Change of circumstances whilst waiting for tribunal

LisaRose909

Need some advice please 🙏

I am in process of going to tribunal for PIP, originally for severe hemiplegic migraines, M.E , Fibromyalgia , vertigo , depression and PTSD .

I am losing sensation on my right side daily and having drop attacks that leave me incapacitated for hours at a time. Assessor claimed because I didn't yawn in my assessment I didn't suffer with my M.E Despite being practically house bound for years and she also said because only one side of my body is paralysed in an hemiplegic attack I can just use the other. And my vertigo attacks were totally ignored, :( I was awarded standard on mental health alone despite being severely disabled with these other conditions and was given no mobility because she lied saying I refused to tell her how far I could walk .

My issue now is since the tribunal got requested I have now recently been given 2 new diagnosis one of FND which explains some of the weird symptoms I get alongside the hemiplegic migraines and also menieres which explains the vertigo. This I hope is obviously good now for tribunal but I'm being told by CAB I need to report a change in circumstances to DWP because I have new diagnosis and also because the FND has started to cause me twitching and jerking episodes.

I'm scared and don't know what to do , when I got the report back last time and the MR got declined it led to me having a breakdown and actually I honestly believe it is what led to me getting worse FND too , I just don't know if I'm mentally strong enough to go through reassessment again .

What happens if I don't report the deteriorating health ? Will I get into trouble? And most importantly what does this mean for the existing tribunal and claim I'm fighting to get rectified? Does that get scrapped?

Thanks in advance, any help or advice is appreciated right now. X

poppy123456

That’s quite poor advice you’ve had from Citizens Advice but I’m not surprised because it’s not the first time I’ve heard this.

You do not need to report a change of circumstances for a new diagnosis. If you already had the symptoms, which it sounds like you did then that doesn’t actually change anything. PIP isn’t about a diagnosis anyway.

If you have the diagnosis in writing then just go ahead and send that evidence to the Tribunal.

What the Tribunal can’t do is take into consideration any worsening of condition since the assessment took place. They will be looking at how your conditions affected you at that time.

If you report a change of circumstances now then you will have what’s known as a “closed period “ which means any decision made by the Tribunal will only apply up until the date you rang PIP to report the changes.

What’s worse is any new decision made on the change of circumstances will overrule the current award and that includes any decision made by the Tribunal.

I can’t tell you what to do but sometimes it’s better to let the current Tribunal run and just wait for the hearing and a decision to be made.

Are you appearing in person or having a telephone/video hearing? Either of those will give you the best chance of a decision in your favour.

I hope this helps.

LisaRose909

@poppy123456 thanks ever so much for your reply, I've literally just had my letter through the post for the tribunal hearing! I wasn't expecting it to be so soon. Do you know am I allowed to request to have it by phone instead? I'm not sure I will be well enough to leave my house and it says I have to attend in person.

poppy123456

Yes, you can request it to be by telephone. Whether that will change the date of the hearing, I don't know.

LisaRose909

@poppy123456 CAB also told me if I didn't attend in person it would less likely go in my favour, do you think this is correct? Or does it make no difference if telephone? Thanks

poppy123456

Only paper based hearings have a much less success rate. Attending in person, telephone or video all have the same success rate.

Rachel_Scope

Just to add my own experience @LisaRose909, I did my tribunal via video call and I was successful 😊 I found the tribunal to be the 'nicest' part as they were medical professionals who really listened to me. I was asked a lot of questions which was a bit daunting but if you remind yourself that they need to ask them to fully understand your needs it makes it a bit easier.

Choose whatever method of attending is best for you and have someone with you if you can, just for some support. Let us know how you get on.