PIP Tribunal and advice welcomed!

Cartini

poppy123456 said:

To subscribe to benefits and work it's £19.95 a year. I will have to agree with @Alex_Scope here and people shouldn't have to pay to advice. Some people can't afford to spare £20 membership fee either, which i've also mentioned before, It may not be a lot of money to some people but to others it can be the difference between not eating and eating meals for x amount of days.

Sorry poppy, but I have to be 50/50 with you on advice.  Yes, some advice should be free but where a body / organisation / group actually puts time in to gather and collate what could be deemed specialist advice, then I see no problem them asking for a subscription fee.

You have responded to me before (as you allude to) and I can`t, and don`t, disagree with you that some people can`t afford to pay for advice from (in this instance) B&W.  But it doesn`t hurt letting other people know that there is also another (very good) resource that is available. 

Andy

poppy123456

Cartini said:

poppy123456 said:

To subscribe to benefits and work it's £19.95 a year. I will have to agree with @Alex_Scope here and people shouldn't have to pay to advice. Some people can't afford to spare £20 membership fee either, which i've also mentioned before, It may not be a lot of money to some people but to others it can be the difference between not eating and eating meals for x amount of days.

 But it doesn`t hurt letting other people know that there is also another (very good) resource that is available. 

Andy

I don't ever remember saying that giving such advice is wrong. People can indeed choose where they go for advice and whether they choose to pay for it or go somewhere, where it's free. That entirely their decision.

Cartini

poppy123456 said:

Cartini said:

poppy123456 said:

To subscribe to benefits and work it's £19.95 a year. I will have to agree with @Alex_Scope here and people shouldn't have to pay to advice. Some people can't afford to spare £20 membership fee either, which i've also mentioned before, It may not be a lot of money to some people but to others it can be the difference between not eating and eating meals for x amount of days.

 But it doesn`t hurt letting other people know that there is also another (very good) resource that is available. 

Andy

I don't ever remember saying that giving such advice is wrong. People can indeed choose where they go for advice and whether they choose to pay for it or go somewhere, where it's free. That entirely their decision.

poppy - we`re getting into spaghetti here    You didn`t say giving such advice is wrong, and I didn`t say or imply that.  I value your knowledge and appreciate the advice you have given me in the past, as you do with others. I`m only qualified to comment on experience

poppy123456

@Cartini my apologies, I misunderstood what you meant. I’m not feeling great today and my brain seems to be a little fried because of it. 

Cartini

poppy123456 said:

@Cartini my apologies, I misunderstood what you meant. I’m not feeling great today and my brain seems to be a little fried because of it. 

No problem poppy - responding to so many questions on here must fry your brain.

Fantastico

Thank you all for the replies. Guess I shouldn't be that surprised that the deadline doesn't really mean much. Still, the long wait makes things so much worse. I did look into the benefitsandwork package but with money being tight enough it's not something that I could afford. Thankfully I've been able to get a lot of good information from elsewhere though, will keep it in mind for the future though. 

All I can do is wait and see when they get in touch. Thanks again for all the help from you all, it's massively appreciated. 

Fantastico

Hello folks, 

Just wanted to post a quick update. Finally got a text message today informing me that the DWP has responded and it looks like they'll be sending me some documents in the post. So I have to take a look at them all and comment on any of the documents for the tribunal. Trying to read up on how best to approach this. Have to admit my anxiety went through the roof again after the text message. But it sounds like it could be a very long time before I even get an appointment. 

I feel overwhelmed all over again, it does feel like David vs Goliath and I have no idea what I'm doing. 
Any advice would be appreciated, you've been so much help already. 

Thanks again. 

poppy123456

The documents you'll be sent is known as the "bundle" this will contain everything you sent, including your evidence, PIP2 form, assessment report and DWPs response. You need to look through it carefully to check that everything is correct.

Naturally DWP will appose the appeal because they don't think you're entitled to PIP so don't be alarmed when you read this.

Any extra evidence you need to send needs to arrive with HMCTS at least a couple of weeks before your hearing date.

Fantastico

Hello all, 

I need some advice again. I have received my forms from the DWP with everything included which seems to mostly consists of forms I had sent them and their medical assessment report, etc, and feel rather overwhelmed. I know you technically don't have to do anything at this point but I feel the need to point out areas of their reports that I disagree with in further detail. There are some notes written in the reports that baffle me, including it being reported that I can change the upper and lower body without restrictions despite needing help clothing my lower body. I wasn't able to do any of the lower body exercises at the face-to-face assessment either due to the pain I was in. So not sure why they have said that. Another strange note they made in the report is that because I can claim Universal Credit, it doesn't automatically mean I qualify for PIP. First of all, I have never made any mention of Universal Credit (I'm not even claiming that), secondly, I'm not stupid and I know that the two benefits are entirely different, and thirdly why this is even brought up in the report in the first place baffles me. 

On a side note, they call my depression/anxiety my 'primary' condition and my rheumatoid arthritis secondary, considering they both have a massive impact on my life I find this classification strange. Maybe that's something they just do. 

At this point, I'm feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and frustrated. It feels like I'm not being listened to at all and don't know where to go with this next. Can I simply write up a document explaining in further detail why I disagree with these reports? Sorry for the long post, sadly I haven't been able to get any help elsewhere. Thank you all again. 

poppy123456

Put the assessment report to one side and forget about it because that isn't going to get you a PIP award.

What you need to do is concentrate on the weaknesses in your evidence.

If you haven't already done this then Include a couple of real world incidents of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each activity that applies to you. Adding detailed information such as where you were, what exacetly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were. You should aim for at least half an A4 side of paper per descriptor that applies.

Once that is done you can then send it to HMCTS.

Fantastico

poppy123456 said:

Put the assessment report to one side and forget about it because that isn't going to get you a PIP award.

What you need to do is concentrate on the weaknesses in your evidence.

If you haven't already done this then Include a couple of real world incidents of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each activity that applies to you. Adding detailed information such as where you were, what exacetly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were. You should aim for at least half an A4 side of paper per descriptor that applies.

Once that is done you can then send it to HMCTS.

Thanks for the advice Poppy. Do appreciate the help a great deal. 

Sue_Alumni

Good morning @Fantastico

I agree with poppy that its not helpful to concentrate too much on the failings of the assessor's report or the conclusions the DWP has drawn from the report.

As poppy says it might be helpful if you prepared a submission to the tribunal to clarify and give more details about how your conditions restrict your daily living and mobility activities and to what extent you need aids and/or support from other people even if you need that help and don't receive it.  The good thing about doing a submission is that the tribunal service will send a copy to the DWP which sometimes prompts them to review their decison without the need to go to tribunal.

The submission should be as brief as possible and clearly identify the descriptors where you think you should be awarded points and why.  It's not enough in itself to show that the DWP has weak evidence by virtue of the flawed health assessment - you need to demonstrate a strong case your self.

Go through the DWP's response to your appeal.  If it states that you can carry out an activity explain briefly why they are wrong.  Explain exacly what your conditions are and how they impact on you including any medication  you take. Explain because of this you can't carry out the activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period for the majority of the time. As poppy says, give real life examples - for example when you go to the doctors or shopping.  If you need help expain that, if you rarely go out explain that too. 

For the submission itself make sure you state your national insurance number and the appeal reference number 
 

martobluesman65

I'm in the same boat, DWP had till August 30 to appeal , and I have not heard nothing, I just have to be patient it's a crazy process,  

Fantastico

Hi everyone,

Again a massive thank you for all your help and support. Unfortunately, my health hasn't been great the past few weeks so I had to focus on that. I spoke to someone who had been through the process in person last week and she had to wait nearly four months before she got a hearing date, so I was shocked to receive a letter today informing me my hearing is in two or so weeks. My anxiety has gone through the roof now and I'm scared to death about it.   

Read a lot about the hearing process but I'm still not sure what to expect. I'm not expecting much success given how things have gone already but I can try. If anyone has any advice on how to cope with it I'd appreciate it. 

Thanks. 

Fantastico

martobluesman65 said:

I'm in the same boat, DWP had till August 30 to appeal , and I have not heard nothing, I just have to be patient it's a crazy process,  

It took about a month and two weeks for DWP to finally get around to answer for me. As someone mentioned previously on here, the court gives them a little extra time to answer so I wouldn't worry, you'll get your response soon I imagine if it's been a month already. 

Fantastico

So I have my tribunal hearing tomorrow. Haven't slept properly for the last three nights, am anxious, and feel sick constantly. My anxiety is going through the roof non-stop. Have been dealing with a lot of pain which probably isn't helping my sleep. Have seriously considered canceling my appeal as nothing is worth feeling like this. Not sure how I'm going to cope when/if I get there. Just feel helpless, hopeless, and worthless. 

poppy123456

It would be a real shame to cancel now you've come this far. Lots of people post here saying how friendly and nice the panel were towards them.

I'm assuming you're appearing in person as you say "when/if you get there." Do you have someone to go with you?

If you don't understand the question they ask then ask them to repeat it. Don't forget to take your "bundle" with you.

Sometimes they don't give you the decision on the day. If this happens it's nothing to worry about and doesn't mean anything bad. They usually send the decision letter out to you quite quickly.

Good luck and please do let us know the outcome!

Fantastico

Hello all, so I've been back from my tribunal for a few hours now. It was probably one of the worse things I've at to do. I was an anxious wreck, couldn't stop shaking and I froze up multiple times. Have to say the doctor and the disability specialist were lovely, gave me the time to explain myself, and knew about my conditions. The first time I felt someone cared and listened to me. The judge was rather cold but I kind of expected that. 

However, the DWP representative was the exact opposite. Was rather nasty and sharp and was going out of his way to make me uncomfortable. Made me feel absolutely worthless. I don't want to have to go through that ever again, just awful. In the end, I couldn't even go over my notes as I felt so intimidated by them all.

I did win my appeal for standard care (got 10 points compared to the 6 given me in the MR) but missed out on mobility which surprised me. I think part of the problem for me is that I had great difficulties filling in the original form and there was some confusion around how far I was able to walk. Anyhow, I don't want to have to go through all that again. Not sure if mobility is something I can claim at another point or not, but I need a long rest from it all for the time being. 

Now I'm worried that the DWP might appeal the decision to give me the care component.

I do want to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped me here. Honestly, without your help, I would have given up a lot earlier and you've all been a great source of knowledge, learnt so much. Found it so hard to get help elsewhere. Might not have got the exact result I wanted, but at least I'm getting some help to ease the burdens. Thanks.   

Will probably stay visiting the site to help other posters, my experience might be useful. 

poppy123456

That's great news! Though i'm sorry to hear that it made you so anxious, now you can put that behind you and try to relax.

DWP have the same chance we do to appeal the decision. Before they can do this they need to request the statement of reasons within 1 month of the date of the decision. Once they receive this they need to find the error in law before they can appeal.

They sometimes request it but rarely appeal it. If they request it, it doesn't mean they are appealing it.

It can take anything up to 8 weeks, sometimes longer to pay what they owe you and about the same time to put your award into payment.

Regarding the mobility, yes you can in the future, either at review or by reporting a change of circumstances.

May i ask how long your award is for?

Fantastico

One quick question that I've had for some time. My advisor who wanted me to claim PIP stated that if you are on specific benefits you can get premiums. I've only done a little bit of research on it as I've been entirely focused on my PIP appeal. But how does that work exactly?

He claimed that if I got PIP, my JSA benefit would get enhancements but it's a little confusing. There are disability premiums and severe disability premiums but on the .Gov site PIP is listed for both. Which might I be able to claim? 

Sorry to be a bother but was curious as it never made much sense. Thanks for the help again.