Pip tribunal

penpo

Hi dwp refused my mandatory reconsideration again for pip so have requested for tribunal which is in place. DWP were meant to send them the paper work by 15th March which they did not nor did they ask for an extension. The court has sent a direction notice for explanation and to send the paperwork which they still haven't done where does all this leave me?  I am left in the air not knowing what is going on and getting more anxious by the day. Can someone assist me please. 

poppy123456

They very often don't respond by the date given. They will eventually respond. If they don't then the hearing will just continue as normal. 

penpo

Hi ok so update if you can help dwp still have not responded to the appeal court their papers were due back 15th march 2024 they were then issued a court direction which has been ignored the court has now passed this to their legal officer. Can you tell me what the legal officer does and where this leaves me?
Thank you 

Albus_Scope

Hi @penpo I'm sorry to hear they're still dragging this on, that's very unfair of them.  The legal officer will be making sure the law is followed, so it's nothing for you to worry about. They'll be chasing the DWP up on why they've failed to respond. 

penpo

Hi thank you for your reply still confused as to why a legal officer has been involved by the court no one seems to have broken any laws the DWP obviously just cant be bothered to adhere to the courts instructions deadlines etc, so as per I have to keep on waiting not knowing understanding what is happening or why. It seems very unfair when we have to abide by the deadlines or requests etc. 🤔 

poppy123456

Usually they will respond at some point. I have no idea what a legal officer is and never heard of those before. The hearing would usually just continue as normal if they don't respond but as I advised usually they do. 

penpo

This is what they emailed me.  

The DWP PIP should have sent us their response by 15/03/2024but the Tribunal never received this or any other updates from them.

Because they have not responded in time, we have sent your case to a Legal Officer to decide what should happen next. As soon as a decision has been made, we will send you a letter in the post. The Legal Officer might decide to allow them some extra time, or they might decide your case should go to a hearing instead. 

 

I hope this helps. If you have any further queries or would like to submit any further evidence (i.e. medical records or doctors’ letters

Welshlad90

Can I please get some advice, so I put my pip appeal request into the tribunal around the end of may, dwp had to respond by June 21st but as of beginning of July hadn't done that.

Then this morning I have a call from the dwp saying they have had the request from the tribunal for a response and that they are going to be looking at my appeal today and responding to the tribunal with myself also receiving a copy.

Does this possibly mean based on the new evidence I provided to the tribunal they could now change their mind and award me enhanced daily living without the need for a tribunal hearing?

I thought dwp don't usually ring a claimant at the tribunal stage unless it is either looking promising or the dwp are considering awarding in claimants favour and don't want a tribunal hearing.

Could someone please please please give me some advice on this.

Thank you

poppy123456

Sometimes they will ring at this stage if they have any further questions to ask this is because before they respond they will look at the claim again. Sometimes (though rarely) they may offer an award at this stage.

Welshlad90

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/884567#Comment_884567

Thank you for your response, the woman didn't ask Ms if I had anything to add or anything she just asked me security details and then just said they will be looking at the appeal today and then sending a response to the tribunal, could I potentially expect another call maybe later today if they want to make a offer of award before the tribunal?

Or may they just change the original decision to enhanced daily living without making a offer?

What are the possibilities?

Welshlad90

The dwp saying that they are looking at my appeal today does that mean they are considering if they made a error when I asked for a MR?

The new evidence I send originally to the tribunal do the dwp get a copy of this evidence before they respond?

Welshlad90

DWP has responded to your PIP appeal. They should have sent you a copy in the post and you should receive this shortly. Read their response and send any comments to the tribunal, if you have any. The address is on any letters and emails you have received.

You have told us you do not want to attend your hearing so you will receive the decision in the post. We cannot say know how long this will take but it could be several months.

PIP Appeals
To stop these texts, call 0300 123 1142

I have now received this as a text and email so I'm guessing dwp want to go for a hearing instead?

What are the success rates for tribunals for 2024?

poppy123456

Yes the hearing will go ahead because at the moment you haven’t been offered an award.

I’d advise you to reconsider your paper based hearing because they have an extremely low success rate of only about 5-8%.

Best chance of a decision in your favour will be to either appear in person or have a telephone/video hearing and then there’s about a 70% success rate.

If you want to change it then you need to contact HMCTS and you can do that through email.

Welshlad90

I've just had a paper appeal based on my appeal regarding extra bedroom allowance and won it without even having a hearing, due to my severe anxiety I don't feel comfortable either attending the hearing or doing a phone call hearing.

poppy123456

That’s a completely different appeal hearing. This is for PIP and the stats are as I advised. It’s exceptionally rare to be awarded through paper based hearings.

Sometimes they may even request you to either appear in person or have a telephone hearing, if a decision can’t be made on paper alone. They usually prefer you to tell them in your own words how your conditions affect you.