I am awaiting a tribunal date but am wondering if there is anything I can do to get a decision to save it from going to tribunal? When we were waiting for the DWP defence to be submitted a lady at the tribunals place said the judge may just make a decision but now they have submitted their defence another lady said it has been listed for tribunal. Their defence included lots of errors and blatant lies and I would like to write to the tribunals office and tell them. I am wondering if anyone has actually avoided having to go to the tribunal by doing this? I had to attend one years ago when I applied for dvla and I was humiliated and really don't want to go through that again! Is thee anything I can do to push a decision??
Thanks.
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Annalouk
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No we couldn't but they did ask on the day whether we had any new evidence to present other than that which we had already sent. We had been through the assessor's report with a fine tooth comb by then and had noticed a couple of points that were grossly incorrect that we had not realised before and they accepted those on the day and actually agreed with us.
I do hope that this time if you ahve to attend it will be less traumatic and that they come to a decision in your favour. Fingers crossed for you.x
I think, though I may well be wrong, that once you have asked for a mandatory reconsideration and then asked for the decision to go to a tribunal then that is what happens. The only part at which you can write and disagree with the decision is at the mandatory reconsideration stage.
In saying that I took my claim to a tribunal and was given an award and although it wasn't what I would call a pleasant experience, they panel were courteous and polite. I know that everyone has different experiences but I haven't heard of any tribunal reports where the panel have been rude or made the claimant feel any worse than they already do. I hope that makes sense.
Good luck with your tribunal and keep us posted as to how you get on. Every story adds to the pot of knowledge that we have as a group.
I am so sorry to read that you are having to go through this and I have not been through anything of this nature myself but I wanted to genuinely and sincerely wish you all the best of luck with the outcome.
I had to go to the tribunal but I was there for no longer than 10 minutes after a little questioning regarding my conditions (DWP did not take any of them into account and they classed me fit as I could lift my arms) After they awarded me they asked how I coped without the wife when she was at her part time job and I should look at seeing if I could get some out side help?
I really sympathise with your anxiety and reluctance to go through another horrible tribunal hearing. I must say that I have heard of several others who had really awful ones. You really need to have someone with you for it, and do your best not to arrive in any state they can see as 'able'. I mean, do get as much help, use walking sticks or a wheelchair, or whatever, and don't go all out making yourself look nice, as they often think that means you are okay. (!)
I had a DLA tribunal 3 years ago, which was excruciating, demeaning, and very rude, in addition to being held in a building which was not in any way easy to get around in for someone with severe mobility issues and as yet no mobility aids. I had to get around holding onto furniture and walls. Even the lifts had no hand rails. The door controls were up high and I am short. I could not see the writing next to the buttons. My friend had driven me there and I had to wait for her to arrive to tell me which button to push for the tribunal hearing place to open the door to the building.
I had three judges and two of the three were rude and demeaning to me, with the doctor being the worst and asking me extremely impertinent questions like, "If we had a Big Brother camera outside your building during the last year, what would we have seen?" and at another point, "Well what do you want us to do for you, come to your house and put food in your mouth and carry you around?" I was slumped in my chair and losing the ability to focus my eyes. I was shaking from exhaustion and the effort of continuing to sit their so long.
This insulting and demeaning sort of interrogation went on over an hour and a half, and at that point, they started to blame me for taking up so much of their time. They said that because of me they had had to send the next person home, as it was past 5 pm. I felt they were trying to make me feel guilty! They even talked about how they were not getting paid for all this extra time!
They kept asking the same questions over and over, and demanding that I give them a yes or no answer. The questions were such that I could not do this. I would ask, Do you mean with regard to ________? If so, then the answer would be yes. If you mean with regard to ________, then my answer would be, 'it depends.'" I would then explain my answer precisely and they would immediately ask me the question again and demand a yes or no. I have never felt so bullied and humiliated in all my life.
My friend started to cry and left the room. When she came back, they actually asked her why she had left! She said because she felt I needed help and that this was making that very difficult. She had already told them about my illness and she is a school English teacher who is respectful and well spoken.
I am articulate, was well prepared, and tried my best to be coherent. but I had to sit in a straight back chair, which for someone who has been house bound and often bed bound for a few years, is very difficult. I did not have a wheelchair because I had been told they were only available to people who go out at least 4x a week. I also had increasing brain fog and speech difficulty as I got more tired, causing me to stutter and stammer. I had help from Benefits and Work Guides and also from Citizens Advice before I went there.
I was shocked, after that, to get a favourable decision only a couple of days later, with low rate mobility and low rate care. I can only guess that the other two judges over-rode the attitude and deplorable prejudice of the doctor who was so rude to me.
I must have had one of the worst benefits tribunals ever. I sure hope others don't go through all this. Thank goodness, when it came time for my DLA to be renewed last autumn, I had help from a specialist ME charity benefits advisor and she knew what and how to write in the form to tick their boxes and make my situation clear. However, even with that help, I still had to go to Mandatory Reconsideration to get the level of DLA raised, despite having shown enough evidence that my condition had deteriorated. This time I did not have to go to a tribunal. I was so glad.
I think you can raise the issues about where the previous decision was based on wrong statements and information or mistakes in the decision. However, when I tried to do that, they would only allow me to give them one or two. So I would advise you to list yours in priority order and start with the worst.
Good luck to you. I have my PIP assessment coming up this summer. I really hope I will get through without another tribunal. I have never recovered from the stress and deterioration I experienced after being put through all that.
I took hubby's medical assessment report apart and made a submission for the Tribunal pointing out all the inaccuracies and downright porkies that was written in it. I didn't manage to get it in until the day of the Tribunal but he was only in for 5 minutes and was told that they would uphold his appeal and gave him (I think) 20 points instead of the big fat zero originally awarded and put him in the WRA Group.
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