Tribunal & Legal Challenges - Flawed PIP Assessment

Hello MDBond,

Still upset on your behalf. Actually, this is exactly the sort of treatment you would be subjected to in a court (I know from previous experience), which is why I was terrified of going to a tribunal. A tribunal is just another legal arena, so a "court" by a different name.

Still hoping the outcome will be better than you expect.

Best wishes,

Wendy

Hi MDBond

It’s good to hear you feel better about going forward. I’m no expert by a long shot having only ever had one pip assessment which I scraped thru with minimum award. But with another impending I’m putting in the hard yards in preparing this time round hence all my questions here. It’s great to have found this site and the help and advice here.

My only advice is not pip related but to say to try and take a bit of time for you. It’s hard to look at things when angry and upset and unless you can find a way to park it for a short time it won’t help your health, which is easier said than done.

Good luck.

Hi BIS

Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words and all the nice messages everyone has posted

Really appreciate that you tried to look into how long the panels sit. It was obvious that they were all very familiar with each other. At one point, the female doctor yelled across to the disability guy "She was given that medication to stop her period!" Shocking, tactless and so unprofessional. She was also wrong as I butted in and told her/him that was not why I had been given that certain medication, and they both shut up, obviously because they didn't know how to respond to being told they were wrong about my medical condition/history.

It makes it really hard to see how they're independent, because they're not independent of each other, and the DWP lady who was there also seemed to be a permanent fixture as she stayed to pick on the next applicant who I met in the waiting room. How can they say there's true independence at these Tribunals? Just seems a bit too close for my liking, and a bit murky that we can't find out who these panels are. There needs to be far more transparency and accountability around them I think.

Yes I agree the financial questions were intrusive and unnecessary. It's none of their business what I'm living on, and that was the exact question asked. I never said I didn't work, just that I struggled to work full time hours. And it's quite nasty, to have them trying to prove I'm lying, when I've got a crippling illness that has basically ruined my life, and I've got the diagnosis and lots of letters re surgeries to prove it.

Yes a big thank you to LL26, who seems to know their onions when it comes to all the legalities!

Thanks for all your well wishes, I really am trying to rest/take my mind off it. I hope to do some swimming this week as well.

Hi BIS

I just found this on a recent news story on this website, apparently there's a new recruitment drive for Tribunal panel members, namely those with experience of disability

The number of sitting days specialist members are expected to commit to varies depending on the cases they hear, and will generally be at least 15 days a year. Tribunal Members are normally appointed for five years initially and will usually have their appointment renewed for further periods provided that they are still willing to serve and considered to be competent.

So what if a Tribunal member is incompetent? Where/how can they be reported and by whom? Answers on a postcard please

Morning MDBond,

Just a line to say that I'm thinking about you and really appreciate your updates to your claim process. I understand that, just now, it must be extremely hard to justify all that you have put yourself through, but hope that by the end of all of this you will have thought it worthwhile.

I am keeping everything crossed for you and others like you who find yourselves in this ridiculous situation, which, in a lot of cases, has been brought about by a system that can allow, a 'lesser qualified 'Health Professional' to overrule or ignore the opinions of experts, ignore the evidence provided by the claimant, (form filling and comprehension being supplied by differing levels of competency - some people being better as describing the impacts on everyday than others), and increasing anxiety levels due to the processes that claimants are forced to endure, in some cases anxiety that was never a problem before! - no clear timescales/insufficient telephone line service that is undermanned, leaving you waiting for 40 minutes plus - sometimes cutting you off/call staff that will confirm something one day that is contradicted another, reports/letters that seem to take a week to leave the building or are never received, therefore limiting timescales to prepare for next stages etc, Assessors that have clearly not read any of your claim paperwork or evidence and then, in my opinion, the biggest barrier of all to our claims - Assessors with no knowledge of the disability.

So I'm thanking you, you should be extremely proud of yourself because without people being prepared to take it all of the way, like yourself, our voices and the shortfallings of this process will never be heard or recorded.

I hope you find some strength in all of the replies/support you have received, and I'm sure will continue to receive, again good luck x

On the subject of being neurodiverse. My assessor told me that there is a 'variant' where the person is very empathetic as well as autistic.
So the common assumption/belief that empathy and autism are mutually exclusive is wrong. As is the belief that eye contact is impossible... Useful info!