Mandatory reconsideration to appeal for pip

Hi Alexandria,

That's not true. There's absolutely no risk what so ever in taking it to Tribunal, when a claimant already has an award. As i said in my previous comment, if a Tribunal is considering lowering or removing an award completely the must warn the claimant before the Tribunal hearing. This gives the claimant chance to cancel their Tribunal, leaving them with their existing award. If a Tribunal doesn't warn a claimant before then that definitely grounds for error in law for Upper Tribunal.

So if someone is told prior to the tribunal that it will be lowered and they still go ahead they could lose it then, so if that's the case and the tribunal already have looked at the appeal and more or less know the outcome why don't they just save the claimant all that stress, also would probably save a fortune in wasted time and money, does make a slight mockery of the tribunal doesn't it, that's my take on it.

Yup i totally agree. It would be really silly of the claimant to go ahead with the Tribunal if this is the case. I've only ever heard of 1 person to do this. They went onto lose everything they had, which was standard for both parts.

I would imagine that the majority of claimants would cancel their Tribunal if they were told there was a risk, but for Jackie there's no risk in fighting for what she thinks she should be claiming.

Thank you Alexandria for your help. I wondered whether I might be pushing my luck. I'll really have to think about my next move.

Just so you know, if your award stayed the same at your Tribunal the only way you can appeal that decision is if an error of law is made. This is extremely rare and also very difficult to find.

Hi Mary,

No no, please read my other comments there's NO risk with taking it to Tribunal, none what so ever!

If Jackie thinks she should get Enhanced for both then she should fight for it.

MaryLip

Mary, the Tribunal is totally different to DWP decision maker, and the examiners/assessment providers. Tribunal is totally independent. The Tribunal will listen to what people have to say, remember 71% of those that appear at their Tribunal have a decision in their favour. That's pretty high to be honest. Compared to 47% of reviews/first claims being successful.

The Tribunal having to warn claimants if their award is to be lowered was an Upper Tribunal decision.

Just in case there's any confusion, this ruling does not apply to Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR). It only applies to Tribunals. When asking for the MR you do risk losing everything you already have, although most decisions stay the same.

Hi Denise. Thank you for your input. I had heard that the tribunal will warn you if you'd lose but didn't quite understand, like others have said, why anyone would choose to proceed knowing they'd lose. I will have a CAB representative at the appeal but it's been 8 months now and I still don't have a date. As soon as I receive details of when, I will contact them to discuss the detail. Whilst 8 months is a long time I, at least, am receiving the amount already awarded which is better than for some people who have been awarded nothing. Thanks again for your help and advice.

Thank you for your input Mary Lou. I had heard that the tribunal would warn claimants that their chance of success is very limited but didn't quite know how that works. It would appear that this applies to someone who has had their pip/DLA stopped after face to face and then proceeded to MR where the decision remains unchanged and they end up going to tribunal and still getting nothing, but have decided to proceed with the appeal as they have nothing to lose. Thanks again for your help and comments.

The reason people choose to proceed is because they have nothing to lose, even yourself. If the Tribunal plan on lower or taking away an existing award they would write to you even before the hearing takes place.

You're also very lucky having a CAB representative because they no longer do this because of lack of funding.

Hi Denise. Thanks for that. As it was 8 months ago since I first appealed, I'm going to have to check that the CAB are still willing to represent. I've not been in contact with them since applying to appeal so I need to know that they are still happy to accompany me. They are listed on appeal form as representative and the court (or DWP) have sent them copies of the MR and assessors decision. I hope this means, since they haven't told me otherwise, that they will still represent me.

As for going to the upper tribunal, I think that might be a bit too far unless there is an obvious error of law. Your advice has been very useful and informative. Thank you

No problem. Did you receive a pack from the Tribunal when you first sent the request? In the pack would be everything that you sent to DWP to support your claim, so the original PIP2 forms, all your evidence, assessment report and the MR decision letter, have you received this? It will have your Tribunal reference number in with it and this is what you must use when contacting the Tribunal. It's nothing to do with DWP at this stage.

Another thing to remember, if you have any further evidence to send to the Tribunal to support your claim, you must make sure this is sent to arrive at least 10 days before your hearing. Do not take it on the day of the hearing, if you do you risk them not taking it into consideration. The Tribunal can only consider how your condition was like at the time of the assessment. Any worsening of condition after this time will not be considered.

I would ring your local CAB ASAP to ask them about the representative. If they say they can no longer do this then you can take anyone with you and they will be able to go into the room with you. You will have to answer all the questions, unless they are your appointee.

Hi Denise. Yes I received my bundle from the tribunal and on the covering letter it says that copied have been sent to my representative. I'm assuming they would have contacted me if they weren't going to accompany me, but you never so I will get in touch with them. Any idea how much notice I will receive about tribunal date and will this give me enough time to send in my letter explaining in more detail my reason for appeal.? I am aware that they can only consider my claim as it was on the date of assessment.

I'm not sure whether I would take anyone else with me if the CAB can't go. I don't want anybody 'piping up rubbish' that's not relevant so I think I might be better on my own! Although I'd feel safer if someone accompanied on the journey there and back so I'll probably arrange that. Thanks for your help. I'd quite like to let you know how I get on but I'm not sure how long these posts stay on for.

Don't assume that CAB would have contacted you if they're not planning on representing you.

The Tribunal should give you at least 10 days notice but can sometimes be as long as 3 weeks. I wouldn't wait for the notice because that's risky, if the letter with your reasons for appeal isn't received at least 10 days before the hearing they may not use it. I wouldn't delay the process any longer and start writing that letter because it's already been 8 months so you could have your hearing date anytime. When you send it to the Tribunal make sure your reference number is on the top and do this with any other evidence you plan on sending.

I'm not sure what "rubbish" you're talking about if you take someone with you. As i said, they won't be able to speak for you, you'll have to speak for yourself and answer all those questions. If CAB can't represent you then taking someone with you to keep you company and support you can only be a good thing.

Posts on the forum aren't deleted unless there's a problem and the moderators decide to delete them. If you can't find your post when you do come back with the outcome, just start another thread. It's always good to know the outcomes of people Tribunals/MRs or assessments. Good luck.

Thanks for your reply.

I will contact the CAB tomorrow just to check.Didnt really explain myself properly when I said I'm not keen on taking someone with me. Mostly, everyone I know who I have discussed this with has got really irate that I'm having to do this so I'm not sure that a relative or friend wouldn't get irate with the officials there!. Which would likely go against me...To be honest, even the CAB lady that I saw was not very nice on the phone to the DWP when she phoned to tell them that I would be appealing. I don't think it pays to be aggressive when dealing with officialdom even when you know they're in the wrong. Frankly, I get more flustered when someone dealing with something on my behalf starts getting stroppy. I prefer to deal with things differently.

Anyway, we'll see what happens and I'll get on with writing to the tribunal.

Thanks again for your help.

Hi Jackie as Denise has pointed out even though you are taking someone with you to a tribunal they will not be allowed to make any comments, they are just their to give you moral support nothing else unless you have notified DWP that you have given them the legal right to speak for you.

I'm not sure on the grounds you are claiming but if part of your claim is made upon of mental health issues then being on your own surely is contrary to this