PIP tribunal fail... Help!!

sarah50 said:

It strikes at the heart of the problem doesn't it that vulnerable people need law degrees to understand very specific terminology, to know what evidence they need to collect, to know how to present it, to be able get the benefit that they need to be able to pay for the advocacy to navigate a system which is so prejudiced against them.

Sarah - a girl of my own heart!! This has/is/does niggle the hell out of me too.. The more I read the more it seems important that claimants have to be quasi Welfare Rights Officers in their own right if they want to argue points or even attempt to make a claim.

Username_removed said:

Nope. Completely missed my point which was a simple one about the usefulness of evidence not about who should supply it.

As regards your last paragraph I’d say we have 70 years of evidence, of which UC is the latest example, that you can have simplicity or fairness but not both. 

Ah yes I can see that now.

So simplicity and ease of application, assessment and decision is not possible if fairness is then added into the equation.
No wonder I have had 23 years of aggravation from the DWP, where I have lost my temper with assessors, where I have written letters of complaint that are never answered. 
I have always believed that when dealing with any problem that if you break it down into it's simplest form so that it is easily understood everyone involved will see that fairness becomes the norm.

This is the very reason why it is important for everyone to access good advice and help all the way through the procedure - my understanding of it must be common amongst other claimants.

It's like you said in another of your threads to understand the difference between continual and continuous. Only when the penny drops eventually will people see things differently. My penny is still hanging there with all of the information and advice that I am reading on this site but unable to still fully understand how it all fits together. It's either a mental blockage thing, or maybe a side effect of my damaged brain or maybe it is the simple answer of getting old, I don't know.

And if I don't know and remain confused my automatic reaction is to do nothing for fear of being seen to be stupid or ignorant or feel rejected by others around me. It's very much like not willing to make claims for benefit without first knowing how the system works and that I would have an good chance of it being awarded without having to fight for it if I did make the claim. I have never made any speculative claims for help - preferring to know as much about the subject being applied for as anyone else.

sarah50 said:

So you state on the forms within the medical descriptors they have chosen for you all the things you can and cannot do and why, they say back this up with evidence, I keep being told that medical evidence is not the B all and end all. But if someone like my carer/husband confirms my situation that carries no more weight than a note from my mum probably because he's lying as well (lets face it most of us are swinging the lead) My GP can't comment on anything other than his medical opinion, but PIP is about how a disability impacts on daily life. You have a face to face with someone who is appointed by dwp who is not qualified in anyway to judge you but at least Dwp will believe what they write down and then you find out the assessor has not accurately written what you've said or demonstrated even lied or contradicted themselves. So your PIP gets stopped after a ridiculously worrying stressful long wait, you find your condition/ mental health has deteriorated and now you are worried sick that you can't afford to keep a roof over your head or even feed yourself. Then when you couldn't get any lower, you are expected to go through a complicated procedure of MR and Tribunal but if nothing you've said or done before has been enough then what hope? We are working on chance or luck

I agree with you entirely. To solve all of these problems people are advised to get a professional involved even before you think about filling in the PIP2 form. Great advice that you have someone at your side all the way through to the Tribunal if need be.

For one reason or another such people that used to offer that all in one support are long gone. try getting a face to face appointment within 2 weeks at a CAB only to be told sorry we are too busy and then to find out that they no longer will give support at a Tribunal hearing.
Even harder try finding a good advisor - they are like gold dust.

In the meantime we all muddle through thinking that we know what we are doing only to find out later down the line that we don't.