Questions regarding DWP response and my own response to this.

bastro

Basically I got my copy of the DWP response 2 days ago, after the first one never arrived. They stated the usual that they oppose the appeal and would like for it to be discontinued. However I know I get to have my say prior to this happening.

Anyway since I'm currently writing my own response now, I would would like to know the following;

• How much detail should I be going into? As it stands now its just under 5000 words and 9 pages long, is that too much?
• Should I address the  contradictions made by both the decision maker and the assessor within the report and what I know I had said?
• There was a letter regarding the change in law for distress while going out, I had never even known they looked into my failed claims again. Could I address this also or leave it out now?
  
• Why would the decision maker reference facts from an ESA claim if said claim doesn't have an affect over the decision for pip?

Thank you in advance.

poppy123456

Those 9 pages, whether it's too much totally depends what you've actually writen. If you've wrote your life story then it's too much, they don't need to know this.

If those pages are anecdotal evidence... real world examples of what happened the last time you attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies. Including information such as where you were, what actually happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were and several activities/descriptors apply then it's not too much.

Concentrating on the report can damage your case so i'd advise you to put it to one side and forget about it. They will see any contradictions theirself and they don't need you to point them out.

I don't see any reason to mention any previous claims.

Although ESA and PIP are 2 completely different benefits, there are some descriptors that are simialar.

bastro

Thank you for your responses @poppy123456 and @Username_removed

As it currently stands I had aimed for a what, why, how many times approach to my response, while also highlighting the contradictions made by the assessor and the decision maker where I had stated the opposite to what they had said. I used my own pip form, what I had said during the assessment and during the call with the decision maker as a basis for this.

I had noticed though that the wording of some things isn't what was stated in the original reasons for the decisions made. Is that normal for a decision maker to word things differently compared to the original or is it an attempt to make it look like they have a case and I don't?