DLA tribunal - attend or not?

Rev

I applied for DLA, got rejected and appealed. They referred me to a tribunal and I now have a letter asking me if I want to attend or not.

What is best? Anything I should be doing? Should I just give up?

Thanks

shopaholic2

Rev wrote: »

I applied for DLA, got rejected and appealed. They referred me to a tribunal and I now have a letter asking me if I want to attend or not.

What is best? Anything I should be doing? Should I just give up?

Thanks

WHY would you "just give up"?
Go to the tribunal, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain...I had a tribunal for my IB and they gave it me, they'd already decided before they saw me they'd give it me as they read all my medical evidence, dr's letters etc.

Gather togather as much evidence as you can, letters from specialists, consultants, GP etc. Anyone else invloved in your care, like physiotherapist, mental health nurse, anything.
Then on the day take someone with you, and don't try to be strong that day, for instance i usually need a stick now to get around, and the day of my appeal i felt ok, but i still used it as it would be daft not to.

DO NOT give up, unless you are quite well and don't need DLA :cool:

sangiar

shopaholic2 wrote: »

WHY would you "just give up"?
Go to the tribunal, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain...I had a tribunal for my IB and they gave it me, they'd already decided before they saw me they'd give it me as they read all my medical evidence, dr's letters etc.

Gather togather as much evidence as you can, letters from specialists, consultants, GP etc. Anyone else invloved in your care, like physiotherapist, mental health nurse, anything.
Then on the day take someone with you, and don't try to be strong that day, for instance i usually need a stick now to get around, and the day of my appeal i felt ok, but i still used it as it would be daft not to.

DO NOT give up, unless you are quite well and don't need DLA :cool:

I would mention that from experience of 'losing' at 2 Tribunals and now awaiting a 3rd. No one is interested in 'evidence' that describes your condition, how it is treated or what the prognosis is. The only evidence that is required for DLA (as told to me by one Tribunal chairman) is substanial medical proof appertaining to the descriptors of DLA. They need good evidence of your ability to walk, how you walk, how long it takes to walk that distance as well as what happens if you walk.

Anything to do with a diagnosis is useless, you require the evidence to back up what you say are your care needs and what mobility problems you encounter.

I handed over pages and pages of medical reports from the Consultants and clinics that care for me. None of it was of any use.

And you should not 'put a show on'. Using your stick when it is not needed at the time is deception. They want to see how good some of your days are as well as those that are bad.

Rev

The above is pretty much why I asked should I give up. I really don't fancy being made to feel like some scamming low life for nothing. I'm not the most confident of people.

And I'm worried that being a carer will go against me, or somehow effect my mothers DLA status.

I have a lot of back problems and the cash would come in handy to pay for the extra expenses not being able to walk far brings. Taxi's instead of walking, paying for shopping to be delivered etc. I can;t get a part time job as one, there's no body to care for my mother whilst I work, two I can;t walk far or stand for long, I can't even sit in the same position for long, nor can I carry anything. On bad days I can't even walk.

But realistically I know the DLA don;t give a crap about what I do or don't need. And I'm wondering what would be best to do.

Anubis_2

Go to the tribunal, many do win, and you have nothing to loose by not going. If youbdon't go you will always be wondering how it could have gone, plus, if you give up and need to claim again at any stage, not going may be of detriment.

If you are as bad as you say then go. Don't let them make ypu feel inhibited, additionally it is not the DWP you see at tribunal, its and independent party, who read through all evidence given, some of which may have been ignored by the original DM.

Sangiar, that was your experience and your dr may not agree you need help.

Evidence IS important, please do not tell posters otherwise just because for you it made no difference, for a lot if people their award is based on evidence.

I_love_Harrison

Rev wrote: »

I applied for DLA, got rejected and appealed. They referred me to a tribunal and I now have a letter asking me if I want to attend or not.

What is best? Anything I should be doing? Should I just give up?

Thanks

I'd attend if possible, even if you have to take someone with you as you stand more chance of winning.

I didn't attend my first tribunal & lost as they didn't appreciate quite how badly effected I was. Luckily I was granted a second one which I won as they were able to ask me questions regarding my issue's.

sleepless_saver

Rev wrote: »

And I'm worried that being a carer will go against me, or somehow effect my mothers DLA status.


But realistically I know the DLA don;t give a crap about what I do or don't need. And I'm wondering what would be best to do.

Being a carer won't go against you, and your mother's DLA won't be affected whatever the outcome of your appeal.

And it's not the DLA people who hear the appeals, it's independent. You may be very pleasantly surprised. You need the money, you have care and mobility needs - go for it! Your chances of success if you go to the tribunal are much higher than if you rely on written evidence.

(and remember it's your care and mobility needs they will be looking at, not your ability to look after someone else, carry shopping or do housework so no point recording your problems in those areas.)

And don't be put off by sangiar's (or whatever his name is) experience. People are a lot more likely to post here about bad experiences than good ones.

rogerblack

It's worthwhile turning up.
Appeals where the claimant makes a personal appearance (versus paper appeals) are far more likel to succeed.

cit_k

Anubis wrote: »

Go to the tribunal, many do win, and you have nothing to loose by not going. If youbdon't go you will always be wondering how it could have gone, plus, if you give up and need to claim again at any stage, not going may be of detriment.

If you are as bad as you say then go. Don't let them make ypu feel inhibited, additionally it is not the DWP you see at tribunal, its and independent party, who read through all evidence given, some of which may have been ignored by the original DM.

Sangiar, that was your experience and your dr may not agree you need help.

Evidence IS important, please do not tell posters otherwise just because for you it made no difference, for a lot if people their award is based on evidence.

Independant, unless of course, its an ATOS doctor on the appeal panel.... Which is a possibility, although they are not sitting as an 'atos' employee, I find it impossible to see how they could be unbiased if employed for atos, trained by atos, and then claiming to be putting on a non atos hat for the day...

Not all doctors on the panels are atos employees, hopefully the likelyhood is low that it will be.

clair_witch

If you're trying to decide the best option between a paper hearing and an oral one, then I'd say go for the oral hearing everytime. They are meant to have a much higher success rate, though they can be quite gruelling. Mine lasted close on an hour yesterday and out of the whole panel I found the doctor to be the most persisitant, asking the same questions over and over again.

Richie-from-the-Boro

The facts and numbers.

- less than a quarter for paper
- more than a half for oral

Remember ‘ paper ’ hearings were introduced on the basis that many cases are ‘ simple ’ and can be resolved without an oral hearing. However, however its for that precise reason that the success rate in paper hearings is considerably lower than at oral hearings.

So you have a 25% better chance of getting what you want by simply being there !