I failed my PIP tribunal appeal back in February and the decision didn't seem fair. I have decided to appeal and requested the statement of reasons which I have received almost a month ago so now I have only a couple of days left to send the appeal since the whole experience was so traumatising I couldn't make myself to deal with it any sooner.
The issue is, I couldn't find anyone to help me with it - my local CAB doesn't have a benefits advisor, all the local law centres said they are too busy or don't have the relevant experience, and I can't afford to pay the money that private benefit specialists are charging so all I can do is to write the appeal by myself.
I do understand the use of case law and precedence, and have read through a decent amount of the tribunal cases which I think I could use to support my appeal. Still, obviously, I don't have any previous experience in this so I'm quite confused as to what things can be said in the appeal.
For example, should I stick to strictly legal language and examples, or is it ok to say things like "the tribunal seemed hostile and I felt like they decided on the outcome before I even entered the room, I felt like they used guided questions to make me give them the answers they were looking for"?
Also, I have asked for the judges Record of Proceedings as well as the SOR, and then double checked in the email with the court clerk. I have not received the ROP - not sure whether this fact could help me with my appeal as I wanted to use the ROP to compare with what was said in SOR and now I don't have that option because the judge overlooked something I have specifically asked for?
And again, during the tribunal hearing I have said several times that the report written by the DWP advisor was completely untrue and explained the errors in her report. In the SOR, however, the judge based his decisions on the advisor's report, my explanation that the report is inaccurate was completely ignored. Can I explain this in the appeal and does it have any standing since it's basically my word against the judge's (I am also considering to put in a complaint with DWP about the advisor, not sure if mentioning this in the appeal would help)?
I just feel so lost and confused.. any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
