Hi, I'm eyo! Looking for advice on whether to take PIP decision to tribunal.

eyo

hi my name is eyo, i have recently got my
pip decision and i totally dont agree with the points i have been given, i got 11 points for daily living and 10 points for mobaility. i than had a mandatory reconsideration but the decision remained the same and didnt change. i dont know if i should appeal and take it to tribunal? is this risky would i loose what i have got, how lucky will i be with a tribunal? please help

janer1967

Hi there 

Tribunal are not a matter of you being lucky but presenting your case in a way that the panel think you are entitled to higher award based on the evidence 

The mr success rate is a lot lower than tribunal success rate 

It is rare for tribunal to take any award away and usually they would warn you not to proceed 

I suggest you get some expert advice and if possible representation speak to welfare rights 

eyo

thank you i will definately get professional help before i got ahead with this. 

when i said lucky, i meant whats the success rate of a tribunal.  

would i have to attend the tribunal, as i am a single with with two babies and disabilities.

eyo

also i would like to ask isit normal for the assessor to call you once you have sent your MR out. ? 

janer1967

Hi again 

Currently tribunals are over the phone not f2f , but if they resume then you stand a lot better chance if success if you attend 

It isn't normal for assessor to contact you after the assessment report is done 

Was it the assessor or dwp it is normal for decision makers to contact you if they need further info 

Cher_Alumni

Hello @eyo and welcome to our online community!  How are you today?

As mentioned, if your tribunal was to be held-in person, it would be much more advantageous to attend as this would allow the panel to speak with you directly to glean better insight into how your impairments impact you.  

Also, to find free independent welfare advice close to where you live, to help you navigate the PIP tribunal process, please visit the Advice Local website - entering your postcode and welfare benefits from the drop down list, then scrolling down the next page 

Just to let you know, I've amended the title of your thread and moved it to our PIP, DLA and AA category which is our home for all our PIP-related discussions. 

Please let us know how you get on and good luck.  

eyo

hi, 
 thank you so much for all the information you all have provided, i just wasnt sure with anything and now you guys have made many points more clear for me. 

how long would it take to get a date for the tribunal isit a long wait? 

eyo

i would also like to ask another question, 

if my conditions have gone worse after a decision has been placed and i have mentioned this in the mandatory reconsideration would they consider this to change the decision, or will they say that they decided before my conditions have gone worse and that i will have to apply and fill in a form again?

basically will they make the mr decision considering my conditions getting worse after they have made the decision. 

thank you

atlas47

Hi @eyo

In response to a number of your points.

The success rates following a tribunal are 75% with the claimants.

Do get welfare rights advice to assist you in drafting a statement, this will greatly assist the tribunal panel members.

Concentrate your arguments on the descriptors and points awarded, you disagree with. Set out why you disagree with them.

Bring it to the attention that the assessor contacted you by phone after his/her report had been sent to DWP. At the same time you had sent a MR notice to DWP, what did they want?

With reference change of circumstances, your condition must have been in place for at least three months and expected to remain for the next 9 months. 

Hope this helps, let us know if we can assist further.

janer1967

Hi 

The tribunal only consider how your condition was at time of assessment as that is the decision You are appealing not how you are now 

To have worsening condition taken into account you need to report change in circumstances and the whole assessment process will start again 

You could get higher award this way but you could also get a lower one 

I suggest you get some expert advice regarding tribunal and change in circumstances before doing anything speak to welfare rights 

You have an award in  place so consider it first tho you don't need many more points for enhanced 

eyo

thank you guys you have all been great help. 

i will definately speak to welfar rights before i go ahead with anything. 

i just wanted to be clear that if my conditions got worse after the decision was made would i have to complete the form and start the assesment from the beginning, and Janer had made that clear to me now that i will have to start from the begininng. 

the reason why i really wanted to appeal agaisnt the decisions is because i am a single mum with permanent disabilities and i am only 1 point away from enhanced. 

thank you all once again

eyo

with my MR i have attached all documents to support my conditions, my recent letter from my gp, my upcoming steroid appointments and i have also mentioned in a seperate paper that my conditions have gone worse and my collapsing and black outs are now more frequent and that in each fall i am injuring myself. but none of this was taken into consideration. 


the assessor called me after i sent my MR in and said would you like me to look at your case and make my decision like that, because you have mentioned your conditions have gone worse, i said yes my prescriptions have changed and now i am on further investigations and like i stated more frequent falls. than she closed the phone, i ddnt know what to say as she said do you have 2 minutes and just asked that question and closed the phone. i did not have the chance to explain how my conditions have gone worse and what i disagree with in their decision. i was just confused. than on the MR letter sent out to me it says that she has gave me a call and asked if my conditions have gone worse as i have stated on my papers when sent in and that i have said no real change but that i have medication changes and further investigations. 

so basically, she did not give me 1 point. thats why i wanted to ask if my conditions have gone worse would this have changed the decision at mr or would i have to do the whole thing from beginning. 

thank you

janer1967

I get why you want to appeal I'm a single disabled mum too 

My first pip I hot standard daily living and enhanced mobility which I was happy with 

When I had review I got enhanced for both 

janer1967

AS before worsening condition isn't taken into account once assessment is done and decision is made 

They may at mr look at any additional evidence relating to the claim 

You only need to send relevant medical evidence   appointments and doctors reports are only relevant if they detail how your living 7s affected and they don't see this eg you cooking , washing   eating   toileting and so on 

Keep us informed what you are going to do 

eyo

thank you so much Janer you have been great help. 

this has all been very stressful for me and i suffer from anxiety and constant panic attacks aswell as disabilities so im just worried that now taking this to tribunal will make my anxiety worse. even the MR was very stressful for me. i dont know if its a better idea to just wait for my review lets see

janer1967

The decision is yours see what the experts say 

Tribunal can cause stress obviously bit getting a rep can take some of that away 

eyo

i will definately check with an expert and see where i go from there thank you so much

muuranker

Hi eyo.
I was very disappointed with my initial assessment (spent a looong time on mobility issues, which other than a little ataxia, and some hand issues, I do't have, and whizzed through vision loss ...) so when the decision came through I wrote a very angry letter asking for tribunal.  Didn't send it - rewrote with a huge amount of detail, "walking through" every moment of my home to a hospital appointment by public transport and booking and flying on holiday, and the barriers I faced at so many points.  I was quite surprised to be rung up, and told that if I dropped the appeal, I would be given the points for higher rate mobility (apparently they can't give the points and then ask to consider the appeal).  They were willing to give me their name and contact details, so I said yes.  And as they said, higher rate mobility was awarded.  

I found writing that letter heartbreaking. But actually getting the money, I've found empowering.

Best wishes,

Pat

eyo

hi Pat, im so happy that after all you have went through you got the right rate awarded in the end. 

i guess they wanted you to drop the appeal as your case was very strong. 

im hoping mine will go well aswell. 

its just stressful and because of constant anxiety i have the thought of the tribunal even makes me anxious.