Appeal advice please

Hi All,

I have my DLA appeal being re-called this week after it was postponed in Dec waiting an EMP report.

My paperwork runs to 2 full to the gunnels ring binders(4" thick ones. I have split the paperwork one binder contains all from the department ie their submissions/EMP report/their chosen commissioners decisions, and the other contains all my submissions my chosen commissioners reports and my medical evidence.

Q...Do most people appear at the tribunal with this much paperwork ?

My husband is representing me, and I am aware that after the initial into, the LQM asks if we would like to say anything.

I feel that it would be helpful to me if I knew where I stood at the start with the tribunal. A lot of paperwork has been sent and a lot of explanations have already been put on paper including a request to ask the tribunal to deem the EMP report "unfit for purpose"(I have strong medical evidence from a consultant and my own GP which supports me with this request).

Q.....Do you think it would be acceptable for my husband to give a brief outline of my relevent evidence at this stage, and then ask the tribunal to outline exactly what still needs to be addressed or ansered by me.

If I am asked to take them through a typical day, I will sit and cry my eyes out, feel sorry for myself and be at a complete disadvantage.(all of this has been already put on paper)

So how do we try and steer the tribunal to ask me direct questions where I can then give them direct explanations to, which should'nt be a problem for me ?

As usual, any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Kathy x

kathy1 wrote:

Hi All,

I have my DLA appeal being re-called this week after it was postponed in Dec waiting an EMP report.

My paperwork runs to 2 full to the gunnels ring binders(4" thick ones. I have split the paperwork one binder contains all from the department ie their submissions/EMP report/their chosen commissioners decisions, and the other contains all my submissions my chosen commissioners reports and my medical evidence.

Q...Do most people appear at the tribunal with this much paperwork ?

My husband is representing me, and I am aware that after the initial into, the LQM asks if we would like to say anything.

I feel that it would be helpful to me if I knew where I stood at the start with the tribunal. A lot of paperwork has been sent and a lot of explanations have already been put on paper including a request to ask the tribunal to deem the EMP report "unfit for purpose"(I have strong medical evidence from a consultant and my own GP which supports me with this request).

Q.....Do you think it would be acceptable for my husband to give a brief outline of my relevent evidence at this stage, and then ask the tribunal to outline exactly what still needs to be addressed or ansered by me.

If I am asked to take them through a typical day, I will sit and cry my eyes out, feel sorry for myself and be at a complete disadvantage.(all of this has been already put on paper)

So how do we try and steer the tribunal to ask me direct questions where I can then give them direct explanations to, which should'nt be a problem for me ?

As usual, any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Kathy x

You need to bear in mind that boards like this can never provide advice to individual claimants about their specific circumstances, for that you need to use an advice agency.

All we can offer is general information about how the system works.

We cannot offer advice to individuals about a specific benefits problem under any circumstances. To give accurate and reliable advice about a specific benefits problem, we'd need to know a great deal about your income, savings, health, household arrangements and more. To give advice without all this information would seriously risk misinforming you.

If you need specific benefits advice, you can download our FREE, 12 page guide to getting help with your benefits.

Hi Crazydiamond,

I consider my wrists slapped lol, but I wasnt asking advice from the moderators about my specific benefit.

I was asking All, especially those with memory of recent tribunals about when would be the best time for my husband who is representing me at the appeal to give a brief outline of my case and evidence, and would this time be at the start of the appeal hearing when we are asked if there is anything we would like to say. Also, my amount of paperwork that I will be bringing with me, how does this compare to the amount others have brought and is it more appropriate to bring all.

I have already presented all my specifics to the tribunal and i wouldnt require any advice on my individual claim it was more a case of how do I lead the tribunal to what I feel needs to be addressed and when would be the best time to do it that I was looking opinion on from anyone in the forum.

Hope this explains better.

Kathy x

kathy1 wrote:

Hi Crazydiamond,

I consider my wrists slapped lol, but I wasnt asking advice from the moderators about my specific benefit.

I was asking All, especially those with memory of recent tribunals about when would be the best time for my husband who is representing me at the appeal to give a brief outline of my case and evidence, and would this time be at the start of the appeal hearing when we are asked if there is anything we would like to say. Also, my amount of paperwork that I will be bringing with me, how does this compare to the amount others have brought and is it more appropriate to bring all.

I have already presented all my specifics to the tribunal and i wouldnt require any advice on my individual claim it was more a case of how do I lead the tribunal to what I feel needs to be addressed and when would be the best time to do it that I was looking opinion on from anyone in the forum.

Hope this explains better.

Kathy x

In general from my experience, and I have been to many hearings over the years as an appellant, the tribunal will direct the questions at you rather than your husband as your representative. Representatives especially laypersons as opposed to experienced representatives, play no more than a passive role.

The line of questioning is invariably decided by the judge, but you should be given the opportunity to fully explain your circumstances to the tribunal. I found that this usually happened at the end of the formal questions from the panel.

Insofar as the volume of paperwork is concerned, in the end I had four arch lever files when attending tribunals, so I wouldn't be worried about the copious volumes of documents. The tribunal are supposed to read all the evidence in advance of the hearing, however I found that they either did but they couldn't remember it, or more alarmingly in some cases, just didn't bother! This was particularly the case when I appeared before tribunal number thirteen, dealing with the same appeal.

I hope this helps.

Thanks Crazydiamond,

puts my mind a bit at ease about the amount of paperwork i will be bringing especially.

Flippin heck, you have certainly been thru the mill with this amount of tribunals fair play to you for continuing on.

Kathy x

kathy1 wrote:

Thanks Crazydiamond,

puts my mind a bit at ease about the amount of paperwork i will be bringing especially.

Flippin heck, you have certainly been thru the mill with this amount of tribunals fair play to you for continuing on.

Kathy x

It was a completely unnecessary ordeal caused by extremely incompetent appeal tribunals. Moreover, it had an extremely serious impact on my state of health causing severe depression.