Pip/ Tribunal Date

Muttleythefrog

pope said:

NedS said:

pope said:

Beeblebr0x said:

Best to take a friend with you. The tribunal will appreciate that it's a stressful time for most people.

Will the tribunal ask the friend/partner questions I have written in my form I get supported by my partner?

That's up to the tribunal, but generally their questions will be directed at you.

When I have assisted my partner at previous tribunals, they have very clearly set out at the beginning their expectations of what will happen and that they'd like to hear directly from my partner if possible, and said they will give me an opportunity to speak at the end if there's anything further I would like to add. In other words, they were telling me they wanted to hear from my partner and did not want me constantly answering for them.

All I have done is assist my partner if they became distressed or found it difficult to answer, but I generally tried to support them to answer for themselves rather than answer for them. It's important they hear it from you.

It's their show, they make the rules and in my experience they will explain to you how it's going to work at the outset, so just go with the flow. Just remember, they are there to help you and they know what they are doing

My situation is a bit different my partner does not speak English very fluently. Also long was you in the tribunal hearing for approximately?

Just to quickly say... try not to be too worried... they ultimately tend to be very keen to accurately do their job fairly. Unfortunately the tribunal length could vary enormously.. we've seen cases where the tribunal was effectively ended before it began because the panel felt they had enough information not to even bother with calling the claimant in to the tribunal room (i.e. they spent zero time in the tribunal) while awarding what they expected... that's one extreme... the other is it could last like assessments themselves of variably length from minutes to well over an hour. The questions they ask.. again... it comes down to individual cases and what they feel they need to explore for facts. Ultimately they should take you very seriously as a witness.. a provider of evidence and it is less likely they'll be asking question of anyone with you.

To quote Ned above... I really do agree "It's their show, they make the rules".... aside from obviously having to apply the law (benefit rules)... ultimately it is their show and they'll figure out how best to do it.

Good luck..!

HillStreetBlues

Muttleythefrog said:

Just to quickly say... try not to be too worried... they ultimately tend to be very keen to accurately do their job fairly. Unfortunately the tribunal length could vary enormously.. we've seen cases where the tribunal was effectively ended before it began because the panel felt they had enough information not to even bother with calling the claimant in to the tribunal room (i.e. they spent zero time in the tribunal) while awarding what they expected... that's one extreme... the other is it could last like assessments themselves of variably length from minutes to well over an hour. The questions they ask.. again... it comes down to individual cases and what they feel they need to explore for facts. Ultimately they should take you very seriously as a witness.. a provider of evidence and it is less likely they'll be asking question of anyone with you.

To quote Ned above... I really do agree "It's their show, they make the rules".... aside from obviously having to apply the law (benefit rules)... ultimately it is their show and they'll figure out how best to do it.

Good luck..!

I totally agree with how much information they have and the more that supports the claim normally the easier it is.

Newcad

Muttleythefrog said:

 we've seen cases where the tribunal was effectively ended before it began because the panel felt they had enough information not to even bother with calling the claimant in to the tribunal room (i.e. they spent zero time in the tribunal) while awarding what they expected

My own tribunal (for ESA not PIP) was like that.
When I walked into the room they had already made their decision in my favour, it had been typed up by the clerk while they waited, and was sat on the table waiting for me.
They only called me in because although it was obvious (to everyone except the DWP Decision Maker at that time) that I qualified for ESA they knew very little about my particular condition, it's rare and fairly unknown and they wanted to ask me more about how it affects people in case they came across it again.
Showing that they are interested in how people are affected by their conditions, and in awarding the benefit that is due.

Muddy_Walker

Pope I could kiss you for this post! I have been waiting over a year for my tribunal date and it’s next Friday. Obviously I am now stressing like mad about it (doesn’t everyone) and will be spending the BH going through alllllllllll the paperwork again. I have found the entire thing very stressful and it did (still does) bring me very low as it reminds me how much I lost energy and abled body wise from only a few years ago.
However I shall pull up my big person pants, take a deep breath and try not to waffle. I have a rare type of cancer that is incurable but liveable with and lots of horrible extra things which have, in short, brought me to my knees. Anyway this isn’t about me but about you and I will keep my fingers crossed 😊
Ive bookmarked your thread to see how you get on.

MW