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Making an appeal for PIP
blossumlou
Member Posts: 2 Listener
Hi Im making an appeal for PIP on behalf of my husband who had a stroke 18 months ago but has been awarded 0 points across the board. A lot of his issues are hidden and hard to demonstrate. We now have some futher letters from the stroke coordinator etc. Citizens advice have now helped us and are amazed he has been awarded no points but he can perform well in interviews if Im there which is the problem and pretends all is ok. 0 points due to 3 words taken out of context in a discharge letter and used across all descriptors.
Can I ask if i (as my husbands carer) am allowed to attend the tribunal and speak (I wasnt allowed to talk at the assessment as the assessor kept telling me to be quiet).
Thankyou
Louise
Can I ask if i (as my husbands carer) am allowed to attend the tribunal and speak (I wasnt allowed to talk at the assessment as the assessor kept telling me to be quiet).
Thankyou
Louise
Replies
As poppy123456 says you won't be able to speak for your husband at the tribunal but if you haven't already done so, you could write to the tribunal in advance of the hearing and say what you would say at the tribunal to explain the difficulties your husband had at the time the assessment was done. You should focus on the PIP descriptors, why he can’t do the activity ‘reliably’ and what descriptor you believe should apply to him.You need to send this in at least 7 days before the hearing.
As you are probably aware he can only be seen as doing an activity ‘reliably’ if he can do it safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time. It needs to relate to the time of the assessment not how he is now because the tribunal can only take into account how he was at the time the DWP made its decision not how he is 18 months later.
One of the many things I hate about the whole PIP assessment process is the need to 'prove 'that you can’ t do something when many people, including myself, try to concentrate on what we can do and, as your husband does, pretend that we are coping and that everything is OK.
Good luck with the appeal.