Still waiting for date for tribunal! Seeing some people have won (so pleased for them) can anyone give me help on how tthey did it please.

[macR]

CAB have been great help but feeling very nervous and stressed just waiting for date. I have other health issues but feel it is a lottery really to where you live. I have applied also for DLA but have to wait for ESA first. My ESA should have been May and DLA September waiting everyday for postman to bring letter is a nightmare. Please help me win my case someone before i go on to have a breakdown!

[Val02]

I sympathise 100% with what you are going through - it has to be one of the most stressful things you ever have to do, and at the worst time when you dont feel up to it. I didnt go to tribunal I got mine on the "can you look at it again because you have made the wrong decision route."

I got from the PBC Foundation their guideline notes for DLA, there are a lot of suggestions in there for what you could mention so you just pick the ones that apply to you.

Also you need to make them aware of PBC because they wont necessarily know. Obviously if you have other health issues those as well.

Take with you any doctors letters etc to support what you are saying. If you are very nervous take someone with you for support.

Good Luck!

[john95]

My advise would be to write a letter explaining how you feel on your worst day. Take with you to the tribunal to show to the Judge / Doctor. Thats what i did myself, and when they had read the letter they asked me a few questions and within 10mins they told me i had won the appeal. I know how you feel but try to stay strong and i am sure you will win. Good luck

[john95]

One more thing start writing your letter now or when you feel up to it. It took me about 4 weeks to write mine , because of all the mistakes. Good luck

[macR]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions very helpful, appreciate you taking time the time to reply. I wonder though, if those that have won their claims have won just by having PBC? I have other health issues which are primary to my PBC. In theory i should have a good chance of winning BUT i know from reading other peoples stories you have to be very badly disabled to win claims nowadays. Truly disgusting. I also worry because i am very honest and i must remember to give accounts of my worse days rather than days when i just get on with it because i have no choice.

[Missboro]

I had a medical last month and a couple of weeks ago got a letter saying i failed the medical as i didnt get awarded any points at all. As well as having PBC i suffer with chronic pain in my back and osteoartritis in my knees and a couple of other problems with my feet. Im having to claim JSA to have money to live on. I wasnt going to appeal as i couldnt deal with all the stress of what it involves as i went through it a couple of years ago, was glad to say i won that one as i only needed 3 more points to get incapacity benefit. When i went to see my job advisor last week i showed him a copy of the assesment from the doctor who did the medical. In that letter the doctor had said i can put my wheelie bin out which was a lie as she didnt even ask me anything about that and i certainly didnt tell her i did. I have lovely neighbours who put the bin out for me when they do theirs. Anyway my advisor said thats grounds for appeal soi went straight to CAB and have now sent the appeal form off saying why im appealing. A couple of years ago at my medical the doctor had said i was able to take off my coat and hang it up, that made me laugh as i had already took my coat off in the waiting room and put it over the back of the chair when i went into the examination room. CAB have told me not to let them get away with it so here i am again stressing out having to do it all again. Ive got to stick it out tho as i dont see why the doc should get away with giving false information. Sorry if ive gone on but just wanted to let people know that even a professional can lie about what they write.

[Neata]

Most ESA medicals are completed by health care professionals not doctors,they follow a computer generated questionnaire ,my appeal was 13 pages at the end a letter from my GP which cost £30 but was money well spent also helped,PBC was always the primary disease with all the others listed after I was fortunate that the appeal lady looked up PBC to understand it.

The best advice I can give you is to find out who is dealing with your appeal and ensure that they get all of your documents and the best way for that is to get the job center to scan and then email it to them.

Good luck

[Missboro in reply to Neata]

I did mean to say it was a health care professional and not a doctor, at the time of writing this my head was all over the place. I received a letter yesterday asking me to send any additional information to back up my claim for ESA so will have to sort that out now, so i will ask at my GP surgery tomorrow to see if there is a doctor who knows more about PBC to get a medical report and gather some information about it. At present im waiting for someone to contact me about who will deal with my appeal. Could anyone tell were i could get more leaflets or information about PBC to be able to send it with my appeal or have i to just contact the PBC foundation to ask if they could send me some, i know its a stupid question but right now i cant think straight.

[catherine69]

I won my appeal for ESA after receiving 0 points, I got a welfare worker to complete forms for me, I got every bit of information on pbc that I could find as well as getting leaflets from the pbc foundation and sent all of that to them prior to my appeal date, I like the idea of writing down how you feel on a daily basis, however, if like I your hands go into cramps and writing is difficult, if you get someone else to write it, state that in the letter.

[macR in reply to catherine69]

Thanks so much i received 6 points! Yes my hands do cramp too, have so much stress in my life at moment i think if i started to write down how i felt it would be more to do with that rather than my actual health.situation. I do take on your advise though and once i get a date i will have to start keeping a diary of my daily horrible life.

[EAJSWW]

When filling out the forms, you have to remember that havung a disease or illness will not get you any help, they only look at how it affects your day to day life. I was advised to keep a diary if all my difficulties, even the embarrassing stuff we don't like to admit.

Having fatigue is one thing for instance but you need to explain to them what that means to you and how it negatively impacts on your life etc.

I was talking to a friend the other day who is a health professional who has wrked with ATOS, he was telling me that from where he sees clients he overseas the car park, he says he ofen sees people getting out fo their cars practically crawling into the building, using sticks, crutches etc... thing is often these same people practically run back to there cars at the end as they see the assessment as over and are relieved, It is because of the fraudulant claims that so many of us genuine claiments suffer.

Remember to document ALL your difficulties. I have lots of different going on and a big proportion is nothing to do with PBC and as such wouldn't register with a doctor who had researched PBC. I explain why have got those problems and why the doctors havent been able to address them. Many of us live with stuff day to day and it becomes a way of life, being in constant pain etc. So when people read it they don't always get it!

The welfare system is not going to get any easier so all we can do is ensure that we explain fully the difficulties we face and hope that the goverment don't turn away from us all together!

[macR in reply to EAJSWW]

Thanks so much for your help, still no date! I completley get what you have said and yes explaining how things effect you is vital if given the time to though. I know doctors don't always listen when they are so busy and hearing the same thing over and over again. We all are effected differently by PBC different degrees of the illness as well as other related problems. I have several other illnesses which effect my quality of life but i adapt my life around them leaving me totally exhausted each and every day. If you get on with things and cope then they assume you are fit for work and then you loose your case.