Successful tribunal and backdated payments

nholmes85

Hello - seeking some advice.

I won my PIP tribunal yesterday following an appeal where my backdated pay was agreed from Nov 2023.

While I am relieved about this I have a query. I am deaf and this is the reason for my award, no other conditions.

Originally I applied back in 2020 mid covid and had to have a telephone assessment - didn’t understand PIP at all at that point, had no specialist advice and barely understood the questions. Obviously only awarded 2 points for needing a communication aid. I just left it at that until my recent new application in 2023. At this application I was awarded 12 points for mobility and only 4 for DL. It is the DL which i appealed.

My question is that given I have been deaf all my life, so my situation was exactly the same in 2020 as it was 2023, only difference was I was much better informed about PIP second time around.

Do I have any chance of my award being backdated further to my original application?

poppy123456

Unfortunately there is no chance of your award being backdated further than 2023.

What you should have done with that claim in 2020 was challenge the decision at that time. You have a maximum of 13 months to request the MR.

flour

Dear @nholmes85

I hope you are well and good news about your award. It must be a weight off your shoulders in having a tribunal decision go in your favour.

I would like to add a lot of context to Poppys comments:

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/957200#Comment_957200

As this comment reads that there is no chance of anything ever happening. The second sentence is correct. Occasionally tribunals do look at things over 13 months ago but this is rare but does not mean you're not one of the rare ones. Equally I do not want to get your hopes up. The reality is very much unknown. But,

There are rare and special cases. No one can know if yours is one of them.

Here is a DWP document which gives some info on how they see things

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e4291cbe5274a08e020ab1e/adm-annex-a.pdf

For example, if you filed an MR for the original decision from the 2020 claim and the decision maker makes a mistake then you might get a new decision with appeal rights.

Equally, sometimes people can get a tribunal to hear an appeal without an MR if the DWP refuse to do one. More information about that is here

https://revenuebenefits.org.uk/blog/cpag-wins-upper-tribunal-case-on-late-mr-refusals-by-dwp

But, even then you'll need to be able to convince a judge (not a whole tribunal panel) that you did everything you could and were unable to appeal at the time. And, then a special argument such as to not allow an appeal would infringe on your human rights or access to justice. For this you will certainly need support from a benefit appeals specialist at citizens advice or a similar organisation.

An example of when an appeal as accepted over 13 months late was KK v Sheffield CC (HB)

 [2015] UKUT 367 (AAC). You can read more about it on this rights net thread here:

https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/Forums/viewthread/17669/#83820

There is also discussion about this case here:

https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/but/member8347587824572ahfgdfaygdsyfug/8386/viewthread/15413/#72928

It's not impossible - your ongoing deafness and having a telephone assessment in which you could not communicate to an acceptable standard and Covid-19 lockdowns and access to support may well be contributing factors. But it is a very long journey with a unknown chance of success as it will depend on a judge's decision. My hope for my reply today is to arm you with the facts and for you be well informed about the process.

If you want a roadmap it could look like - requesting an MR from DWP - send a Freepost letter with proof of postage form a post office counter. File an SAR for everything the DWP has. Wait to hear back from both. Then file an appeal with a tribunal. Who will typically arrange a hearing to determine whether you should be allowed to have your appeal heard. You will certainly need expert specialist advice after the MR.

Your MR for the original decision to refuse can be a simple 1 short paragraph around a wrong decision or you can put effort in to with wording around a telephone assessment, access to justice and depending on the decision letter whether it told you about the 13 month absolute appeal limit. This might just be enough to convince a decision maker to see it differently. I doubt it based on their own guidelines above. But at least a judge can be told you did tell the DWP your position prior to getting to the tribunal service.

Please make sure to look after your emotional and mental health if you pursue this avenue and maintain a robust outlook to cope with set backs and the likelihood of refusal.