Successful appeal

Wanted to let you know the my partner's, appeal, which took place on 18 Nov last year, was successful.

Unfortunately, after the appeal her condition (very severe daily headaches) worsened, which meant I haven't been able to post earlier. However, I'm pleased to say that her condition is now somewhat better.

We had some assistance from our local benefits advice service but by the time we discovered its existence, I had already prepared much of the documentation for the appeal and, in doing so, I found B+W's publications invaluable.

First, it allowed me to discover Regulation 29 on exceptional circumstances which we used as the basis for our appeal. Second, B+W's suggestion that it might be helpful to submit a written summary of the case to the Tribunal was one we followed and I produced what I thought was a powerful two-page summary consisting (at B+W's suggestion) of numbered paragraphs.

On the day of the hearing my partner felt pretty ill. But she was determined to have her day in court, so to speak. However, travelling makes her headaches much worse and the journey to the tribunal left her in a terrible state. Indeed, she was so ill that she was able to stay in the tribunal for less than 10 minutes before having to leave the room. However, the tribunal felt it had gathered enough evidence to find in her favour. I suspect that a combination of good quality evidence submitted to the Tribunal and the fact that my partner was so clearly very unwell swung the day.

The judge at the tribunal had a word in private with our representative from the local benefits advice office and I get the impression that he somewhat rapped her over the knuckles for not requesting a "domicillary hearing". That was the first time I even knew any such hearing was possible!

I'm afraid I don't have access to the judgement at the moment but I will say that, even though I'm used to reading quite complex documents, I found it pretty inpenetrable. But it was in our favour, so what the heck!

Finally, I'll say that I found this forum incredibly helpful during preparation for the Tribunal. I had a specific question about whether there was a definition of "mental disability" and the reponses I got were really helpful. Having access to such expertize was so valuable.

I have to say that, when it came to the appeal, my subscription to B+W was the best £20 or so I ever spent.

Many thanks for all you do.

Hi, congratulations to you and your wife and I'm really pleased she is a little better now.

Best wishes,
Rachel

Sorry, should have said it was an ESA appeal!

Congratulations to you & yor partner - a particulary hard fought campaign. Hope your partner's health continues to improve.
Best wishes
maggie