PIP Tribunal Appeal no DWP response yet

acharris

Hi, need some help. My mother got refused her PIP as she had to change from DLA. She was awarded 0 points, did a mandatory review still 0 points. So we went to the appeal Tribunal.

Submitted appeal and was told DWP had till November 26 to respond. It is now Jan 18 and still no response according to the tracker site. They say that there is no need to contact them as the court did it, but her DLA stopped back in August and no she is in Limbo and getting stressed,

Can we contact anyone or is it normal to wait this long for DWP to respond to a tribunal request. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Anthony

poppy12345

acharris wrote: »

Hi, need some help. My mother got refused her PIP as she had to change from DLA. She was awarded 0 points, did a mandatory review still 0 points. So we went to the appeal Tribunal.

Submitted appeal and was told DWP had till November 26 to respond. It is now Jan 18 and still no response according to the tracker site. They say that there is no need to contact them as the court did it, but her DLA stopped back in August and no she is in Limbo and getting stressed,

Can we contact anyone or is it normal to wait this long for DWP to respond to a tribunal request. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Anthony

They very often don't respond when they should but the hearing will still go ahead. All you can do is wait.

Alice_Holt

As poppy said it is, unfortunately, a waiting game.

The Tribunal Service (TS) will issue a notice directing the DWP to produce their evidence by a set date. If the DWP fail to comply, then the tribunal can be held regardless.
Any lack of DWP evidence may well help you mother's case.

The important thing is to submit your statement and evidence. This is a good guide:
https://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-win-pip-appeal

Go through the PIP descriptors and explain why and how the relevant points apply:
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system

Evidence can be obtained through your mum's medical notes:
https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/about-the-nhs/how-to-access-your-health-records/
And letters from carers / family / friends confirming the care given in relation to the PIP activities.

You can request a copy of the assessment - this should aid you in putting together a statement.

Once this has been submitted, you could try writing the tribunal pointing out any health difficulties / stress experienced due to the delay caused by the DWP (but don't cite money); and request that the tribunal proceeds without further delay. But, that is rather a long shot - if you do this, be careful to phrase the letter in a way that backs up your submission.

Are you getting help with the appeal?

NedS

In my recent case, I waited 9 months for DWP to respond to HMCTS, during which time I was constantly chasing HMCTS to advise of a hearing date. Even when instructed by a tribunal judge to respond within 7 days, DWP took another 2 months to reply, and their response was they needed more time as their legal dept needed to look at it. Eventually, after 9 months, legal looked at it and made an immediate decision in my favour and let the appeal lapse. My case was a clear cut legal decision, rather than a subjective one such as a DLA/PIP ESA health assessment, but I would expect to wait 12 months for a court date.

Alice_Holt

NedS wrote: »

In my recent case, I waited 9 months for DWP to respond to HMCTS, during which time I was constantly chasing HMCTS to advise of a hearing date... My case was a clear cut legal decision, rather than a subjective one such as a DLA/PIP ESA health assessment

In these cases, and with the help of your local advice agency, this can be a good tactic:
https://cpag.org.uk/welfare-rights/judicial-review/judicial-review-pre-action-letters

The advantage being that it gets it directly to the DWP legal team, who have a deadline to respond to this legal procedure.

NedS

Alice_Holt wrote: »

In these cases, and with the help of your local advice agency, this can be a good tactic:
https://cpag.org.uk/welfare-rights/judicial-review/judicial-review-pre-action-letters

The advantage being that it gets it directly to the DWP legal team, who have a deadline to respond to this legal procedure.

Thank you Alice. I was unaware of this approach at the time but hopefully this advice may help someone else in a similar position.