Question about tribunal stage and really needing some advice

likelyless96

Hello, I am currently at the stage I have appealed to the tribunal because I don't agree with how much PIP I was awarded. When filling out the appeal form I tried to stick to how my condition affects me and reasons to I don't agree with the decision but I don't know if I should have included how I was treated during my pip phone call assessment.

I don't know if it's too late now but I had a really bad experience and she was very rude to me. This included telling me I'm telling lies about not leaving the house  much (I have suspected CFS) even though I stated I am in bed for weeks at a time with fatigue and pain. She told my wife to stop speaking even though she barely did, her overall attitude and tone was rude and like she couldn't be bothered to be there. Is there anyway I can get a copy of the pip call or that the tribunal would be able to listen to it? I'd want it to be available to them as I am confident how she acted isn't ok. I really regret not recording the call now but I have had a pip assessment in the past due to bad anxiety and she was lovely even though I wasn't granted much PIP. 

I'm not sure if I should just leave it now and it's too late as I don't have any evidence this happened other than my partner hearing this, but it got so bad at the end of the assessment I got upset and told her I thought she was very rude and made me uncomfortable. 

I'm so confused as to what to do and would love some advice please. Thank you 

poppy123456

You don't need to include what happened during the assessment because that isn't going to help you. If you want to make a complaint about the assessor and they way you were treated then you can complain to the health assessment providers. Details how to do this will be on their website.

For the Tribunal you need to concentrate on where and why you think you should have scored those points. Include a couple of real world incidents of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each descriptor that applies to you. Adding detailed information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were.

You do not need to send anything you've already sent to DWP because everything will be sent to them and will be included in the bundle when you receive it.

L_Volunteer

Hello @likelyless96. I would just like to add a warm welcome. Please don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything else we can do to support you 

Sameecharity

Hi - I have just been though a tribunal for CFS and it was tough.  Poppy is right - the panel went through the points and asked why I disagreed.  I demonstrated several things that had either been misunderstood by the assessor or I had not explained properly.  I just needed 2 points which were awarded.  The tribunal was exactly one year after my application so I made sure I took notes and bits with me.  Also remember that they are only interested about the time you did the assessment and subsequent appeal so if anything has got worse, they wont take it into account.  Good luck - it is not the easiest process and I know how I got stressed … I took an advocate to support me to the tribunal who also knew my story which helped as there were a couple of questions I could not process or answer.

L_Volunteer

Thank you for sharing your experiences @Sameecharity. You have mentioned you got stressed, did anything in particular help you when you were struggling and stressed? 

likelyless96

Sorry for replying so late but wanted to tell everyone thanks so much for your answers as they did help.

Alex_Alumni

That's great to hear @likelyless96 thanks for letting us know The community is here anytime for support in the future!