Universal Credit Tribunal irregularity

NE12

My wife had a Universal Credit fit for work tribunal on the 31st March 2021, which was refused. 

I wrote a letter to the judge asking for a written reasons why it was refused, and today my wife noticed she'd got an email saying a decision was made on the appeal, and we'd get a letter by the 13th August.  Anyway shortly after two brown envolopes arrived.  

It said: I referred the application to the duty judge, who has decided to set aside the decision the tribunal made on the 31/03/2021. 

The appeal will be heard by a new tribunal.  I will arrange a date for the appeal hearing shortly. 

It says on the next page the reason why it's been set aside is this.

The Tribunal considers it appropriate to set aside the decision, as there has been a procedural irregularity in the proceedings.  The Appelant was awarded 9 points for mental health descriptors and whislt the Tribunal accepted these points, the appeal decision was refused, rather than confirmed. 

What exactly does all this mean?  I know that in her initial assessement she was awarded 9 points for not being able to go out without the assistance of someone else. 

Are they saying she should have won her appeal, but they mistakenly refused it rather than confirming it?

And if so why make her go through it all again, rather than just confirm it like they said they should have done. 

We're also unsure now, as she's already sent off a new UC50 for a new fit for work assessement, and just waiting to hear back from that.  she's now got both of these going on at the same time.

poppy12345

NE12 said:

My wife had a Universal Credit fit for work tribunal on the 31st March 2021, which was refused. 

I wrote a letter to the judge asking for a written reasons why it was refused, and today my wife noticed she'd got an email saying a decision was made on the appeal, and we'd get a letter by the 13th August.  Anyway shortly after two brown envolopes arrived.  

It said: I referred the application to the duty judge, who has decided to set aside the decision the tribunal made on the 31/03/2021. 

The appeal will be heard by a new tribunal.  I will arrange a date for the appeal hearing shortly. 

It says on the next page the reason why it's been set aside is this.

The Tribunal considers it appropriate to set aside the decision, as there has been a procedural irregularity in the proceedings.  The Appelant was awarded 9 points for mental health descriptors and whislt the Tribunal accepted these points, the appeal decision was refused, rather than confirmed. 

What exactly does all this mean?  I know that in her initial assessement she was awarded 9 points for not being able to go out without the assistance of someone else. 

Are they saying she should have won her appeal, but they mistakenly refused it rather than confirming it?

And if so why make her go through it all again, rather than just confirm it like they said they should have done. 

We're also unsure now, as she's already sent off a new UC50 for a new fit for work assessement, and just waiting to hear back from that.  she's now got both of these going on at the same time.

If a decision has been set aside then it means it's like the decision was never made. Therefore it means a new decision needs to be made by the first tier Tribunal so it needs to be sent back for this to happen.

Regarding the UC50 form, was fit notes sent because a worsening of an existing condition was reported? Ir was it because of a new condition?

NE12

poppy12345 said:

NE12 said:

My wife had a Universal Credit fit for work tribunal on the 31st March 2021, which was refused. 

I wrote a letter to the judge asking for a written reasons why it was refused, and today my wife noticed she'd got an email saying a decision was made on the appeal, and we'd get a letter by the 13th August.  Anyway shortly after two brown envolopes arrived.  

It said: I referred the application to the duty judge, who has decided to set aside the decision the tribunal made on the 31/03/2021. 

The appeal will be heard by a new tribunal.  I will arrange a date for the appeal hearing shortly. 

It says on the next page the reason why it's been set aside is this.

The Tribunal considers it appropriate to set aside the decision, as there has been a procedural irregularity in the proceedings.  The Appelant was awarded 9 points for mental health descriptors and whislt the Tribunal accepted these points, the appeal decision was refused, rather than confirmed. 

What exactly does all this mean?  I know that in her initial assessement she was awarded 9 points for not being able to go out without the assistance of someone else. 

Are they saying she should have won her appeal, but they mistakenly refused it rather than confirming it?

And if so why make her go through it all again, rather than just confirm it like they said they should have done. 

We're also unsure now, as she's already sent off a new UC50 for a new fit for work assessement, and just waiting to hear back from that.  she's now got both of these going on at the same time.

If a decision has been set aside then it means it's like the decision was never made. Therefore it means a new decision needs to be made by the first tier Tribunal so it needs to be sent back for this to happen.

Regarding the UC50 form, was fit notes sent because a worsening of an existing condition was reported? Ir was it because of a new condition?

Both worsening, and a new condition.

as for setting aside the decision.  have they not backed themselves into a corner by saying they should've confirmed rather than denied the appeal in the first place.  it would be laughable if we went through the tribunal again, and lost again.

calcotti

NE12 said:.. have they not backed themselves into a corner by saying they should've confirmed rather than denied the appeal in the first place. ..

Once the irregularity is noticed it throws the whole proceedings into doubt so a new hearing is needed. The new tribunal will make a fresh determination of the original decision but whatever they decide will be superseded by the decision on your changed circumstances.

NE12

This is what it said on the letter.  It's all pretty confusing, but it does also imply that they just threw out the appeal on the date of the hearing.

calcotti

Procedural irregularity.

Alice_Holt

NE12 said:

What exactly does all this mean?  I know that in her initial assessment she was awarded 9 points for not being able to go out without the assistance of someone else. 

Are they saying she should have won her appeal, but they mistakenly refused it rather than confirming it?

      It means that the decision of that tribunal has been set aside due to a procedural error by HMCTS.

      It means your wife will have a new tribunal hearing, where the tribunal panel will decide if the DWP decision to find your wife fit for work was correct or incorrect.


      This is what you need to do to prepare for the new hearing:

        - understand how the LCW points system works, understand the LCWRA descriptors, and how these apply to your wife at the date of the DWP decision;  

           https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Work-Capability-Assessment/Limited-Capability-for-Work-Related-Activity

       - write a statement explaining why and how your wife fits the relevant LCW / LCWRA descriptors and post to HMCTS 10 days before the hearing date;
        -  submit any helpful medical evidence;

       https://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-win-appeal-about-your-work-capability-assessment

      -  request to appear in person, so your wife can explain her difficulties to the panel;

     -  see if your local advice charity can help you, or even act as your wife's representative (if they have capacity). 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/contact-us/contact-us/


   Re your new application:   If your appeal is successful, then send a copy of the tribunal decision to the DWP and ask them to uphold that decision, and not override it with a new assessment.
      Again, see if your local advice charity can help you with this.


Edited: To reflect poppy's excellent point below.

poppy12345

In addition to Alice's advice. For the Tribunal hearing when you write the new statement on your wife's condition, you need to be aware that the Tribunal will only take into consideration what her condition was like when the original decision was made. Any worsening of condition will not be taken into consideration.

NE12

Can we take a guess at what the Procedural irregularity actually was? 

The first tribunal was by telephone, but when it started the tribunal had to postpone it because we'd not received documents in the post.  While it didnt last long, that was enough for my wife to not want to do it again, so she asked them to change it to paper based.

Alice_Holt

NE12 said:

Can we take a guess at what the Procedural irregularity actually was? 

      There is absolutely no point in worrying about that.

   However, it is very important that you and your wife prepare for the new hearing. It's your chance of getting the disputed DWP decision overturned.


   Do you understand the LCW and LCWRA descriptors and the LCW points system?

  How and why should your wife have been assessed as not fit for work?

  Have you looked at the links I supplied you with (in particular the advice now guide) ?    

poppy12345

NE12 said:

 so she asked them to change it to paper based.

This ^^ would not have helped. Paper based decision's at Tribunal stage have a less than 10% success rate. For the next hearing your wife needs to make sure she attends, regardless of whether this is in person or by telephone.

Please do look at the links provided because if you don't fully understand descriptors then you're going to find yourselves stuck in a vicious circle. It's also never to late to get representation... start here. https://advicelocal.uk/