Incapacity benefit - Tribunal advice needed

bbq72

Hi there emweaver,

I think my husband had bad luck with the doctor who interviewed him and yes - he definitely put words in my husbands mouth. Please don't let our experience worry you though, hopefully the doctor you get will be fair and understanding about your husbands condition.

The questions at the medical my husband went to were along the same lines as those on the IB50 form but there was also some memory tests. They asked my hubbie to count down from 100 in descending sevens, asked what change he'd have from £2 if he bought something costing a certain amount, that sort of thing. They ask about a typical day and what you do and this is where the guy we had messed us about. I don't know if this will be the same as what you'll get asked but hopefully it'll give you an idea of what to expect.

All the advice we have been given here really helped us out when it came to getting what we needed together for our evidence at the tribunal.

If there's anything you need to ask, you've come to the right forum.

Hope you both get through this ok,

BBQ72

emweaver

why would they ask you to count backwards and calculate change? that proves nothing

black_paw

they are becoming stupid .. counting down even i can't do that oooo

bbq72

my husband thought it was a weird thing to ask at the time. he concentrated hard and got them right ... which we later found out counted against him when we got our copies of the report for the tribunal! the doctor also pointed out 3 things in the room and said "remember those" and then asked him what they were later in the medical, really pointless and proves nothing .

honestly, i think we just got the doctor from hell who wanted to get everyone of their benefit. although it drove us :mad: please don't let what happened to us worry you, i'm sure it'll go fine for your husband.

let us know how it goes - have you got a date yet?

BBQ72 xxx

bbq72

also emweaver,

if possible please make sure you go with your husband to the meeting as he is allowed to have someone in the room with him. that way you can give support and also listen to what is asked and help your husband if it gets too much for him.

they didn't point that out to us so i didn't go ...

Associate

Happy to hear things have worked out in your favor and common sense has prevailed!

The positive thing to come of all this is that you are in a better position to deal with such matters in the future and others have learned from your experience.

Hope your husband is in good spirits!

All the best.

Jay

she2008

Hi bbq72,i just want to say im also going through whats happening to your OH ive had depression for over 20 years now and because of the benefits changing i was advised by the DWP'S to claim Ib which i filled in all the forms ive been on antidepressants for a while now put sick notes in did all the nessasary things id been told to do.I got a letter saying i had to go for a medical which i went for in November last year,i suffer with panic attacks,severe depression,anxiety attacks problems with eating food (ie i think i will choke)low self esteem, an irregular heart beat social phobias.I went for my medical an like your OH the medical man told lies about me too,i failed my medical so i said i would like to appeal i have today received a letter saying the origional out come remains ive read what he wrote about me and its very disturbing that he can get a way with the lies hes put down,i started to read it and just cried he does not know what i go through on a daily basis he saw me for i think it was about 10/15 mins he lied about my family says i see them daily i don't as my family live over 40 miles from me he asked me if i answer the phone i said depends on how im feeling some times i do and some times i just let it ring and he says i can answer it with no problems which is not true he also says about me being clean and tidy, most days im in my PJ'S and dressing gown i have to force myself to go and do the shopping theres days when i have to just leave my trolley and run out the supermarket,when i have a panic attack,there needs to be a change how these so called medical doctors can just write any thing about people which is alot of lies, ive been very stressed out with all of this ive been crying all day i have a appointment with welfare rights in 2 weeks because i have to wait 2weeks now for the letter off the appeal people because when i said i wanted to appeal in December they said they would look to see if they could change the decision but like i said they have stuck with what the doctor from medical said.I feel so drained and tired my hair is falling out too.I hope every thing works out for your OH.

black_paw

sorry to hear your bad news and hopefully the welfare rights will help you .are there any other reports you can get hold of for the appeal ? they will advise you of things to get hold off to help you. some of my friend s wrote me a statement of what i was like. it's all helpful on the day . any hospital reports ? clinics ? do you have copy of atos doctor report ? that you can with W/Rights take to pieces at tribunal . finger crossed for you

she2008

Hi yes i have atos medical report, i also have copy of personal capability assessment
which i will give to the welfare rights people.
These people don't same to understand or care how this effects people im going out
of my mind with worry,ive just checked the times i was with the medical doctor and i can't believe it i thought it was 10/15 minutes i was seen for infact it was less.Interview started at 12:51 -time interview ended 13:05 so i think he was going to fail me straight away.I felt very intimadated by him i had stated in my ib form that i have suffered with a bad back on and off for alot off years,and this day my back was ok which i said to him so he made me touch my toes which i did only when i got home and about 7'oclock in the evening i was in severe angony and crying all night, had no sleep it hurt when i swallowed or drank so i had to have emergency appointment to see my own doctor the very next day,where the doctor said to me i had pulled all the muscles in my back and shoulders i told that the medical man made me touch my toes,not once but twice i think i should have warmed my muscles up first but he never told me to i'm still very sore and im still taking painkillers for my back now, i had medical last November.I also had to wait over 2 hours to be seen so why give people set times for appointments when you never get seen at the correct time,i was sat for 2 hours just staring out the waiting room window feeling very shaky and anxious and panicky was crying, no one came over and said "are you ok" I just wanted to go home.Then i get the atos medical report and i was very upset at what had been written.I spoke to my adviser at the jobcenter and she said i should put complaint in because she said it could be happening to other people so i will let welfare people help me as ive not heard back from atos.

bbq72

hi there she2008,

so sorry to hear that you're going through the same thing that we had to endure. all the advice that was given here was a great help and i really believe everyone here helped us win our appeal. if you read back through the replies we got from the board it'll give you lots of info and ideas.

don't worry about it getting turned down once by the DWP, the same thing happened to us. we were told that the DWP will only overturn a decision at first if the Doctor made a mistake in counting up your points etc. It's a different ball game once your case is handed over to the Tribunal as they are independant of the DWP etc.

Make an appointment to visit your local CAB asap and take your papers etc with you. We were represented by a woman from our CAB who was their resident expert in tribunals.

Start getting a pack together with your evidence as this will make the CAB job a lot easier.

Contact your parents / in laws / brother or sister etc and aske them to write you a short letter explaining that they don't hear or see from you and how they view your condition. It doesn't have to be a big long detailed letter, best sticking to just a paragraph or 2.

Contact your local MP and hand in a letter explaining how you feel, how this is affecting you, all about the stress making you worse etc. As him or her if they can help. Our MP was great and chased thigns up himself, requested info etc and wrote to the Tribunal personaly.

Contact your GP and ask for a letter from him detailing what your condition is, what your medication is and how long your illness has affected you. If you've been on medication for 20 years then that will count as long term illness and that will count in your favour at the appeal.

My husband also wrote a letter himself explaining how his condition makes him feel and I wrote one too detailing how it affects him and our lives.

Are you having to do everything yourself? Try to get as much help from your partner as possible. My husband wasn't able to do it for himself so I took charge.

And remember, we're all hear for you and we all want to help get this overturned so you can carry on with your life. :-)

Best of luck and kep us posted on how it goes.

Love,

BBQ72 xxx