Finding someone to speak on my behalf at a PIP tribunal hearing

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DM6789

Can anyone point me in the right direction to find someone to speak on my behalf when my tribunal hearing resumes?

I will give a bit of background.

I am an autistic adult who was medically diagnosed with the condition earlier this year. I have had two tribunal hearings, both have been adjourned the first time it was adjourned was because the tribunal panel wanted more information as i hadn't yet been medically diagnosed with autism, so duration that break i was able to get diagnosis and submit a copy of my ASD diagnosis as medical evidence of my condition. Fast forward to the second hearing, i was on the phone about half an hour with the tribunal and that hearing was adjourned because i didn't have a copy of the claim form i filled out at the start of the PIP process. I also didn't fill out the form, someone else filled it out on my behalf using information from FightBack4Justice who are a disability advocacy charity based in Manchester where i live and i don't know what they said in the form because i didn't fill it out, i left the form with them and they posted it out on my behalf.

When i was speaking to the tribunal it was mentioned that my form was filled in the 3rd person, as i said someone else filled it out for me, i also have no problem talking and answering questions, but during questioning from the tribunal panel i was getting into a right state, i was saying Yes to answers when the answer should have been No, they were asking me to remember what i was doing a year and a half ago and because i couldn't remember i was starting to get very upset and very stressed out and i really couldn't think clearly about what to say i was getting really flustered and tongue tied when i was trying to speak.

Now my hearing has been adjourned AGAIN, what i want to do is during this break find someone who can speak on my behalf as i thought i would be fine with it as i have no problem talking and explaining myself, but as i said i was getting into such a state that this pretty much became a hindrance for me and i didn't want to shoot myself in the foot.

I live in Tameside in Manchester, and Tameside Council have a Welfare Rights office, would it be worthwhile phoning them and asking if they can arrange someone to speak on my behalf? I also thought about getting in touch with the adult autism clinic in Tameside who diagnosed me and asking them if they can point me in the right direction as i really don't want to speak to these people, i know they are doing there job but i just felt like i was on trail and it was really having a bad effect on me.

DM6789

Username_removed said:

Fightback4Justice are not a charity. They are a CIC. There are some significant differences. That aside, unlike most welfare rights services they charge. I am not clear what is gained by claimants on a low fixed income paying for a service which is already free within your borough.  

I am a little confused here to say the least though. 

You paid for a service to complete a PIP form and yet you don’t have a copy of it? You went to an appeal in which that claim pack would be the very first document in the appeal papers and yet you say you’ve not had sight of it? You went to two appeal hearings but you don’t mention whether the same organisation who completed the form represented you?

Are you actually saying that you signed a blank form and then allowed F4J to complete that form without you having further sight of it to check for accuracy/omissions etc. If true, that would be a serious concern and I would think the tribunal judge would likely report that to the regional judge as there would be clear ethical concerns about any organisation which did that. It would also badly damage your case. I am hoping I have misunderstood what you’ve said. 

Are you also saying that you not only paid for a service where you had no sight of the completed form; were never given a copy of the appeal papers prior to your hearing and were not represented by the organisation who completed your form?

Tameside Welfare Rights are free and open for business. I can’t comment on their capacity to pick up your case. If I were in their position I would routinely want a copy of the appeal papers and the claim pack and I’d want the claimant (you) to be upfront about the above sequence of events because asking an organisation to represent you on the back of a claim pack you appear to have had no part in bar signing it (?) potentially damages their reputation if it only comes to light at appeal. 

A little more detail is required I think.

I wasn't that clear on my opening post i don't think, i will try my best to paint a clearer picture.

1) I never paid Fightback4Justice to fill out the PIP form for me. What i did was i donated money to them to see what help and things i could get. On there website they have various documents uploaded for different PIP claims. There was one on there website for Autism/ASD and i had a friend who i no longer speak to copy it word for word and i signed the document after they had written everything down. I fear i may have shot myself in the foot.

2)In the area where i stay we have been having problems with postpeople as over the last few months i have had 3 or 4 different postpeople and i never got a copy of the claim papers. I am not saying they weren't posted out i am saying i never got them

To summerize, FightBack never filled the form out, i donated money to them to have a look at there documents and get an idea what to say, a friend of mine filled out the form on my behalf, i signed it without properly checking everything as due to my condition i am a little too trusting of people and can be a bit naive with somethigs.