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PIP Tribunal - advised to withdraw appeal

JayH1979

Hello. I finally got to my tribunal date this morning, just over 15 months after originally applying for PIP.
The judge spelled it out quite clearly for me, because they can only look at the original decision and all the evidence I submitted came after that decision (after waiting for various appointments to come through) if I went ahead with the tribunal today I would lose the pitiful award dwp had given me!
They made it clear that my best option was to withdraw my appeal and go back to dwp and ask them to look at my claim again!
I've already had to wait for two reconsideration periods as dwp sent out a new decision award instead of a mandatory reconsideration decision. Was told to submit a second reconsideration request as there was new evidence I'd put forward only for dwp to send out a backdated reconsideration decision ignoring that new evidence and now after waiting all this time I'm being told to forget it because I ended up having to wait so long for appointments and procedures before finally getting a definitive diagnosis!
How do I get the panel to understand that I've had to deal with my health issues all this time I just had to wait for the appointments to come through to get the official medical opinions or should I just give up?
I really can't afford to lose the basic award I've got but I'm now in a situation where I've been advised by the orthopaedic team in A&E to avoid prolonged walking, stairs, lifting or bending and wait to hear from the spinal surgeons but according to dwp there are no issues with my mobility at all!

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Comments

poppy123456

You really need some expert advice before you do anything else. If you proceed with the hearing you could lose what you already have, that’s a warning from the Tribunal. For expert advice start here https://advicelocal.uk/
Your other option is to cancel the hearing and report a change of circumstances for a worsening of condition. For this you’ll need to ring DWP.

JayH1979

Thanks @poppy123456 I've notified dwp all throughout about the various appointments as and when they were arranged and the outcomes and they've done nothing in terms of changing their original decision as I was awaiting tribunal. It just seems as though I've waited all this time for nothing and I'm going to lose any backdated payments that should have been due, all because of delays and backlogs trying to get treatment and a firm diagnosis!!

poppy123456

It's extremely difficult to advise because i don't know anything about your case.

There's nothing wrong with sending new evidence after the decision was made but the evidence you send must be related to how your conditions were like at the time the assessment took place.

Though if the evidence you sent indicated any worsening of condition, it could have gone against you. In the same way that if any evidence you sent had some contradictions.

It's a good thing the they warn you before reducing any award you may already have. If they didn't do this then you could potentially go onto losing everything you already have.

JayH1979 said:

It just seems as though I've waited all this time for nothing and I'm going to lose any backdated payments that should have been due,

You haven't lost anything at this point because they didn't award you anything. No money is owed unless you've been awarded.

Please use the link i posted to check what's local to you for some much needed expert advice.

Please be aware that if you proceed you risk losing the award you currently have.