Hi, my name is butterflygirl!

butterflygirl

myself and  my husband have literally had the year from hell after having his life award for DLA of high care and low mobility reduced to low care only in the PIP award
                                   My husband suffers with severe mental health problems and a few physical health problems, which impact his life to the point he never leaves the house alone,                                         We had his assessment in april and it was a farce, as others have said they were only interested in answers to their few questions and would continually ask the same question, over and over.
                                    As my husbands carer i was disgusted, as i thought they took advantage of my husbands.   
                                    When the decision came back the report was filled with inaccuracies and lies. 
                                    My husband was so ill afterwards he was in bed for nearly 2 weeks and felt so de-moralised.
                                     I persuaded him that we should appeal and i became his representative and requested an appeal. 
                                    We had the tribunal 6 months later, we were both completely stressed  with the wait and dreaded the day.
                                    We arrived at the courts  and realised that the DWP had sent a representative,  so we expected a battle ,i felt so sick.
                                    We entered the court and sat down and we ,were shocked when the judge and the panel said that there was no need to continue with the tribunal , as they had made their decision on our paper evidence alone.
                                      They had decided in our favour, granting my husband the Enhanced rate in care and the Enhanced rate in mobility,  we were in complete shock as we never expected this after our treatment by the DWP.
                                     We were treated with respect and consideration by the panel and even the DWP rep was polite and courteous, giving us further information.
                                     This decision has  as you can imagine been such a relief, not just financially but emotionally to have finally been listened to and believed and been treated with respect has been over whelming.
                                      So for any genuine  vulnerable people out there going through the same problems, especially those with mental health difficulties,  don't be put off , get someone to help you and appeal, don' t give up hope , the court system actually reads what you have written and your evidence and treats you as a human being.
                                        Hope this gives some of you hope for your future appeals, Good Luck to all.

steve51

Hi @butterflygirl

A very very big welcome to our online community.

I'm very sorry that you have had to go through this nightmare.

Unfortunatley your not alown with this we have got a long list off members in simular situations !!!

It's great that you have provided your experiencies to date.

Thank you very much !!!!!

Please please let me know if I can help/support you in anyway ???

Pippa_Alumni

Welcome to the community @butterflygirl, and thank you for sharing your story with us. It's good to hear that you had a positive outcome, and I'm sure this will provide some much needed hope and reassurance to other members of the community who may be in similar situations!