Hi, I have just spoken to my very good social worker about the next phase of the appeal, which is a tribunal, and she was saying she cannot attend because she is not trained either medically or legally ( neither is anyone apart from the experts), she is downloading the form and coming to the house on monday, next week , to fill it in with me. I asked her who could come, and she said a family member or a friend. I just want advice from those who have gone through this process before, and who you took. I am capable of going on my own, but would get a tad tongue tied and stutter( which I do, its part of the SCA7), and appear to ramble on a bit
Many thanks for your help
Peter
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peterallison
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Hi Peter, we are in a similar position with my adult son, I am his nominee so will be going with him. He can't get there by himself even tho the assessor "decided" he can..
I am dreading it as i am angry at the whole process and the fact that all medical evidence was ignored at every stage so far.
I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this as if you don’t have enough to cope with in life. The only thing I would say is ask if your neurologist could write a detailed letter listing all the conditions you have even if you have to pay for it. I was told by my assessor that the detailed letter I took was really helpful . And if you can’t find anyone physical to go with you ,ask the angels 👼🏻 to be with you. Good luck
You really really need an advocate who is clued up to the system and can make a clear case. Try the CAB nearest to you and ask for a list of possible advocates or charities who may have someone to help.
I was speaking to my sister last night, who is well clued up on these things, having been quite high up in the local council of her area (calderdale). My dad who is 86, and very with these things, (and a good public speaker too) has gone thru this process with PIP, etc , albeit back in the 80's, when things were easier to get, he has said he will come with me, as he understands my specific difficulties.
As for getting a letter from my Neurologist, I will make inquiries, as to that, and I just recently received a letter from my GP, describing my case for social housing with the local council.
I thought I would live the oh Peter out this time as I was hoping that you would not need to go through this process.
A letter from your GP is enough I actually got mine to submit a statement on my current condition, if your neurologist is as hard as mine was to contact then this is the best option. My GP is a really good guy and was disgusted that I even had to go through the whole process.
The most important part of the form is the grounds for your appeal. You really are the only one that can complete this, although feed back from anyone that spends time with you on a daily basis is good, but make your appeal really about how hard it has been for you and stress as much as you can every reason you can think of no matter how small why you do not agree with their decision, I did about 10 versions before I came up with something that I was happy with. Don't hand write it, if you can't type get someone to do it for you, there is a version that you can fill out on line and then print. Keep copies of everything. This is just the starting point, once you submit this you will receive will receive confirmation and then it all does feel like a legal process, which it is. You can submit further information as you want up to five days prior to your hearing. I sent a further seven letters as I thought of more relevant information.
For every bit of information submitted on both sides you will receive copies back, hence the fact that I have an A4 file full of information.
Expect the DWP to lie, two of my letters were factually picking holes in their information. Be prepared to wait, Stand, or sit your ground. During my process and sending further information I actually got letters directly from the DWP saying they had not changed their decision, this was actually illegal as once it is in the hands of the court all information must go through them. If you are not happy with the venue, then say so, I took my ex partner and brother with me. Just make your information as factual and straight forward as you can.
It sound like you have a lot of people around you for support and that is the important thing, if you do want any more help then just let me know.
I do keep (now) everything I get from official sources (the stuff from Lidl goes in the bin ). I do have some very good people who are there to support me, not just in this, but as a whole.
The DWP lie? wow. what really boiled my pee was a statement made at the UC assessment , and I quote, "It is not disputed that you have health problems, but it has been established that the medical conditions that you have do not limit your functional ability to the extent that you have Limited Capability for Work." of course I could do something, I think most of us can, well of a certain mindset/work ethic, BUT what employer in their right mind would take on a disabled person, with all that it entails. I have a letter from my ex boss outling it. Now I know that may seem a bit "iffy" in this day and age, but hey ho, I have old fashioned views, tough.
I Got your quote! And there is more, basing this on my own situation.
They lied so much that it was beyond every part of the way that I had lived my life within business, so yourself play it so straight and pick up on every single one of their downfalls, they told me things like all phone calls are recorded, lie, they said they document all of your phone calls, only it seems when it is in their favour, they said they offered me every help that they could to enable me to have an assessment near home, lie, they set me up more than once for a downfall and they may try that with you. If there has been a situation that they offered you something and you turned it down for whatever reason then make a point of it and your reasons why. Take yourself out of your responses and just think of how you would want to protect someone you love, might sound stupid, but if you were like me and I was pretty fit we sometimes find it hard still that we are talking about ourselves,
A letter from your ex boss will go a long way so include it, the bottom line is if you can't do what you once could or if there is nothing in place to help you to do it then you just can't!!
Sorry I am a bit OTT again, it took me a lot to fight my claim and it really did drag me down, but I did and once you get your win they actually leave you alone, hard to think that I can be quite a happy sole!
The one and ONLY reason I am pursuing this, is because the lady doctor who assessed me made me so angry as to her lack of eye contact and lack of communication as to the actual condition, as she said she knew about Ataxia, but like I have told my dad and my g/f, ataxia is a general name for it, and its sub divided into different categories, eg Friedreich's ataxia and others
I did not mean to upset you, but I understand and the only reason that my, New GP was quite understanding is because in October 2015 after being signed off with another GP as being depressed I stuck myself in A & E for five hours and refused to leave until I got some sort of an answer, so I went to new a new GP in my practice with the results, I don't think it is easy for any of us. I am dyslexic so that actually doesn't help either with the letters. I know how hard it is to have been fit and able and working really hard, we all have been through some of this. There is not a single person on this site that does not want to help you. I came out of my appeal feeling like I never wanted anyone to have to go through it, but it is your turn now and if I can I really want to help.
I wanted to blow the whole of the DWP out of the water and when I am not totally dependant on their funds I intend to put in many letters of complaint as none of us deserve to lose any dignity because one day this happened to us!
Just keep your head up and write everything truthfully and you will win.
I am still looking forward to trying to ride a horse by the way!!
you did not upset me in the least Denise, my anger is aimed at them. I do get a tad "short" with my dad tho, as he has had full everything, but like I think I said earlier, he applied way back in 1984/5, a lifetime ago, when the situation was easier. I am fully dependant on uc, a very small pension and a charitable donation from the Freemasons (as dad did until this year)
ok, then you do need some help, practical I can do.
As far as dad my dad was diagnosed before I was born with schizophrenia so I had no chance!
But, I did and so did my brother and sister, but we all felt like we were given a bit of a downer to start with. So how bad are you, can you walk?
I don't quite understand the bit about your dad being able to get benefit because he claimed back in the 80's, are you feeling let down because you got what he gave you? Tell me more and I promise I will give you more helpful information.
In my early days I took some pay outs from the family or I would have lost my house, but then I just used my credit card and finally this year I will be debt free when I take out my pension. I don't think you should have to be in a position that you have to live off charity and I knew there was a way for me not to have to do that too, but are you willing to take real help?
Not sure if I have put any of this in the right way, but none of us should have to live off charity so I really want to help. I sometimes find it hard to say good things in the right way.
I just wanted to add something, again I did not mean to offend and if I went over board then I am sorry, I really want you to get what you need, I really meant what I said about how hard the appeal process was for me, but I wanted to do it myself and ignored the help that was there, So I guess I am just stubborn!
well I am stubborn as well ha ha ha. As soon as I see the woman from social services on monday, I will just ask her for the help that the council is meant to give, and if nothing is forthcoming from any council departments, then I will seek help from other people, including the charity person from my Masonic Lodge
Don't forget about your local MP, they will help as is their duty, I also have the contact details for DWP complaints and the Independent Case Examiner if it goes that far,
I got so fed up that I just wrote letters to everyone in fact I became so annoying that I was told unofficially that I would probably get whatever I asked for! If only that were true, I am off again, I guess I invested quite a lot of myself through the process that should never have been as hard as they try to make it. They want you to give up and that will be a testing time for you, so chin up and please let me know if you think I can help.
On a lighter note I will look up loads of jokes and the next post I will put on this site with be about nothing but happiness!
Hi Denise, I have just had my meeting with my social worker, about the appeal. The forms have been filled in, and photos of my latest 2 letters have been taken, with view to attaching them. Like I told her, and she has put this down as well, I do not get many letters from specialists now, as the type of Ataxia I have, is progressive, . so the only time I see anyone, is at my 6 monthly appointment's, and they do not require sending me anything, apart from appointment details.
There is a lot of paperwork, isn't there? got my bedtime reading sorted for a while. Is there anything to know about, that I have not thought of?
At the moment it seems like you are on track, don't forget if you are not happy with the location they pick you can either ask for it to be changed or nominate people to go on your behalf, but go if you can. They will give you the option to send any further information up to 7 days before the hearing. You will receive a complete copy of everything you and the DWP has submitted. Read through their documents very carefully as I picked up on mine more than one lie and this is when I submitted extra documents. They told me they recorded all my conversations then back tracked to them being documented, what that actually meant was I received 9 pages just noting the dates and times I called. I wish I had known that in advance of my original appeal document!
They included what had become my magic letter! It would take quite a lot of explaining, but I did note that the copy they included was not dated or signed and type written. I was told it was a manual letter and they forgot to take a copy of!!
I think you have guessed a letter I had never received and actually the whole reason I ended up in the appeal process in the beginning.
The only letter I have received up to now, as the appeal has prob just got to them, as it was done on monday AM, I will let you know what I receive over the next few weeks. Wished I had thought about it a little more, as my dad said my cousin is a solicitor in Durham.
I have asked the Ataxi UK people (Sheila replied yesterday) for a couple of their well written brochures, to send, as they will explain to anyone who is unsure, is this a good thing or not?
Anything may help, all they have done at the moment is they have to is confirm that they have received your documents, its a good thing. Now starts the waiting game. I have been looking back through my own paper work, from the date that they acknowledged receipt of my appeal it took about two weeks to get the information that had been submitted from the DWP, this is what you need to look through carefully and even the slightest error on their part needs to be picked up on. Any information you wish to send goes straight to HM Courts. Every new document/letter will be acknowledged and you will receive a copy back. The same goes if the DWP submit any new documents you will get a copy of that too.
It is the whole process that is slow I started my appeal on 14th April and had my hearing on 22nd August, I won my appeal outright on the day. But, I still had to fight to get the back payment and that took an extra month,
Not sure a solicitor would help, I have a friend who is a barrister and he didn't have a clue he said I was better able to deal with it myself as it follows the same sort of merits as employment law, which was my thing. Ask any question you like and I will try and answer.
As hard as it is you just have to wait and I am not going to pretend I found any of it easy. But, when you know that you are not exactly going to dance down the street again then you have to fight. Once it was all settled I felt a lot better about myself.
I know this is all out in the open, as in a public forum, but just to let you know, you have given me a lot of food for thought, and will endeavour to keep you abreast of what happens over the coming weeks. Thank you
I have my father attending with me, he is good at public speaking, and he knows my situation, more so than anyone else, incl my GP etc. OK, he is not all genned up on the legalities, either social or legal, my complaints about the original decision are not based on those, they are a personal thing, and if the tribunal cannot "get that", then so be it. I am not wanting to get into a battle as to who said or did that, its the way I have been treated as a human being, that is the crux of the problem, so having listened to my social worker and had advice from friends, and a lady on here....I am NOT going to have a representative, per se, more a person I can rely on 100%. Like I told my father this morning, IF it was a legal thing, then I may have gone down the route of writing/contacting my MP ( a tory who voted for this anyway, so a waste of time) having a professional person represent me, a solicitor/CAB rep etc.
Its like I said, a personal thing, and if they cannot see that, well...
This is of way of an update, as of the 27/02/2019, I still have not got a date scheduled. A couple of things have happened in my personal life, I have moved 100 south to where I was in North Yorkshire, to a village in Lincolnshire (long story why) and the greatest change, is, I lost my father in Dec 2018, and he was coming with me to the tribunal. I met with a lady from the Masonic Charity Trust the other day, and she said if I can get no body else, she will come with me and act as my advocate, she has done 3 this past 2 months
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). I do have some very good people who are there to support me, not just in this, but as a whole.
Having trouble walking 
Beware the prognosis
Knowing when your Ataxia has taken a turn.
PIP assessment 
