ESA Tribunal TODAY.Terrified.Last min Adjournment Help/Info Please.

Poppie68

sh1981 wrote: »

im not sure i would think a medical problem would be reason enough for an adjournment. you know the fact that you're so worried and need somoene with you alone shows that you have trouble coping with changes, which i thought was one of the underlying factors for esa, or was it dla, not sure.

sh1981 wrote: »

If I were you, and I was feeling the way you are feeling, I would go to a doctor first and talk to him about how you feel. At least it would be on the record that you have trouble coping with change. That alone means a lot, it's one of the descriptors for DLA or ESA, I'm not sure which one it was but someone else might be able to elaborate on that.


You have mentioned twice now about having difficulty coping with change, this will ony be of help if the OP has made this part of his original claim,.

If I were you, I wouldnt go today, full stop. Why? Nothing is worth going through mental torture, nothing. At least that's the way I think.I would go tell how I feel to a doctor and subsequently apply for hardship payment while ESA claim is sorted out. That's the way I feel, all I'm saying is you wrote you have been waiting for over a year for this tribunal hearing. The fact that you still need evidence might go against you. That's just me, that's how I would feel if I was in your situation.

Please take care of yourself

Not going to the tribunal is not going to solve the OP's problems, they are still going to have to attend at sometime and to keep putting it off can put extra strain on a person. OP you have had time to gather extra supporting evidence , do you have any? Is there actually any other supporting evidence?
From what i have read the tribunals are not has bad as people anticipate, and come out feeling better than when they went in.

In the end the descision is yours alone, will you sleep easier tonight if you don't go, or will you sleep better knowing that you have attended and had chance to explain your health issues face to face.

sh1981

Poppie68 wrote: »

You have mentioned twice now about having difficulty coping with change, this will ony be of help if the OP has made this part of his original claim.

Thanks for pointing out the fact that I mentioned coping with change twice. It does not matter what the OP did in his/her original claim. Change of cirumstances happen and are accommodated for all the time.

Poppie68 wrote: »

Not going to the tribunal is not going to solve the OP's problems, they are still going to have to attend at sometime and to keep putting it off can put extra strain on a person. OP you have had time to gather extra supporting evidence , do you have any? Is there actually any other supporting evidence?
From what i have read the tribunals are not has bad as people anticipate, and come out feeling better than when they went in.

That is most certainly very debatable. I have in person heard and well, read, quite a few stories of how a tribunal could be as cold as ATOS.

juk1

Thank you all for your replies and help. I managed to get hold of someone from my local council welfare rights and they will be attending with me today. They will be asking for an adjournment with me due to lack of supporting evidence and also the fact that apparently I do not have all the documentation required as I can not find it all . He has already called the esa tribunal service to advise them that we will be attending and requesting an adjournment. I just hope I can manage to stay awake for that long now!

Indie_Kid

sh1981 wrote: »

Thanks for pointing out the fact that I mentioned coping with change twice. It does not matter what the OP did in his/her original claim. Change of cirumstances happen and are accommodated for all the time.

But the tribunal will only take into account how the OP was at the time.

Poppie68

sh1981 wrote: »

Thanks for pointing out the fact that I mentioned coping with change twice. It does not matter what the OP did in his/her original claim. Change of cirumstances happen and are accommodated for all the time.



That is most certainly very debatable. I have in person heard and well, read, quite a few stories of how a tribunal could be as cold as ATOS.

I pointed it out because the tribunal will only take into account the information included on the form and the claimants condition at the time of applying..

As for the second point being debatable! Very rarely do we hear on MSE of the positive cases as people come on here for help and advice and rarely come on to tell us their positive accounts with ATOs etc, but there are some such posts for people that want to do a search.

rds60h

Poppie68 wrote: »

I pointed it out because the tribunal will only take into account the information included on the form and the claimants condition at the time of applying..

As for the second point being debatable! Very rarely do we hear on MSE of the positive cases as people come on here for help and advice and rarely come on to tell us their positive accounts with ATOs etc, but there are some such posts for people that want to do a search.

I have attended 2 Tribunals one for ESA and one for DLA, I did report back on here how they went and how I was treated.
If you haven't seen it then I can inform you that I had the DWP decisions overturned on both cases.
The Tribunals were scary in that I did not know what to expect but the panel on both occassions were not intimidating in the way they asked their questions and were quite happy to stop and have breaks as and when I needed.
On both of my Tribunals the panel consisted of 3 people, that is the Judge and 2 others, in fact I had the same Judge both times although the other people were all different and in the case of the DLA Tribunal one of the panel was a lady in a wheelchair.
Obviously this is only my experience, but if most Tribunals follow the same procedures then I would say that you really don't have a lot to worry about.
I did have an Advocate with me who helped out if I was struggling but the panel were more interested in wanting to hear what I had to say. I had waited almost 2 years for the Tribunals and if the panel asked me a question about something that had happen 2 years ago and I could not remember then I told them so. I feel that if you are truthful but as thorough as you can be then there should be very little problem at a Tribunal.

Morglin

sh1981 wrote: »

Thanks for pointing out the fact that I mentioned coping with change twice. It does not matter what the OP did in his/her original claim. Change of cirumstances happen and are accommodated for all the time.



That is most certainly very debatable. I have in person heard and well, read, quite a few stories of how a tribunal could be as cold as ATOS.

A tribunal cannot make any decisions based on how a claimant has changed, from the date of the claim, because it is the original decision being challenged, and nothing else.

Tribunals are usually fine, because they are independent. The fear is much worse than the reality of attending.

Lin