Dla tribunal papers arrived

Jox wrote:

i dont suppose i would be able to represent her? she is very shy and timid, if somebody is to say something like " i think your able to do that" because she is so timid and dosent like confrontation she is likey to just agree with them and not stand up for her self, i have pretty much filled in all her forms and have a very good understanding of her disablity, she is my best friend of over 20 years.

First thing i think is go have a good read of all the paper work and make notes of things that are unfair and or should be brought up on the day.

Hi,

Anyone can attend and either represent or just be there for support. I don't wish any disrespect to you whatsoever, but a bad or very inexperienced rep can sometimes hinder a case, so please do be very careful in that respect. Also what you might see as unfair may actually be within the law or previously decided by such as Commissioners Decisions, so having knowledge of such matters is invaluable.

The tribunal panel will also want to address their questions to the appellant and want the appellant to answer. The tribunal, although a court of law, is quite a relaxed situation. There are no judges in wigs and gowns as some people perceive. There is a panel of three members, The Judge (formerley called the Chairman) who presides, a Doctor and a disability qualified member who is either a disabled person or a person who has a good knowledge of disability matters.

Their is nothing to stop you just being there in support of your friend though. In fact a lot of people actually feel better just having a friend there for support and no actual representative.

It maybe wise to try to obtain some professional representation to at least go through the case papers before the tribunal and draft a precis of the case so your friend is aware of the strengths/weaknesses of the case.

Pete

Edit,
Just to add, the role of the tribunal panel is inquisitory as opposed to adversarial. In that respect they are not trying 'to trip up' the appellant just to establish the care and/or mobility needs.

Manny thanks for the advice,i will arrange for her to see an advisor at her local CAB, and take it from there.

Hi Jox, You could also try your local council offices for WRO, I know that there are cuts gong on etc but you may be able to get an appointment with a WRO. Best Wishes

Thanks for the input jeff i will try that route also.

What do the trinunal actualy use to make their dession? Im just trying to make sense of it all,

The dwp for both mobility and care reffer to this esa medicle from 2009 when they give their dession.

There are reason one we wouldl disagree with the dession if it was based on the esa medicle along but even if we disrgared that when making the next point,If my friend now gose to the tribunal and tells them that her problems and needs have increased since that medicle, and has 2 seperate doctors saying her condition has got worse since and also back up what she is saying regarding she cant walk anydistance without pain and needs help getting dressed etc.

Can the tribunal disgegard this new evidence from her doctors and new information from her self, like the dwp seem to have done?

I just cant make sense of of it at all, she is telling them she in unable to take a single step,she cant bare anyweight on her legs etc plus 2 seprate doctors backing up what she is saying yet they still choose to use the esa medicle thats nearly 2 years old as the determing factor and refrence to medicle evidence in their dession, to me thats fundametaly just wrong i feel like im missing something.i do not understand how they can do that, now im worried the tribunal will do the same thing.

The tribunal can accept evidence that wasn't originally supplied to the DWP, but they can only accept evidence as to the claimant's condition at the time of the original claim. If a claimant's condition has worsened, they need to notify the DWP of that, so that their claim can be reviewed from the point at which the condition worsened.

hi

The evidence she sumited stating her condition had got worse was submited at the time the original dession was made on her renewal.

In september 2010 when she had a reconsideration she told them that her condition had got worse and mobility and care needs had increased over the last 12 months, with this letter she submited a letter from her consultant who also stated her condition had deteriated over the last 12months.

how can they then use a medicle report thats 18 months old to base their dession on after shes just told them her conditon got worse and her mobility and care needs increased after the time of the said medicle?

is that not an error in law?