Hi everyone this is my first post I hope you're all well ☺️

lea123

I have fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, derealization and depression. I applied for pip in Dec last year, I had an over the phone assessment and she basically lied about the whole phone call which led to me scoring 0 points in both elements. I then went onto doing a mandatory reconsideration and again I scored 0, I wasn't going to bother with a tribunal but everyone I spoke too said I needed to go further as I suffer every single day with pain fatigue and mental health problems, it really affects my everyday life. Anyway in July I applied for a tribunal I have submitted my evidence, a GP letter, a letter from my therapist proving I'm receiving high intensity CBT, a GP letter, and a statement from my neighbour that knows exactly what's going on with me. I also submitted a patient summary. So my question is...how long does it normally take to go to tribunal? It's causing me so much stress and anxiety, and how often do people win the tribunals for pip? Thankyou all! 

poppy123456

The waiting time depends on backlog in your area and it varies from area to area. You can ring HMCTS to ask how long they think it will be and they maybe able to give you some idea.

For the best outcome it's always better to appear in person or have a telephone hearing, which i hope you've requested. There's about a 70% success rate for these.

Paper based hearings have a much less success rate of only between 5-8%.

lea123

Hi poppy thankyou for your reply, I actually haven't as I find talking over the phone really difficult with the anxiety disorder I suffer with. I'm disappointed to hear this might go against my appeal 😔 is it possible to change my appeal hearing to phone? I would just have to do the best I could if this will give me a better outcome. Thanks again poppy 

poppy123456

The best option is either appear in person or phone call. Did you ask for a paper based hearing?

lea123

Yeah as there's no way I'd be able to go to the tribunal in person even with support, it would just be too much for me. I could possibly manage a phone call if needs be, I'll have a check on my tribunal and see if I can change it. Thankyou 

poppy123456

You can change it and i'd advise you to do that. They will always prefer to hear it from you, how your conditions affect you because you are the only person who really knows this.

If you haven't already then you should also give a couple of real world incidents of exactly what happened the last time you attempted each descriptor that applies to you. Include detailed information such as where you were, what exactly happened, did anyone see it and what the consequences were.

Letters from GP's carry very little weight because they don't spend any time with you to know how you manage the 12 different activities related to the PIP descritors.

lea123

To be honest my memory is really affected by the fibro so I don't recall what I've said in my statement to them but I could always just send it again to make sure that's covered. 

poppy123456

Have you received the "bundle" yet? This will contain everything you sent, including the PIP2 form, all your evidence, the assessment report and DWPs response. If you have received it then you need to have a look through to make sure everything is there and it's all correct. You will need to have this with you during your hearing so you can refer back to it.

You can also get some expert advice from an agency near you and it's never too late to get some representation. Start here. https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits