DLA Tribunal / Assistance

jamesb1239

Hi,
I am just looking for a little advice if possible, for approximately two years I was in receipt of DLA for my son who at the time was undiagnosed. The claim came up for renewal and at the same time he recieved a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The renewal was declined mainly because of a telephone call that the people at DLA had with the headteacher where she provided information that directly contradicted what his class teacher was saying. I submitted a mandatory reconsideration outlining this as well as disputing the other claims that the decision maker had made which was also declined. At this point I submitted my request for it to be referred to tribunal.

Anyway enough backstory, yesterday I recieved the full report from the team that diagnosed my son which makes reference to a number of the things that I put on the original claim form which the decision maker disputed and I was wondering do I send this to DLA even though they have already said no to both the renewal and the mandatory reconsideration or do I just wait and submit it to the tribunals service and the relevant time? I thought it was the latter however I was speaking to somebody who has a little more experience with this kind of thing (although not in any professional capacity) and they said that I should forward anything that supports the case on to DLA as they can change their mind at any point before the tribunal and decide to award.
Also am I able to rely on the report at tribunal as it is evidence that wasn't available to DLA at the time of making their decision?

I know there are a lot of extremely knowledgable people on here so thought I would make a post to ask the best course of action as to be quite honest it all confuses me.

Thank you in advance

James

[Deleted User]

You've been informed correctly, they can and frequently do change their mind up until the tribunal. Send them a copy ASAP, send it to the tribunal too.

Alice_Holt

Any evidence you submit to the Tribunal Service (TS), will be received by the DWP as a matter of course.
All parties to the hearing receive all the tribunal evidence and paperwork.

In my experience the DWP rarely change their decision between the MR stage and the tribunal hearing.

I would suggest that you concentrate on preparing your case and evidence for submission to the TS.
Personally, I wouldn't send it separately to the DWP.

This is a useful guide to DLA appeals:
http://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-win-dla-appeal

The National Autistic Society also has useful info:
http://www.autism.org.uk/about/benefits-care/appeals.aspx
http://www.autism.org.uk/about/benefits-care/benefits/children/dla-children.aspx

Good luck. You will find the tribunal panel will look at your son's eligibility much more carefully and thoroughly than the DWP at MR stage.
They are likely to concentrate on the care needs of your son, and whether these are substantially greater than other children of the same age. It's a good idea to have a diary detailing the frequency and duration of your son's care needs, so you can then fully explain this to the tribunal panel.

jamesb1239

Thank you for your replies so far. The request for a tribunal was only submitted within the last month so I guess that I will have quite a wait yet from what I have read elsewhere. I will have a read through the links provided as I will be the first to admit I haven't a clue what to expect from the tribunal and what I need to do in preparation for it. I have a few more reports/letters and outcomes of referrals that I am awaiting to further reinforce my case. Is it correct that I cannot rely on anything at tribunal that wasn't available to DWP at the time of their decision? Such as the report recieved and any further reports/letters that arrive before the eventual tribunal day.

Thanks again

Alice_Holt

jamesb1239 wrote: »

. Is it correct that I cannot rely on anything at tribunal that wasn't available to DWP at the time of their decision?

No.
The tribunal are reviewing the decision the DWP made. You need to provide all the evidence you can to show that their decision was wrong. Evidence could come from GP's, other health care professionals, your son's class teacher, other family members, etc.
Your oral evidence will also be very important. If you didn't opt for a oral hearing on the SSCS1 form, then contact the TS and request it now.
Any written evidence and your written statement outlining why your son should be awarded DLA needs to be with the Tribunal Service at least 10 days before the hearing date.
The tribunal will be looking at your son's condition and care needs on the date that the DWP decision was made.
The tribunal will decide on the weight and credibility of the evidence before them (again including your verbal evidence on the day). You need to give the tribunal sufficient evidence to persuade them that the DWP decision (and associated evidence) is incorrect.

If you completed the SSCS1 form last month, then I think you need to start this process now.
At the very least you should familiarise yourself with the DLA criteria and the appeal procedures. The wait for a hearing may be shorter than you think.

Can you get help from your local CAB / advice agency? If you intend to do this, then do it now as CAB's are always very busy and you can expect a wait for an appointment.

jamesb1239

Thank you for your response. The person that advised me to request a tribunal didn't mention any of this, I was just told that I would have a 12-18 month wait before I got a tribunal date and that I just turn up on the day and tell them about my son and why I disagree with the DWP's decision. As well as providing any reports to them beforehand. I have some free time later today so I will read up on what needs to be done as well as the links you provided yesterday. I hadn't considered CAB and will definitely give this some consideration. Thank you again

Alice_Holt

In this area, once the SSCS1 has been done the hearing generally follows in about 10 weeks or so.

You will receive the evidence bundle from the DWP first, having reviewed that you can write to the TS explaining (briefly) any errors / incorrect assumptions made by the DWP in coming to their decision together with your evidence which contradicts the DWP case.

jamesb1239

Alice_Holt wrote: »

In this area, once the SSCS1 has been done the hearing generally follows in about 10 weeks or so.

You will receive the evidence bundle from the DWP first, having reviewed that you can write to the TS explaining (briefly) any errors / incorrect assumptions made by with DWP in coming to their decision together with your evidence which contradicts the DWP case.

Thank you, as yet I haven't recieved anything from the DWP, the only thing that has been recieved so far is a letter from the Tribunal Service telling me that they have recieved the form. I did tick on the form that I would like an oral hearing, however looking over the form it states that if I wish to attend then the tribunal can be held in my local tribunal centre, so I need to give them a call to ensure that they are planning an oral hearing unless it is normal for the response letter to say that. I really appreciate all of your help.

Alice_Holt

That's a standard letter. The hearing will be held locally.

jamesb1239

Alice_Holt wrote: »

That's a standard letter. The hearing will be held locally.

Thank you.