Upper appeal

Nicol1

How long does it take for upper appeal decision once you have proved an error in law

CockneyRebel

Sorry, how long is a piece of string

The UTT will not remake the decision.  If they find an error they will return it to the FTT with a direction on that point. The FTT then relook at your claim and with that direction in mind,  make a new decision

CR

Nicol1

Thanks cockneyrebel.Been going through this since July 2017 so another few months won't make a difference, will let you know how I get on.

mikehughescq

Average delay is around 12 to 18 months but it depends on whether DWP support the case or not. A case where they support the appeal will be fast-tracked but only if you agree. 

I’m going to contradict @CockneyRebel and say that a UT most certainly can remake the decision if they wish but its relatively rare in disability benefit casesas one of the common errors of law is a failure to make sufficient findings of fact and, if that’s upheld, a UT has no power to find facts. The UT also don’t issue directions as such i.e. legal directives which must be followed. They can direct a new FTT to look at specific things or highlight what they think is important but a FTT can completely ignore it. 

Nicol1

Thanks Mike, will just need to wait on outcome. The thing that is annoying me is that my condition has changed dramatically over the last 5 months but don't want to change anything incase I am left waiting any longer than I need to.

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BenefitsTrainingCo

Nicol1,

Just wanted to say that re your condition having changed - I'm not sure if it's for the worse or the better, but if you think you should be entitled to more benefit now then this is a separate issue to your UT challenge. Neither the UT nor any FTT they may refer the decision back to will look at changes of circumstances since the original decision.

That means that, depending on whether you were originally awarded no benefit at all, or you believe you were awarded the wrong rate, you may wish to claim again or to report the change of circumstances. You can't backdate any increase in benefit so reporting changes is important. If it's PIP, you'd need to meet the conditions for the increased rate for 3 months & to expect to meet them for a further 9 months in the future.

If you have got better, then you only need to report the change if you have an existing award, but it may be important to do so to avoid any overpayment, or at worse, a fraud investigation (I don't want to alarm you and anyway I think you are probably talking about getting worse not better, but just in case, I have to mention this).

If your condition has changed and you report this as a change of circumstances which may affect an existing award, or you make a new claim, I can assure you that this won't hold up the UT process, as the change isn't relevant to the decision you are challenging. 

Will

Nicol1

Thank you for the information. My condition has got worse & now on injections for Ms & also very fatigued &I blame all this worry on the change to disability benefits. Going from an indefinite award for care & mobility to scoring 0 for mobility is a joke. After I scored 0 for mobility I put in an appeal & I received a call offering me low mobility if I took it they would fix any back money I was due there & then, I declined  & went ahead with the appeal and of course I was offered the slandered rate as they couldn't back track after offering me standard rate

fedupaPIP

Yeh you can't let your worsening health stop you from claiming extra benefits