Offer before tribunal

danielleD

So just had a phone call today from the dwp, I applied 17 months ago now and was given 0 points all the way through. had a tribunal in April but it was cancelled the day before and rebooked for next month but today the person i spoke to said she had gone over all my paper work and decided to change my award just like that! After everything I've been through I was in shock but the next part worried me.. she said if I except this new decision she will cancel the tribunal and back date my money with the new award and send out a letter in the post and to my rep at cab I am happy with what she proposed but she said she would call back tomorrow to see what I decide to do. However I'm haveing difficulty trusting that if I agree they could change thier minds or not back date it has anyone got any advice or personal knowledge of this happening?

nasturtium

Hello danielleD

It is not unknown for the DWP to give you an "offer" before a tribunal takes place. It is your decision though about accepting that offer of not. They will not change that offer. If they said they would backdate the offer to the date of the start of your claim then that is what they will do. So you have two options:-

1.) Take the offer. If you take the offer provided by the DWP then the tribunal will not take place and the award that is given will stand until it is time to renew your claim. If you take the offer but still think it is not the correct offer you can wait until the award is put into payment then you can make a new appeal. Do not tell the DWP you are going to do this when they phone again about the offer or they will not give you the offer. There is an advantage in taking offers especially if you have got nothing to begin with because it gives you a payment while you are waiting for another tribunal if you think you require one. Do not worry about the tribunal taking the award away from you or giving you a lesser award because they have goto inform the claimant before they have a tribunal that there is a chance that there award could be reduced by the tribunal. If that happens then you can cancel the tribunal and keep your origional award which would be the offer you accepted.

2.) Decline the offer and continue with the tribunal.

If there is anything wrong with my advice I am sure a regular poster/helper here will correct me.

Hope that has been of help.

Nasturtium

calcotti

nasturtium said:?.If you take the offer but still think it is not the correct offer you can wait until the award is put into payment then you can make a new appeal. Do not tell the DWP you are going to do this when they phone again about the offer or they will not give you the offer.

That isn’t correct. If a claimant says they will take the offer the DWP will process the offer even if the claimant says they will start a new appeal. Indeed DWP are supposed to tell the claimant of their right to start a new appeal if they want as part of the conversation about the offer.

Nonetheless there is no need for someone to tell DWP that they intend to start a new appeal.

nasturtium

@calcotti Thank you for correcting me on my error. I said that because I have read that if you take a offer that it is best to wait until it has been put into payment before starting a new appeal. Maybe I got a little mixed up. Again thanks for correcting me.

calcotti

nasturtium said:

@calcotti Thank you for correcting me on my error. I said that because I have read that if you take a offer that it is best to wait until it has been put into payment before starting a new appeal. Maybe I got a little mixed up. Again thanks for correcting me.

In practice it certainly isn’t something I would say to DWP as part of the ‘offer’ discussion. Nonetheless DWP should not withdraw the offer if the claimant says they intend to appeal,again. 

It isn’t best to wait until the new award. It is necessary to wait because it isn’t possible to start a new appeal until the new award decision letter has been received because that new decision letter is what the claimant will be appealing.

Alex_Alumni

Hi @danielleD and welcome to the community

Thanks for sharing what's happened with us, have you decided what you'd like to do?

Sue_Alumni

Hi @danielle
Welcome to the inline community ! Were you happy with the offer made by the DWP - does it seem fair ordo you think you would be entiled to a higher award if you continued to Tribunal ? If there is anything you want to discuss with us further here please do get in touch again.