- Joined
- Jul 19, 2019
His electronics purchases don't bear this out.
Louis "Lou" Gagliardi / Ash Franzetti / Alex 'Ace' Maddox / Tegan Ainsley / Taryn Amita / Diana / gothickitteh / gothickitty / Lynn Brooks / @acekatt - #T R A M S _ C R O W _ F U N D *buys 12 iPads* "Anyone got $600 they can spare?" *spits on cancer patient*
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- Joined
- Jul 3, 2019
If fatty has any actual intellectual and mental disorders it would probably Be environmental based. Most likely he is mentally deficient and low I.Q as well has having Some form of personality disorder. Most of which probably can be overcome with hard work self reflection and a desire to want to change.
Oddly enough in my days of tard wrangling I've come across quite a few people like him. They all share a similar type of personality and a similar functioning of Intelligence. They're dumb impulsive prone to manipulative behaviors and are just absolutely unreasonable the deal worth. The only way to describe it was like dealing with a 12 year old child in a adult body. We usually just chalked them up to developmental issues.
Oddly enough in my days of tard wrangling I've come across quite a few people like him. They all share a similar type of personality and a similar functioning of Intelligence. They're dumb impulsive prone to manipulative behaviors and are just absolutely unreasonable the deal worth. The only way to describe it was like dealing with a 12 year old child in a adult body. We usually just chalked them up to developmental issues.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2019
I'm still laughing hysterically at the 2 minute long clip of him speaking that he uploaded to Twitter. He sounds like such a gay stereotype, and you can just hear how fucking fat he is. Disgusting.
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2020
Why does he expect to get gibs from Discord though?
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2019
Where doesn't he expect to get money from?
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2018
A job.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2018
Just Lou being himself, nothing unusual
I gotchu Lou, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxSEW3sUitA
You can what? Take your crazy pills Lou, please.
I gotchu Lou, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxSEW3sUitA
You can what? Take your crazy pills Lou, please.
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- Joined
- Feb 13, 2020
What the fuck is this cuntwaffle talking about? "Start using a translator to mangle Spanish then?"You can what? Take your crazy pills Lou, please.
https://twitter.com/diatigress/status/1355219946968592384 https://archive.md/j38nL
More importantly, will Undertale LARPer finally abandon Lardo Retardo? This is the same kind of shit he pulled on NitroFox.
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2020
I have literally never heard of anyone having PTSD that stops them speaking a language.
That said, I'm trying to use reason on someone who uses the royal we and calls himself a Mx so I should probably stop now.
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2020
I really gotta cringe at the fact this DID or schizo seems to be opening up about some personal shit with that touching on abuse facet of getting back into habla español, then Lou comes waddling into their thread with 0 tact and talks about mangling the language w google translate, hehe :3. This dude's a total narc since he refuses to read the room here for any gravity it has for his 'friends'. good lord if he wanted to be relevant there's a million better ways to phrase a feigned interest in learning a new language
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2018
Edit: I don't think so but hey, it's Lou afterall
Diana says Black and Trans Lives Matter on Twitter: "*puts all money …
archived 29 Jan 2021 23:16:26 UTC
And now Lou needs $250 for some reason?
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Dahmer
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2017
This absolute tone deaf cunt sitting here and comparing having diabetes (that he gave himself) to someone needing a fucking wheelchair.
I'm MOTI.
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2020
Here's Lou's """new""" fursona. archive
Lou made a pillowfort account dianatigress. This is the only post on it so far.
Lou made a pillowfort account dianatigress. This is the only post on it so far.
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2021
I have been lurking for a long while but as for many others, Lou brought me into register.
I just wanted to add some more insight to the disability thing. Usually when you go to apply, if you don't qualify for the work credit program they will actively tell you to apply for the other but ONLY if they think you qualify for that. Right now because of covid issues the system is being extra taxed and I'm guessing Lou was not advised to apply for SSI.
If he was already on it as some people have speculated, he would have already been offered SSDI help for things like rent/food that would have been issued on top of the SSI. I only know how it works in the state I'm in, and basically what happens is they give you the main chuck of money through SSI, and then SSDI kind of gives you a supplemental amount for food and rent and utilities. Realistically even with both it only comes out to around $750, and without the SSDI it comes out to around $605. Pays out on the 3rd of the month unless the 3rd lands on a weekend or holiday in which case you get the Friday before.
He would also have medicare, not medicaid in the event he was on SSI. After 2 years on SSI regardless of age, they give you medicare benefits and you can qualify for medicaid to cover the remainder of your copay because medicare only pays 80% of your bill and you need a secondary insurance to cover the remaining 20%. In the event of extreme poverty they will give you both medicaid and medicare and you end up with basically 0 copay.
This all leads me to the conclusion he doesn't have a tugboat, but rather he is suckling off the teet of either a stupid orbiter who does get it and gives him a chunk of their money or his mother is sharing her's with him for some ungodly reason.
I just wanted to add some more insight to the disability thing. Usually when you go to apply, if you don't qualify for the work credit program they will actively tell you to apply for the other but ONLY if they think you qualify for that. Right now because of covid issues the system is being extra taxed and I'm guessing Lou was not advised to apply for SSI.
If he was already on it as some people have speculated, he would have already been offered SSDI help for things like rent/food that would have been issued on top of the SSI. I only know how it works in the state I'm in, and basically what happens is they give you the main chuck of money through SSI, and then SSDI kind of gives you a supplemental amount for food and rent and utilities. Realistically even with both it only comes out to around $750, and without the SSDI it comes out to around $605. Pays out on the 3rd of the month unless the 3rd lands on a weekend or holiday in which case you get the Friday before.
He would also have medicare, not medicaid in the event he was on SSI. After 2 years on SSI regardless of age, they give you medicare benefits and you can qualify for medicaid to cover the remainder of your copay because medicare only pays 80% of your bill and you need a secondary insurance to cover the remaining 20%. In the event of extreme poverty they will give you both medicaid and medicare and you end up with basically 0 copay.
This all leads me to the conclusion he doesn't have a tugboat, but rather he is suckling off the teet of either a stupid orbiter who does get it and gives him a chunk of their money or his mother is sharing her's with him for some ungodly reason.
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2018
See, Lou, here's the thing. SSDI operates on the principle that you have paid into the system by being gainfully employed for some time and paying your taxes, and are reaping the benefits of your hard work if and when you become disabled. The system is working as intended. You, on the other hand, have not.
Lou's Abndoned Artwork
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2020
"I'm Disabled (Type 2 Diabetic)"
So, how much longer until he pisses off the entire disabled community by chimping at someone who will have the stones to say "That's not really a disability".
Missing a limb, having a chronic, crippling condition that fucks over your basic ability to function are proper disabilities. It's not your half assed foot wound and easily manageable diabetes.
Fuck, Lou's "disabilities" are even half assed.
So, how much longer until he pisses off the entire disabled community by chimping at someone who will have the stones to say "That's not really a disability".
Missing a limb, having a chronic, crippling condition that fucks over your basic ability to function are proper disabilities. It's not your half assed foot wound and easily manageable diabetes.
Fuck, Lou's "disabilities" are even half assed.
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2018
It appears he paid $5 to sign up to Pillowfort:
Just like his many $5 avatars of deformed weasels, he will likely never use this account because he only has 1 follower and the grift potential is non-existent. He might as well just toss the money into his toilet and shit on it at this point.
Edit: Lou confirms Momma Gag's tugboat:
Diana says Black and Trans Lives Matter on Twitter: "i swear to god, …
archived 30 Jan 2021 06:13:23 UTC
Double edit: He updated Mastodon to beg
Doesn't post for 22 days, apologises and then posts solely for the purposes of begging, yet again
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2019
Last seen in March, except this time he's doing a much worse job coloring it:
Christ, the coloring isn't even symmetrical. And in fact on that older post you can see how he recolored another, nearly identical picture back in October and did a much shittier job of it that time too. Has he been eating lead paint chips?
This one is even better. I especially like the part where he sits on the Steam page for Disco Elysium for 13 minutes without speaking, then orders sushi online.
Dahmer
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2017
So this grown almost 40 year old man is mooching off his disabled mother. As if he couldn't be a bigger pile of shit.
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2018
You know what makes me extra MATI? The system in here in the UK has become so broken in an attempt to stop people playing the system that instead of stopping people scamming the gov for money their actions lead to things like this man with anxiety so bad he couldn't leave his house or even contact the government for the assessments, having his money stopped for failing to return their communications and starved to death in his flat because the government didn't bother looking for any reasons as to why he might not have been returning their calls/letters. He weighed under 5 stone when his body was found by bailiffs breaking into his home to evict him.
But here's Lou needing his $250 for food because the meanie government won't pay him for being fat
oh the humanity...
www.bbc.co.uk
Share
image caption: Errol Graham had a history of depression which included an overdose
Relatives of a man who starved to death after his benefits were stopped have said the system is "not fit for purpose".
Errol Graham, 57, weighed four-and-a-half stone (30kg) when his body was found by bailiffs who broke into his Nottingham council flat to evict him.
An inquest found his loss of income was likely to have "caused huge distress".
His daughter-in-law Alison Turner said it was "heartbreaking... it's horrific for someone to die like that."
The case was raised in the Commons by Debbie Abrahams MP, where she called for an independent inquiry into cases where people had died after Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reviews of their care.
image caption: Mr Graham's last contact with officials was when approached about rent arrears
The inquest into Mr Graham's death in June 2018 heard he'd had a history of depression.
His GP and the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust agreed to have him sectioned in 2015, but he returned home to Pine View flats, Radford after a matter of days.
After this he was rarely seen, missing several GP appointments and refusing approaches from mental health teams.
Mr Graham also ignored repeated contact from the DWP and his employment and support allowance (ESA) was stopped in August 2017. This also affected his housing benefit, which ceased on 10 October.
PC Emily Dunn told the inquest there were no signs Mr Graham had been injured but he "looked very thin".
She added there was no food in the property, other than a couple of tins of fish in the cupboard which were five years out of date.
The medical cause of death was recorded as starvation.
Assistant coroner Dr Elizabeth Didcock said: "The sudden loss of all income, and the threat of eviction that followed from it, will have caused huge distress and worry, and significant financial hardship.
"It is likely that this loss of income, and housing, were the final and devastating stressors, that had a significant effect on his mental health.
"The safety net that should surround vulnerable people like Errol in our society had holes within it."
image caption: MP Debbie Abrahams said the treatment of some claimants was a "serious concern"
Miss Turner told the BBC: "It is heartbreaking, horrific, for someone to die like that. The failure he suffered, he didn't deserve it.
"It is shocking. The system is not fit for purpose.
"He was without money for six to eight months.
"Errol could not physically bring himself to talk to strangers or ask for that level of help and if he hadn't have lost it he would still be here today."
Sophie Corlett, from mental health charity Mind, said: "It is the most vulnerable who we hear are slipping through the net.
"This gentleman and many people have lifelong conditions that are unlikely to change and yet they are recalled again and again for face to face assessments which people find very challenging."
The DWP said it was establishing a serious case panel to review its work.
A spokesman added: "This is a tragic, complex case and our sympathies are with Mr Graham's family."
People here suffer because people like Lou try to play the system.
There are multiple cases of shit like this happening here. Multiple ongoing inquests into the suicides of people who have had their money stopped because they are deemed well enough to work and provide for themselves. For example, a recent 9 day inquest into the death of a 29 year old woman here who killed herself after having her benefits reduced because the government lost her forms, and then was forced to attend a face-to-face assessment to have them reinstated despite warnings from her community mental health team contacting the benefits service before hand saying forcing her to do so would put her at real risk of having a breakdown because she was agoraphobic. She was also type 1 diabetic, but only a fraction of her past money was being given out for that as it wasn't disabling her- she was receiving money to help her live with extra costs caused by living with the condition. You could argue because of having diabetes, your food budget is increased and you must travel more often to hospital appointments/pharmacies to manage the condition, but it wasn't the reason she couldn't work. This benefit in the UK is not effected by your income and is meant to be something you receive along side any other wages etc to help with extra costs so you can still pay for rent etc.
www.disabilitynewsservice.com
ListenReadSpeaker webReader: ListenFocus
Flaws in the disability benefits system were “the predominant factor and the only acute factor” that led to a young disabled mother taking her own life, a coroner has concluded.
Gordon Clow, assistant coroner for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, yesterday (Wednesday) highlighted 28 separate “problems” with the administration of the personal independence payment (PIP) system that helped cause the death of 27-year-old Philippa Day, from Nottingham.
It took more than two hours for the coroner to read out his conclusions and findings, after a nine-day inquest* that uncovered multiple failings by both DWP and its private sector contractor Capita in the 11 months that led up to Philippa’s death in October 2019.
Clow ended by telling DWP and Capita that he had decided to issue them with prevention of future deaths (PFD) reports, which will force them to consider how to make changes to the PIP system to prevent further deaths of claimants.
DWP will now need to examine the mental health training given to its call handlers and its poor record-keeping, while Capita will have to examine the process for changing where and how assessments are carried out and ensure that letters issued about this process “are accurate and [do] not create unnecessary distress”.
He dismissed suggestions made by DWP and Capita during the inquest that only a few individual errors had been made in dealing with Philippa’s claim, and concluded instead that there were significant, systemic flaws.
The coroner said that Philippa (pictured) had been eligible for PIP throughout the 11 months at the enhanced rates for both mobility and daily living, that DWP could have obtained all the information it needed to ensure she received those benefits, and that she should not have been told she would have to attend a face-to-face assessment.
Among the 28 “problems” he highlighted were the repeated failures to record on her file that she needed additional support with her claim; and the mistaken decision to remove her benefits after DWP concluded wrongly she had no “good cause” for failing to return a claim form.
He also pointed to the failure to respond to the mental distress she displayed in a call to a DWP telephone agent; the refusal to allow Philippa a home assessment; and the “institutional reluctance” to accept evidence from professionals such as her community psychiatric nurse (CPN) over the telephone.
The 28th, and final, problem was Capita’s failure to accept, despite a phone call from her CPN on the day before she was found unconscious – and repeated earlier warnings – that “requiring a face-to-face assessment at a clinic placed Philippa’s safety at risk”.
The coroner concluded that there were “deficiencies in the system’s ability to process PIP claims without causing unnecessary distress to claimants”, including problems with training for call handlers and Capita disability assessors, DWP’s record-keeping, guidance on additional support for claimants, and inaccurate DWP correspondence.
He also said there was an “institutional working assumption at the DWP that documents which are not on the claimant’s file are missing because the claimant failed to send them in”.
Clow also pointed to flaws in Capita’s initial review and change of assessment processes.
Philippa’s unconscious body had been found by her sister and father on 8 August 2019, just days after she had been told she would need to attend an assessment centre for a face-to-face appointment to decide her PIP claim.
They found her lying on her bed at her home in Nottingham. On the pillow next to her was the letter from Capita telling her she would have to attend the appointment at the assessment centre in Nottingham.
She was taken to hospital but later died after more than two months in a coma.
The coroner did not reach a verdict of suicide, concluding instead that he could “not be satisfied that it was more likely than not that Philippa intended her death”, even though she was responsible for taking her own life.
But he did say he was “satisfied on balance of probabilities that Philippa intended to harm herself and to put her life in danger” by her actions on 7 or 8 August 2019, which led to her death.
He concluded that there were many factors that led to her decision to put her life in danger.
But he said that “the combined impact of successive destabilising incidents caused by the problems in the handling of her benefits claim was… the predominant factor, and the only acute factor” which led to that decision.
Philippa had been diagnosed with type one diabetes when she was 18 months old, and was later diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, anxiety, depression and agoraphobia.
She lived a “chaotic” life characterised by repeated self-harm, suicidal ideation and drug and alcohol misuse, as well as repeated inpatient admissions to mental health units, but the inquest heard she received constant, dedicated and close support from her family and mental health professionals.
She had been claiming disability living allowance (DLA) for her diabetes since she was 16 but had started a new claim for PIP in November 2018, hoping to secure further support for needs related to her mental health.
Her PIP application form appears to have been lost by DWP, the inquest heard, after she posted it in January 2019, and her DLA was stopped that month because she had failed to return it.
Disability News Service (DNS) reported last week how a secret DWP investigation into her death found that, because of its errors, Philippa’s total benefits had fallen from £229 a week to just £73 per week for four-and-a-half months, while Social Fund loan repayments of £12.43 per week were deducted from the £73, leaving her with little over £60 a week to live on.
The inquest had heard how Philippa had experienced months of distress due to DWP’s decisions to remove her disability benefits when it lost her claim form, and then to confirm that decision, as well as the length of time it took to reinstate her benefits, and deal with a new claim.
DWP errors had caused her severe financial hardship, said the coroner, and resulted in her taking out payday loans she could not pay back.
Both DWP and Capita had been told of her history of significant mental distress and mental health inpatient admissions, that she was agoraphobic, and that she would be unable to cope with attending the assessment centre.
Philippa’s sister, Imogen, said last night that the family wanted “continued and systemic change”.
She said they believed that the treatment of her sister (known to her family as Pip) by DWP “had a direct impact on her mental state and in the end is the reason for her death.
“She was in despair because of the depths to which she had sunk, she could see no way out of the debt and the poverty in which she was living.
“Pip’s poor mental health meant she was not able to handle the battle with the DWP for the reinstatement of her benefits.
“The stress of the conflict with the DWP made her even more ill.
“Support from her community psychiatric nurse and from her family kept her going. But the constant cold and unsympathetic wall of resistance that she met at Capita and the DWP was more than she could endure.
“The refusal of a home assessment by Capita was just too much for Pip to cope with. We believe she just couldn’t take any more.”
She said she was “really happy” with the coroner’s conclusions, and she praised his “very full and thorough investigation”.
Merry Varney, a partner with solicitors Leigh Day, who represented the family at the inquest, said the coroner’s decision to issue PFD reports was “hugely significant”, as DWP and Capita would be required to respond to them, while their responses would be published.
She told DNS that the example set by the coroner and his “willingness” to investigate the role of DWP “should be very powerful messages for other coroners”.
She added: “I hope that Pip’s family and everything they have done helps other families who may have been in that position feel that they can come forward and that there may be a way to help them and for them to achieve justice”.
In a statement, Capita apologised to Philippa’s family “for the mistakes made in processing her claim and the additional stress which was caused to Philippa”.
A spokesperson said: “We have strengthened our processes over the last 18 months and are committed to continuously working to deliver a high-quality, empathetic service for every claimant.
“In partnership with the DWP, we will act upon the coroner’s findings and make further improvements to our processes.”
DWP offered its “sincere condolences” to the family, and said it would “carefully consider the coroner’s findings”.
DNS asked if it would apologise to the family for its failings, but DWP had not responded by noon today.
*Disability News Service attended nearly every session of the online inquest
These are people with enough medical evidence from multiple sources that should prove easily they are disabled by their conditions. Lou's diabetes is not only self inflicted, but does not in the slightest bit stop him from working. He would happily waddle down to walmart in the past, even if he did complain about it. These people who died are people who would likely have given anything to have the mental stability to be able to do even a fraction of the things Lou does in his life.
But what do they know, they're English so Lou wouldn't care about their livelihoods.
But here's Lou needing his $250 for food because the meanie government won't pay him for being fat
oh the humanity...
Man found starved to death after benefits stopped
Errol Graham weighed four-and-a-half stone when bailiffs found his body in his council flat.
www.bbc.co.uk
Errol Graham death: Nottingham man starved after benefits stopped
Published29 January 2020Share
image caption: Errol Graham had a history of depression which included an overdose
Relatives of a man who starved to death after his benefits were stopped have said the system is "not fit for purpose".
Errol Graham, 57, weighed four-and-a-half stone (30kg) when his body was found by bailiffs who broke into his Nottingham council flat to evict him.
An inquest found his loss of income was likely to have "caused huge distress".
His daughter-in-law Alison Turner said it was "heartbreaking... it's horrific for someone to die like that."
The case was raised in the Commons by Debbie Abrahams MP, where she called for an independent inquiry into cases where people had died after Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reviews of their care.
image caption: Mr Graham's last contact with officials was when approached about rent arrears
The inquest into Mr Graham's death in June 2018 heard he'd had a history of depression.
His GP and the Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust agreed to have him sectioned in 2015, but he returned home to Pine View flats, Radford after a matter of days.
After this he was rarely seen, missing several GP appointments and refusing approaches from mental health teams.
Mr Graham also ignored repeated contact from the DWP and his employment and support allowance (ESA) was stopped in August 2017. This also affected his housing benefit, which ceased on 10 October.
'No food in the flat'
The last official contact was with housing provider Nottingham City Homes, which heard him shouting and punching a door during a visit in February 2018.PC Emily Dunn told the inquest there were no signs Mr Graham had been injured but he "looked very thin".
She added there was no food in the property, other than a couple of tins of fish in the cupboard which were five years out of date.
- What is universal credit?
- Benefits officials' apology over death
- Latest news and stories from the East Midlands
The medical cause of death was recorded as starvation.
Assistant coroner Dr Elizabeth Didcock said: "The sudden loss of all income, and the threat of eviction that followed from it, will have caused huge distress and worry, and significant financial hardship.
"It is likely that this loss of income, and housing, were the final and devastating stressors, that had a significant effect on his mental health.
"The safety net that should surround vulnerable people like Errol in our society had holes within it."
image caption: MP Debbie Abrahams said the treatment of some claimants was a "serious concern"
Miss Turner told the BBC: "It is heartbreaking, horrific, for someone to die like that. The failure he suffered, he didn't deserve it.
"It is shocking. The system is not fit for purpose.
"He was without money for six to eight months.
"Errol could not physically bring himself to talk to strangers or ask for that level of help and if he hadn't have lost it he would still be here today."
Sophie Corlett, from mental health charity Mind, said: "It is the most vulnerable who we hear are slipping through the net.
"This gentleman and many people have lifelong conditions that are unlikely to change and yet they are recalled again and again for face to face assessments which people find very challenging."
The DWP said it was establishing a serious case panel to review its work.
A spokesman added: "This is a tragic, complex case and our sympathies are with Mr Graham's family."
People here suffer because people like Lou try to play the system.
There are multiple cases of shit like this happening here. Multiple ongoing inquests into the suicides of people who have had their money stopped because they are deemed well enough to work and provide for themselves. For example, a recent 9 day inquest into the death of a 29 year old woman here who killed herself after having her benefits reduced because the government lost her forms, and then was forced to attend a face-to-face assessment to have them reinstated despite warnings from her community mental health team contacting the benefits service before hand saying forcing her to do so would put her at real risk of having a breakdown because she was agoraphobic. She was also type 1 diabetic, but only a fraction of her past money was being given out for that as it wasn't disabling her- she was receiving money to help her live with extra costs caused by living with the condition. You could argue because of having diabetes, your food budget is increased and you must travel more often to hospital appointments/pharmacies to manage the condition, but it wasn't the reason she couldn't work. This benefit in the UK is not effected by your income and is meant to be something you receive along side any other wages etc to help with extra costs so you can still pay for rent etc.
Philippa Day: Flawed PIP system led to young mum’s death, says coroner
Flaws in the disability benefits system were “the predominant factor and the only acute factor” that led to a young disabled mother taking her own life, a coroner has concluded. Gordon Clow, assist…
www.disabilitynewsservice.com
Philippa Day: Flawed PIP system led to young mum’s death, says coroner
By John Pring on 28th January 2021Category: Benefits and PovertyListenReadSpeaker webReader: ListenFocus
Flaws in the disability benefits system were “the predominant factor and the only acute factor” that led to a young disabled mother taking her own life, a coroner has concluded.
Gordon Clow, assistant coroner for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, yesterday (Wednesday) highlighted 28 separate “problems” with the administration of the personal independence payment (PIP) system that helped cause the death of 27-year-old Philippa Day, from Nottingham.
It took more than two hours for the coroner to read out his conclusions and findings, after a nine-day inquest* that uncovered multiple failings by both DWP and its private sector contractor Capita in the 11 months that led up to Philippa’s death in October 2019.
Clow ended by telling DWP and Capita that he had decided to issue them with prevention of future deaths (PFD) reports, which will force them to consider how to make changes to the PIP system to prevent further deaths of claimants.
DWP will now need to examine the mental health training given to its call handlers and its poor record-keeping, while Capita will have to examine the process for changing where and how assessments are carried out and ensure that letters issued about this process “are accurate and [do] not create unnecessary distress”.
He dismissed suggestions made by DWP and Capita during the inquest that only a few individual errors had been made in dealing with Philippa’s claim, and concluded instead that there were significant, systemic flaws.
The coroner said that Philippa (pictured) had been eligible for PIP throughout the 11 months at the enhanced rates for both mobility and daily living, that DWP could have obtained all the information it needed to ensure she received those benefits, and that she should not have been told she would have to attend a face-to-face assessment.
Among the 28 “problems” he highlighted were the repeated failures to record on her file that she needed additional support with her claim; and the mistaken decision to remove her benefits after DWP concluded wrongly she had no “good cause” for failing to return a claim form.
He also pointed to the failure to respond to the mental distress she displayed in a call to a DWP telephone agent; the refusal to allow Philippa a home assessment; and the “institutional reluctance” to accept evidence from professionals such as her community psychiatric nurse (CPN) over the telephone.
The 28th, and final, problem was Capita’s failure to accept, despite a phone call from her CPN on the day before she was found unconscious – and repeated earlier warnings – that “requiring a face-to-face assessment at a clinic placed Philippa’s safety at risk”.
The coroner concluded that there were “deficiencies in the system’s ability to process PIP claims without causing unnecessary distress to claimants”, including problems with training for call handlers and Capita disability assessors, DWP’s record-keeping, guidance on additional support for claimants, and inaccurate DWP correspondence.
He also said there was an “institutional working assumption at the DWP that documents which are not on the claimant’s file are missing because the claimant failed to send them in”.
Clow also pointed to flaws in Capita’s initial review and change of assessment processes.
Philippa’s unconscious body had been found by her sister and father on 8 August 2019, just days after she had been told she would need to attend an assessment centre for a face-to-face appointment to decide her PIP claim.
They found her lying on her bed at her home in Nottingham. On the pillow next to her was the letter from Capita telling her she would have to attend the appointment at the assessment centre in Nottingham.
She was taken to hospital but later died after more than two months in a coma.
The coroner did not reach a verdict of suicide, concluding instead that he could “not be satisfied that it was more likely than not that Philippa intended her death”, even though she was responsible for taking her own life.
But he did say he was “satisfied on balance of probabilities that Philippa intended to harm herself and to put her life in danger” by her actions on 7 or 8 August 2019, which led to her death.
He concluded that there were many factors that led to her decision to put her life in danger.
But he said that “the combined impact of successive destabilising incidents caused by the problems in the handling of her benefits claim was… the predominant factor, and the only acute factor” which led to that decision.
Philippa had been diagnosed with type one diabetes when she was 18 months old, and was later diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, anxiety, depression and agoraphobia.
She lived a “chaotic” life characterised by repeated self-harm, suicidal ideation and drug and alcohol misuse, as well as repeated inpatient admissions to mental health units, but the inquest heard she received constant, dedicated and close support from her family and mental health professionals.
She had been claiming disability living allowance (DLA) for her diabetes since she was 16 but had started a new claim for PIP in November 2018, hoping to secure further support for needs related to her mental health.
Her PIP application form appears to have been lost by DWP, the inquest heard, after she posted it in January 2019, and her DLA was stopped that month because she had failed to return it.
Disability News Service (DNS) reported last week how a secret DWP investigation into her death found that, because of its errors, Philippa’s total benefits had fallen from £229 a week to just £73 per week for four-and-a-half months, while Social Fund loan repayments of £12.43 per week were deducted from the £73, leaving her with little over £60 a week to live on.
The inquest had heard how Philippa had experienced months of distress due to DWP’s decisions to remove her disability benefits when it lost her claim form, and then to confirm that decision, as well as the length of time it took to reinstate her benefits, and deal with a new claim.
DWP errors had caused her severe financial hardship, said the coroner, and resulted in her taking out payday loans she could not pay back.
Both DWP and Capita had been told of her history of significant mental distress and mental health inpatient admissions, that she was agoraphobic, and that she would be unable to cope with attending the assessment centre.
Philippa’s sister, Imogen, said last night that the family wanted “continued and systemic change”.
She said they believed that the treatment of her sister (known to her family as Pip) by DWP “had a direct impact on her mental state and in the end is the reason for her death.
“She was in despair because of the depths to which she had sunk, she could see no way out of the debt and the poverty in which she was living.
“Pip’s poor mental health meant she was not able to handle the battle with the DWP for the reinstatement of her benefits.
“The stress of the conflict with the DWP made her even more ill.
“Support from her community psychiatric nurse and from her family kept her going. But the constant cold and unsympathetic wall of resistance that she met at Capita and the DWP was more than she could endure.
“The refusal of a home assessment by Capita was just too much for Pip to cope with. We believe she just couldn’t take any more.”
She said she was “really happy” with the coroner’s conclusions, and she praised his “very full and thorough investigation”.
Merry Varney, a partner with solicitors Leigh Day, who represented the family at the inquest, said the coroner’s decision to issue PFD reports was “hugely significant”, as DWP and Capita would be required to respond to them, while their responses would be published.
She told DNS that the example set by the coroner and his “willingness” to investigate the role of DWP “should be very powerful messages for other coroners”.
She added: “I hope that Pip’s family and everything they have done helps other families who may have been in that position feel that they can come forward and that there may be a way to help them and for them to achieve justice”.
In a statement, Capita apologised to Philippa’s family “for the mistakes made in processing her claim and the additional stress which was caused to Philippa”.
A spokesperson said: “We have strengthened our processes over the last 18 months and are committed to continuously working to deliver a high-quality, empathetic service for every claimant.
“In partnership with the DWP, we will act upon the coroner’s findings and make further improvements to our processes.”
DWP offered its “sincere condolences” to the family, and said it would “carefully consider the coroner’s findings”.
DNS asked if it would apologise to the family for its failings, but DWP had not responded by noon today.
*Disability News Service attended nearly every session of the online inquest
These are people with enough medical evidence from multiple sources that should prove easily they are disabled by their conditions. Lou's diabetes is not only self inflicted, but does not in the slightest bit stop him from working. He would happily waddle down to walmart in the past, even if he did complain about it. These people who died are people who would likely have given anything to have the mental stability to be able to do even a fraction of the things Lou does in his life.
But what do they know, they're English so Lou wouldn't care about their livelihoods.