil be £73.10+£36.20 SG plus a disability income guarantee of £15.75 (£125.05 ) and from april 2017 £125.55 per week, Maybe this will help with a PIP claim for standard mobility, the money isn't much,

but there are other benefits like 50% off car tax, not sure if you also get concessions on public transport ?

That was an uphill struggle for you tommy but congratulations on making them see sense and

good luck with the PIP application. Also many thanks for making such a precise account of what

you had to go through.

Regards to all

Thank's and I'll probably need some luck, do they still send out a report and their prognosis as to how long they (recommended ) before they will need to reassess me? they used to do this with IB back in the day, or will i have to request this ie esa85 wca report?

And yes it's taken several attempts including tribunal hearings before common sense prevailed, for me this was in part down to not having the clinical evidence, and myself, for being too cooperative with them, by travelling to their faces i inadvertently scored an own goal, but there's still the luck of the draw as to which HCP carries out the WCA farce and if any of the info, in particular, the lesser known rule about Max journey times that they Maxifarce have chosen to adhere to helps others get what they are entitled to then it is mission accomplished, that's the purpose of this forum

Whether you get help with public transport, varies by area. Although, if you do get any rate of PIP, (being on ESA won't guarantee this - I got ESA very easily and had to fight for PIP) you can apply for a disabled persons railcard.

Yes i was making the public transport query regarding PIP and not ESA , Just done my own calculation of the arrears owed and they my my calculations have underpaid me, by around 1 week, also they don't appear to of paid my Xmas bonus last year or this year, my esa award is backdated to last October so i should be paid this too, they never fail to disappoint do they?

Are you contributions based ESA? You don't get the Xmas bonus on income based.

forgot about that, they used to pay it on income based benefits, i had it whilst on IB and that was income based

Hi, I wonder if you could get a freedom pass, I have one from age of 50 for several mobility issues but my friend got one for

being diabetic and having continuous pins and needles in his feet!

Regards