Tribunal Success - What happens next?

FionaMay

Hi everyone.  Had my telephone Tribunal yesterday and went from 0 points Personal Care and 4 points Mobility to enhanced on both for three years.  I am in shock (but in a good way).

It has been a nightmare and I was so sure I would fail.  I have lurked here and not posted much, but read every thread and took note of all the  great advice.  I would like to especially thank @Username_removed for his no-nonsense posts, they really helped me to focus on what needed to be done.  I didn't have a rep so sent a short submission two weeks before the hearing, outlining the points I thought a representative might have made.

I need some further advice. Because I thought the wait was going to be much longer I submitted a new claim in April.  The DWP acknowledged receipt of the form by text but haven't written since.  Do I need to withdraw the claim or ask for the Tribunal decision to supercede the claim?  The Judge asked me if I had heard from the DWP  and said they could award for longer than the closed period the DWP had notified them of.

steve51

Hi @FionaMay

Good Morning & Well Done ?????

Sorry but I am unsure if we have already meet.

Here’s info on PIP below.

https://www.scope.org.uk/advice-and-support/personal-independence-payment-pip/

@steve51

janer1967

Hi and welcome to the community, congratulations on your tribunal win, I am not sure on the answer but  will tag another member in who can help 

The kasdt thing you want is a new claim starting and going through the whole process again and maybe losing what you have got now

@poppy123456 can you help here

poppy123456

HI and welcome,

Great news on the Tribunal deciison.

Regarding the new claim you started, although this isn't my area of knowledge but i don't believe it's possible to withdraw that new claim. As for your options i'm not sure to be honest. I'd rather not give any advice on this one because i wouldn't want to give you the wrong advice. Mike may comment, if he sees this.

steve51

Hi @Username_removed

Good Evening.

Poppy has asked if you could have a look at this post ?????

Hi @FionaMay

I have forwarded your post onto Mike as mentioned by Poppy in her previous post.

I do hope that we can help you out with your current problems.

@steve51

poppy123456

Thanks @steve51 the reason i didn't tag Mike is because i know he doesn't like being tagged. I mentioned if he sees it he may comment.

steve51

Hi @poppy123456

I am very very sorry I don’t think Mike was very happy though!!!!

Do you want me to look into things in the meantime?????

@steve51

poppy123456

@Username_removed i'm totally relaxed, thanks the sun is shinning and that's always something to smile about.

poppy123456

Haha that's very true.

FionaMay

Thank you everyone.  I haven't directly chatted to @Username_removed but have read dozens and dozens of threads on here over the last six months or so and have taken note of any info which might be relevant to my situation.  The advice provided by Mike, Poppy and others has been really helpful and I think it is one of the strengths of this site that there are experienced people who can tell you how to either avoid problems or navigate through them if you encounter them.

Despite my carers best Googling efforts there doesn't seem to be much information out there regarding fresh claims while waiting for a Tribunal hearing, which is odd because I can't be the only one who has done this.  My reasons were the waiting times for my local hearings were circa 58 weeks when I enquired in March and, like so many PIP claimants, the assessors report was a complete mess.  Some of what she could see for herself did get into the report but she had chosen 0 points for every descriptor except for the last and I got no award.
I decided that a new claim with more anecdotal evidence and a brace of up to date consultant reports was my best option.  one of the reasons for refusal the DM gave was that I had not seen  a specialist recently.

I found a thread on Rightsnet where a Rep had a client in a similar situation to me but it is from four years ago:

https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/9747/

This thread mentioned the Advice for Decision Making Guide, particularly chapter A5.  The website is the Northern Ireland Government website so I don't know if it also applies to the rest of the UK, I am in England so I hope it does:

https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/communities/dm-adm-chapter-a5.pdf

A5013: Where a further claim is made and has been determined, the Tribunal cannot consider any period after the effective date of the decision on that claim. The Tribunal should always be informed in a further response where a further claim is decided before the hearing.
  
A5014: Once the appeal is heard and the Tribunal has made a decision, the decision maker may need to revise any 1. decision on a further claim or 2. superseded decision to take account of the Tribunal's decision1 . See ADM Chapter A3: Revision.

The Tribunal had been notified of my new claim but that no decision had been made yet, which was sent  back in June, and the Judge asked me if I had heard from them.  I had not and he said they could award for longer than the closed period.  I actually asked  "Are you sure?" and  he (probably with an eye-roll) said yes.

As far as I can tell, if the hearing takes place before a decision on a second claim has been made the Tribunal can award from the start date of the first claim to whatever date they consider to be appropriate, in my case three years.  If a decision has been made then that superseeds the Tribunal decision.

I have called the CAB national line but they didn't know the answer and the DWP advice line operator congratulated me, said the Tribunal decision notification was on the system and she would get someone to send a letter out to me.  This was nice of her but not what I was asking.

poppy123456

Username_removed said:

Your reading of that seems spot on @FionaMay. Go with the advice of the ever excellent Mr Kent and thank you for the kind words. They mean a lot this week especially when 2 posters on here have once again decided to take up arms specifically against me as part of an ongoing campaign and I’ve been quite touched by due to messages of support and posts on my wall. Most unexpected.

Love that! messages of support and so you should have! I've been a member here for a couple of years and i've certainly learnt a lot from you in that time. I may not always give the best explanation as i'm never the best with words but i get there in the end. Some people just don't aprreciate great advice when they see it and instantly take offence. If they looked a little deeper then they'd actually realise that you're only trying to help. 

Chloe_Scope

Just wanted to chip in and say congratulations @FionaMay! I'm glad you have been able to benefit from the community threads.