DLA descriptors? - Appealing DLA decision

earthbound_misfit

Problem is when he gets taken to A&E to be assessed, it takes hours for the crisis team to show up, by which time he's back to normal(ish). He then gets accused of wasting their time and they say he's fine! Despite the three assessments saying he has psychotic depression! Bunch of jobsworth morons... Phone filming is a good idea though if I can borrow a camera phone.
Have been onto MH team and head of services, DLA appeal is the thing for here though... Thanks for the advice, any more re appeal is welcome!

earthbound_misfit

also I doubt we have time to get a copy of the DWP report, as appeal deadline is 12th jan, due to their delayed letter!

earthbound_misfit

Really concerned about the appeal hearing itself. I struggle myself so would be unlikely to be able to attend. He doesn't have anyone else who'd go, would they understand why he can't make it?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

the report will be in the tribunal services bundle you recieved along with the copy of the claim form he submitted. if you havent recived this then you need to call tribunal services and ask for a new date and the papers to be resent to you so you can go over the papers and submit evidence.

you can take evidence on the day but its down the judge on the panel to allow them to be entered into the process, you should submit your evidence 7 days prior to the date to the clerk to the tribunal overseeing your case.

a decision would be made in absence if no one turned up, but this would seriously hamper any success, its always better to attend and with support, its not as freightning as peole think it is, and its not related to the DWP so horror stories of the tribunal being bias is not true, its not like crown court, youll be in what looks like a conference room and there will be at least two people making up the panel.

eadieb

sometimes you can ask for a statement of reasons for the decision (from DLA) and that awards you an extra 2 weeks to appeal. Alternatively, due to time constraints, your friend needs to phone DLA immediately stating he wishes to appeal the decision and then formulate a short appeal letter, dated with his NI no. and name and address, stating that he wishes to appeal the decision dated........because he feels his mental health problems cause him to have care needs and mobility problems. If he can add more to it then the better. send this urgently, recorded delivery/proof of posting.

he then needs to get help forming a much more detailed submission to DLA in support of his appeal and get this sent in asap. Ideally get help from CAB who might have a specialist who can help. Basically the submission needs to go through the areas on the form pointing out the facts and explaining the situations more. AND making sure that you detail how, (if you had someone to do it) someone could have improved things for you. E.g if I had someone to monitor me and encourage me to avoid putting myself in danger then this would help me to be less at risk.

If you read the rules for DLA entitlement then you can get an idea of what the overall submission is needing to prove.

Then, DLA will probably review the decision first themselves and sometimes, given a full and convincing argument, they overturn their first decision and award the benefit.

If this does not happen then your friend will get a letter saying we have looked again at our decision and we still think you cant have it. You will have a further 28 days from this letter to state that you still wish to appeal the decision. So you need to make sure you say you want to appeal again. this time it will get sent to an independent tribunal and this will probably take 3 to 6 months to be given a date. your friend will be sent a letter asking if he want to appeal in person or have a paper appeal. It is frequently best if the person has a hearing where he turns up - this increases the chances of winning massively. He might, by that time, have someone from the CAB who can go with him or as previously suggested a specialist mental health worker. But if its a friend or relative then that is just a relevant. The tribunal is a formal process but they are usually very respectful and ask relevant questions. they are not like a court accusing the person who has to defend themselves! they will ask stuff to draw extra information to support the claim. They might also spend some intense questioning about distances travelled and frequency of problems.