PIP Tribunal not allowed and bad experience
Hi,
I applied for PIP in June 2023 and just had my Tribunal date last week after DWP refused my appeal. I suffer from anxiety, breathlessness, and migraines as well as fatigue, and pains. I was awarded 6 points for daily living and 4 for mobility.
The minimum I can say is that this tribunal day was a disaster. The appeal was not allowed. The issue was that I was treated like a criminal by the 2 panel members (the doc an the disability one). It was more like a "catch him out" exercise.
The questions posed by them were ridiculous and they kept on saying if you work the these issues shouldn't affect you the way you say they do.
The judge did little talking but he refused to let me read out my 10 page statement and hadn't gone through it beforehand which was extremely annoying. I could tell they had already decided their decision and my overall experience was a nightmare.
Any advice would be appreciated from the wonderful people on this forum.
Comments
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Hi,
I'm sorry to hear about your tribunal experience, most people have better experiences at tribunal than assessment stage.
Your only option now is to request the statement of reasons (SOR) and then see if you can find an error of law in it. You will probably need assistance for that, from a local benefits advice agency if you have one. You can't just appeal this time because you disagree, there has to be an error of law found.
I must admit I'm not surprised you weren't allowed to read a 10 page statement. That is too much for anyone to take in. In future, try to keep the answers shorter if possible.
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I feel for you. I got this in my PIP tribunal in 2021, the judge said "i don't believe you i believe the assessment report" which meant i had no chance of success. The report was full of statements made up by the assessor (i could prove they were made up) and statements i'd not said.
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Thanks for the comments. I did provide the 10 page statement 3 weeks before the tribunal but the Judge admitted they hadn't read it.
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I have nothing to add, but I just wanted to say that I’m really sorry for what you’ve gone through at the tribunal hearing. It doesn’t seem just or fair.
Although my case isn’t for PIP, I’m currently awaiting an SSCS/HMCTS benefits and compensation tribunal for a UC benefits decision , and reading some experiences like yours definitely raises my anxiety levels and I’m terrified . Thanks for sharing!
As above , I hope you’re able to follow the advice from the Scope community experts and challenge this decision. My best wishes are with you!
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Many thanks for your kind words.
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Your Tribunal judge is terrible and incompetent. I would be making a separate complaints against his/her conduct and language if I were you.
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Thanks AndrewHall. I will be making a complaint also but what's astounding is that they are supposed to be there to listen to your side of the argument and then make a judgnent. They didn't do that with me.
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I had a very similar experience . Judge admitted he hadnt had time to read full apeal and panel were hostile . I lost .
but on the basis of what the judge said i got the decision set aside for a new tribunal . As its an error of law not to review all evidence .
I hope you appealed
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Thanks robrox79. The whole process is a nightmare. I have appealed and just received a 25 post Statement of reasons. All full of inaccuracies. I'm appealing to the UTT let's see what happens.
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Just wanted to say I pulled out of a tribunal because of bullying letters from a judge threatening me to not go ahead even though I had tons of evidence from hospitals ect. The judges letters were also written badly like he couldn't speak or spell English. (he had an Indian name) I got very depressed and withdrew my appeal. The tribunals are deffinetely on the side of the dwp. 😡
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The judges are impartial, they don't work for the DWP.
It sounds like you were unlucky and got one with a prejudice against benefits or disabled people. 🙁
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Yes your right however from my experience some Judges are not impartial and need to be sacked. They should not be in the position they are if they cannot carry out their duties with complete 100% impartiality. I found that the panel members were also incredibly biased and rude to a point where they should also not be in the position they are.
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Yes I agree.
Some of them are incompetent.
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Yes, I agree with that.
Although I'm not sure that anyone is ever 100% impartial. We all have unconscious bias even if we don't realise. Tribunals and courts are never truly impartial in my opinion.
Unfortunately there seem to be so many incompetent people in all sorts of jobs nowadays.
I don't see what we can do to change it though, so just have to try and make the best of a bad system.
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