Janet, from Portadown, County Armagh, told Radio Ulster’s Consumer Fight Back programme that she worked for the NHS for many years before a deterioration in her health meant she had to medically retire.
In recent years, she’s had operations on her neck and hands and lists off a long list of health conditions – arthritis, carpal tunnel, fibromyalgia and allodynia, a painful nerve condition which she says results in “constant pain” when it flares up.
She said she was refused Personal Independence Payment after following the process of filling in an application form and then having a telephone interview, a process she described as “horrible”.
She added that she found the form long and difficult to fill in and the telephone call as “really cold”.
“It’s hard to talk about your health in a point-scoring system,” Janet said.
Capita, who carry out the assessment but do not make the overall decision, said its staff “receive comprehensive training and support as part of their role and are committed to delivering a caring, professional service and ensuring individuals are treated with dignity and respect throughout the assessment process”.
Those who apply for Pip but are not awarded it can ask the department to look again at the decision. This is called a mandatory reconsideration.
The majority of these decisions remain unchanged but, at this point, the claimant can appeal and the success rate figure changes quite dramatically.
This usually involves a tribunal where an independent panel re-examine the original decision made by the department.