Accepting or rejecting one source of information as ‘fact’
In some cases, it may be reasonable for you to accept the facts in one piece of information over another.
You can accept the facts of one piece of information over another regardless of the source of the information.
This can be:
- accepting the facts in one piece of supporting information from a professional over another piece of supporting information from a professional
- accepting the facts in a piece of supporting information from the client’s wider support network over supporting information from a professional
- accepting the facts in an application form over a piece of supporting information, regardless of the source.
You could accept the fact of one piece of supporting information over another because:
- one piece of supporting information directly supports the account of the individual’s disability given in the application or review form
- the other piece of supporting information is inconsistent with the diagnosis and/or details supplied in the form
- the information in one piece of supporting information is more up to date than another
You could accept the facts from information provided by the individual over a piece of supporting information because:
- you have determined, on the balance of probabilities, that it is more likely than not that what the individual has told us is best reflects their care needs in comparison to what is reported in the supporting information
- you have used the guidance in this chapter to make that decision, including establishing value, using other decision-making tools, taking a trust-based approach and exploring the inconsistency or gap.
You must provide clear and logical reasoning for accepting or rejecting as ‘fact’ one source of supporting information over another.
This applies to information from:
- the individual
- a professional
- from the individual’s wider support network
Counterfeit or forged documents
You may suspect that supporting information has been forged, counterfeited, or someone you’ve spoken to is impersonating another person. In this event, you should speak to your line manager.
Read the guidance on how to identify counterfeit and forged documents.
Related reading
- Making a determination and supporting information
- Special Rules for Terminal Illness operational guidance
- How to establish facts
- Types of supporting information