Responding to DWP response to tribunal request

maralions

Hi everyone, I'm going through the motions of taking my case to tribunal. I put all my statements and evidence across, and the DWP responded to some but not all of it. They completely cherry picked evidence and statements and ignored anything that would back up my argument. For example, they picked up on a statement in the assessment that condition A affects my ability to take nutrition "twice a week" but ignored condition B and the statement that this affected my ability to take nutrition "most days". I know I shouldn't focus too much on the assesment but DWP have directly referred to it.

I would like to respond, can I and should I do this? I want to point out to the tribunal that they are focussing only on the statements and evidence that is in their favour and ignoring the rest, which is completely unreasonable and a clear indication to me that they they are trying to fob me off.

Can anyone advise?

Alex_Alumni

Hello there @maralions and thanks for reaching out with your query Just so that I understand fully, are you at the MR stage of your PIP application, or are you appealing for Tribunal now?

I'm sorry to hear that you're having to appeal, as this is not an easy process to go through, and can often have a big impact on mental health and wellbeing, so make sure you prioritise looking after your wellbeing if you can. 

I'd encourage you to seek out an adviser for additional support, a good place to start might be Advice Local or Citizens Advice, if you haven't approached them already. 

maralions

Hi Alex, this is after DWPs response to my tribunal application. So this is their response (which they wrote late).

As well as asking them to reconsider my taking nutrition points, I asked them to extend my award past 2025. They didn't even respond to that. 

Can I write a letter? 

I am really struggling to get evidence because my doctor and mental health team are not great. I don't have a great record myself of my treatment and noone seems to have this either, despite being under the care of many services over the years.

I would love an advisor but the waiting list is so long.

calcotti

You could ask your GP for a copy of your Summary Care Record. This will show your diagnosed conditions, your medication and a list of all your contacts with the NHS.

maralions

Thanks, that's really useful!

calcotti

As regards a submission for tribunal you need to focus on why you should get an award and not get to bogged down with the assessment. Tribunals know that their quality is poor. If you want to you can make an observation about the selective use of information by DWP using the examples you have given. This clearly demonstrates that the DWP have misunderstood how your health conditions affect you.