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pip and tribunal

antc
antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
hi.. i sent a mandatory reconsideration letter off has was not happy with being turned down for pip and being accessed over the phone with a friend taking the call has im hard of hearing and wear two earing aids and cannot ear on the phone..the mandatory reconsideration has also came back and pip not awarded. so would like advice on going to a tribunal has i believe I've not been accessed properly other than a few minutes over the phone with a friend taking the call and wasn't even asked about my hearing and communication part. so any help going forward would be appreciated.. can i apply online for a tribunal or is it done by letter and if so what forms do i i need and is there any fees to pay for a tribunal too for example if i lose do i i need to pay. and would i need a solicitor for one. thanks
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Comments

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi and welcome to the community

    There should be details in your MR decision letter about how to apply to tribunal and the link to the forms you need to complete.

    Most MR do not change the original decision but the success rate of tribunal is a lot higher  and it is always advised to attend yourself , currently they are being done over the phone as well so this may be a problem for you but you should state this in the paperwork and adjustments will be made for you

    You do not pay for a tribunal  there are no costs either way, you can seek legal advice but most people just represent themselves. It could be worth contacting your local CAB or welfare rights for advice but they don't always offer representation

    We are here to support and can offer advice on any specific questions you have

    You may find it useful to have a look in out PIP section as there are lots of posts from other members about tribunals

     Have a good look through the descriptors and where you thinkk you should have scored points and give examples of what happens when you try to complete the tasks

    You can sometimes wait a long time for a tribunak date in excess of 12 months but waiting times are a lot less at present
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    ok thanks. mine was for engaging with others and communication.. i do suffer earing loss and is hereditary and have two earing aids and was advised by my doctor to try claim pip.. my ears am never going to get better.. i i was shocked at the telephone assessment and so was the friend who took the call so feel slightly peed off that was not assessed properly. will go through the tribunal route.. even if lose at least i have had my say and how my disability affects me..thanks again
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    ok yiou , you need to think of all the things it affects in your daily livingneed ti consider all elements of the assessment that you think you will score points for 

    I have seen a few posts about claiming with hearting loss
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    i sent all things like that off on the mandatory reconsideration and still come back the same but hopefully would be looked at more in a tribunal. thsnks
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    when being asked about anything at the tribunal am i allowed a friend or family member to help with communication because i won't be able to hear what's being said to me thanks
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Yes you can take someone with you but you have to answer the questions but at the end they ask if your support wants to add anything 

    You can put in the appeal forms you need assistance 

    I don't know if having an appointee would be appropriate for you they are allowed to deal with DWP on your behalf but think it's more for people who are unable to communicate 
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    so if i take my daughter she can assist me and i i can then answer any questions after she helps out telling me whats whats said at the tribunal thanks
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,338 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi,

    Face to face hearings are currently suspended. At the moment they are doing telephone hearings and paper ones. The average wait for a hearing is about 32 weeks, I have no idea when this will change and when the face to face hearings will be back up and running again. I think it's difficult to predict what may happen in the near future.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    they assessed me over the phone back in april i think and a friend had to do the call for me. it was shocking and only lasted a few minutes and never asked about my disability after my friend said that its for hearing loss wi that the assessor said bye and hung up.. myself and friend was shocked at that. i since sent the mandatory reconsideration off and letters explaining the assessment and it still came back unsuccessful so really i feel i i need to go tribunal with how they can say my claim is unsuccessful with that phone call.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,338 Disability Gamechanger
    Whether you're entitled will depend on how your conditions affect you against the PIP descriptors. Difficult to give any advice on that without knowing exactly how your conditions affect you.

    It does help to fill out those forms with as much information as possible. There's never enough of time to ask all the questions related to your condition during the assesments.

    For the Tribunal you should try not to concentrate on the PIP report and any lies/contradictions that may have been told in there. They won't be interested in any of those. Concentrating on the report this way will only weaken your case.

    What i would advise is stating where any why you think you should have scored those points and then add a couple of real life examples of what happened the last time you attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies to you. If you can get representation from someone from an advice agency then even better. Start by looking here. https://advicelocal.uk/find-an-adviser

    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    been told i i could have a welfare representative. would they be has more help has a family or friend member helping me ear and understand at the tribunal
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,338 Disability Gamechanger
    A rep from welfare rights is the best way forward for sure! A rep will represent your case and will have experience in this. What they won't be able to do is answer the questions on your behalf. The only person that knows how your conditions affect you is yourself.
     
    A family member or a friend can attend the hearing with you (if they are back on by then) but ithey would only be able to answer the questions on your behalf if they are your appointee. The panel will always prefer you to speak for yourself.



    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    They will have more knowledge of the process and experience but your family or friend will know more about you 

    Having looked at the descriptors where do you think you should have scored points 
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    i can answer but will have difficulty earing what is said so would i get any kind of help has im used to family and friends explaining a lot of things to me what i miss on whats being said
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    communication and engaging with other are the parts i had filled in. and a possible 12 points in each of them so a total of 24. they give me 4 in total. but has i say the telephone assessment was a joke and asked about bathing eating and dressing when my friend said none of that applies has this is for the communication part of pip.they then took my friend's name and hung up so left feeling fuming how the assessment was done and for the outcome of it. i told them this in the mandatory reconsideration letter and said i would be willing to go face to face when they become available again but the outcome came back the same so even if i i fail at the tribunal i will at least have my say and explain how hard the experience is for someone with earing loss.
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    to go through the whole process of applying for pip and accessing hard of hearing people over the phone too
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,338 Disability Gamechanger
    It's not possible to score a total of 24 points between those 2 activities alone. See descriptors here. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf

    It's also worth noting that with the Tribunal, once you reach those 12 points they won't award anymore points because all you need for Enhanced award is 12 points.

    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    yes.. not 24 but should have awarded me more than 2 in each of those categories myself i i think should be 8. like say ive not been accessed properly so have found it all unfair.
  • cupcake88
    cupcake88 Posts: 1,273 Pioneering
    @antc hi there some great advice given upbove . I kept handing the phone to my partner to speak to the lady but she kept asking to speak back to me . But in your case if you can’t hear then I’m surprised they didn’t make adjustments for you for that . Mines did ask me today if I could hear ok . 

    With the communication with my self they mainly focused on how I communicate on the phone and in person and the answer is no well I mean she was on the phone for like 2 hours . How Long did you’rs last ?
  • antc
    antc Community member Posts: 41 Connected
    i can ear with my aids in but not the best and cannot ear on mobiles. all the examiner asked my friend was if i i can drive.. wash.. prepare food.. which my friend then repeated to me and i replied and also said my pip claim is for communication and engaging with others part and to that the examiner asked my friends name and said i would now be contacted about the pip outcome. ridiculous that not one question was about my hearing and how it affects me. that is why i asked for the reconsideration or a face to face and explained that the assessment was pathetically done.. my mandatory reconsideration came back the same so really i feel cheated a bit because there's been no assessment on my hearing loss. that phone assessment call lasted no longer than 3-4 minutes which i noted in the reconsideration. if i was properly accessed and the claim came back unsuccessful then i would leave it there but not how it's been done.. its made me more determined to get my point across whether im successful at getting pip at the tribunal or not

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