Complaints to Atos
Posted: Sun 28 Sep, 2014 5:17 pm
ephemerid wrote:Atos complaints.
The first thing you have to do is write or email Atos Customer Relations. According to their policy, they must acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days of receipt.
They frequently don't, so you have to repeat the exercise; eventually you will get a letter which is likely to spectacularly miss the point, with information on how to "escalate" your complaint to the Independent Tier (sic).
Sometimes they will offer a small payment, £50 or so, to "settle" the complaint, saying this is a "consolatory payment" for "inconvenience".
They will not admit that they have done anything wrong.
Sometimes they will ask the Customer Relations Medical Adviser to review WCAs and reports of WCAs. They will not tell you they are doing this.
Whatever he/she says, even if the verdict is damning, they are not likely to show you the CRMA report unless you insist they do.
The IT is based at Atos Customer Relations HQ in Leeds. The Convenor to the IT is an Atos member of staff, who writes to you every month or so explaining why you have had no response to your query. The Atos Convenor is responsible for collating your files for submission to the IT.
The IT is responsible for judging how your complaint has been handled - nothing else.
If the IT thinks that your complaint involves anything "medical" it will appoint an Independent Medical Adviser to review the WCA reports.
It is very unlikely that the Convenor will supply all the relevant documents.
Eventually, you will receive the judgement of the IT - it will say whether they have found Atos to be fully or partially supported in its' handling of the complaint.
After you get this, it's back to Atos Customer Relations to find out what they intend to do about it. Usually it's a vague apology.
Atos convenes and administers the IT.
Atos hosts the IT.
Atos appoints the members of the IT and we are not allowed to know who they are.
Atos appoints the IT who appoints any further examiners.
Atos should act on the IT's findings, but doesn't a lot of the time.
My case -
I had a WCA in March 2011 which placed me in the WRAG. I was too ill to bother appealing at the time. Allocation to WRAG meant, at the time, at least 6 months of being looked after by a Jobcentre adviser with a series of 6 work-focused interviews.
None of this happened.
Exactly 12 weeks later, another ESA50 arrived. It was due for return by 2nd,August.
I sent it recorded delivery, with 7 pages of original medical documents, and a letter asking for my new address to be recorded.
An Atos HCP reviewed my case on 26th.July with zero evidence - he referred me for an assessment with a neurological specialist. I have no neuropathology.
Atos did not return my documents, despite repeated telephone and written requests.
The day before the WCA, I got a phone call from Atos who said they could not find my file and the WCA would have to be rebooked.
I made a formal complaint via email on 19th November 2011.
No response within deadline. I emailed again.
My files were found, and an Atos Customer Relations person said she would send my documents to me. She sent them to the wrong address, with a page missing - which contained my full diagnosis, treatment, investigations, prognosis, and future clinical management. Arguably the most important page in the bundle.
To date, that page has not been found.
Appointment letters etc. all went to the wrong address. This went on for months.
I obtained a judgement from the Information Commissioners' Office that Atos was in breach of 2 clauses of the Data Protection Act.
The next WCA was not fit for purpose, and again allocated me to WRAG.
After a few months of arguing with DWP, I got Support Group backdated to March 2011 for 18 months with no need to appeal. Mainly because I know the legislation better than the staff I was dealing with.
The result of all this nonsense is that I was denied my full entitlement of both ESA and DLA for more than a year. In total, it amounted to more than £1,200.
(At this point, I sent my case files to the Independent Case Examiner, whose remit is to deal with complaints against DWP - he does look at Atos' input but does not judge on it)
With this evidence that both WCAs were not satisfactory, the outstanding matter of the earlier complaint, and the ICO judgement, of I complained again, and was told that I would have to apply to the IT - unless I was willing to accept a consolatory payment of £50 to "settle" the complaint.
I applied to the IT in March. I received a letter every month from the Convenor apologising for the delay. The IT eventually dealt with my case in July.
The IT appointed an Independent Medical Adviser to look at the WCAs/reports etc.
The resulting reports, written in September, found -
Atos was partially supported in its' handling of my complaint, but the IT did not specify what was supported and what wasn't;
Atos was not supported in the escalation of my complaint, nor was it supported in the subsequent issues;
Atos failed to supply complete files to the IMA, who was not able to make any judgement on the case as he had no evidence.
The IT report was sent to Atos, who did nothing to address any of it.
The Convenor made no attempt to collate the files properly so that the IMA could scrutinise them. His report was damning, in that he castigated Atos for failing to supply the information necessary for a full investigation.
Atos Customer Relations made no attempt to contact me with an apology or explanation of their behaviour.
I wrote to the head of Customer Relations, who ignored me.
I wrote to his boss, who said she would not consider any further communication while I had an outstanding review with the Independent Case examiner.
I obtained confirmation from the ICE that Atos was not his remit; I told this person that I had an ICO judgement, the findings of the IT, and the IMA report; all of which confirmed that Atos had failed in many areas and that it was not acceptable for Atos to continue to deny all responsibility for what had happened.
This person offered me £200 to settle the complaint, and I was asked to sign a form which would prevent me from pursuing the complaint any further.
I declined this offer - I had been asking since November 2011 for an explanation and an apology; various problems arose subsequently; the investigation and IT review were compromised; the IT/IMA reports were not acted upon; and the senior staff in Customer Relations were avoiding dealing with me on spurious grounds.
I reiterated the substance of the (by now) many complaints, and asked for the umpteenth time for an explanation, an apology, and some action.
That communication was ignored, and I have heard nothing since.
The truth is that Atos has no intention of admitting anything.
They say things like "we are sorry our service to you has fallen short of our usual standards" but they will never admit they have done anything wrong.
They are very quick to offer a payment for inconvenience or worry, but they will never admit that they have not acted within their own charters.
They know perfectly well that to do so will open them up to a slew of official complaints, and they'd rather palm people off with a few quid to shut them up.
I won't deny that £200 would come in very handy - but I will not accept a payoff on their terms, and I will not give up until they have been held accountable.
I am expecting the final review of my case with the ICE in about 3 months time.
The ICE may well have a few things to say regarding Atos, even if he has no power to recommend that they do anything, it will mean that I can pursue my complaint against them with renewed vigour. I intend to make their lives very difficult.
THE GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!
I have it on unimpeachable authority that the office of the Independent Case Examiner will be taking over the (not) Independent Tier at some point this year.
That will mean that they will be able to deal with complaints involving both Atos and DWP in tandem, which is excellent news.