dla appeal

i have my appeal in front of a tribunal this saturday i am petrified i cant eat sleep ect my cbt psycharist says i shouldnt worry and just to tell them how it is
in the medical report form the atos dr my name or ni number is not on any pages and the dwp asked my Gp for information on a condition that i never stated i had
i have asked for the report not to be used as a basis for dla not being awarded the atos dr contridicts himself on a few occasions should i still point this out to the tribunal i am not being represented by anyone my sister will be accompany me and she is as nervous as me about it i am worried that i will not be able to explain to the panel how my disabilty affects me on a daily basis i feel like just not going to it as i am finding it hard to cope at the moment
what should i do to prepare myself what sort of lists should i have with me what questions will i be asked
any help would be greatly recieved thanks

If you have any evidence that you want to present that's not in the bundle, you can ask the tribunal to look at it, and you should consider taking five copies of it with you.

When you get to the tribunal and the chair asks you questions, there is no reason why you shouldn't point out where you think questions asked of your GP are irrelevant and there is no reason why you shouldn't draw attention to any contradictions in the Atos report.

I'd suggest that at the very least you draw up a list of the things you most want to mention, perhaps using your post here as a starting point, so that you will be prepared when you go in.

The tribunal will be used to people not having formal representation. Don't despair - remember the case you put forward on your application for DLA.

sammi1966uk wrote:

i have my appeal in front of a tribunal this saturday i am petrified i cant eat sleep ect my cbt psycharist says i shouldnt worry and just to tell them how it is
in the medical report form the atos dr my name or ni number is not on any pages and the dwp asked my Gp for information on a condition that i never stated i had
i have asked for the report not to be used as a basis for dla not being awarded the atos dr contridicts himself on a few occasions should i still point this out to the tribunal i am not being represented by anyone my sister will be accompany me and she is as nervous as me about it i am worried that i will not be able to explain to the panel how my disabilty affects me on a daily basis i feel like just not going to it as i am finding it hard to cope at the moment
what should i do to prepare myself what sort of lists should i have with me what questions will i be asked
any help would be greatly recieved thanks

My husband Jim who's also a moderator, but offline today sat on DLA Tribunals for just over 10 years, and I was his carer.

If your name or N.I. is not on any of the pages of the ATOS medical report, it's quite possible that the tribunal will refuse to accept it as a valid document.

Most DLA appeals are won not because of any new evidence given on the day of the hearing, but what the appellant tells the tribunal on the day. If your sister is going with you, then she'll be allowed to speak to support your claim, or even act as a witness for you.

Please try not to worry, tribunal members are used to dealing with nervous appellants
and I can assure you that the hearings are very informal. The tribunal will want to ask you questions, but your sister will be allowed to speak also.

Good luck.

Pat

thanks for your replies im so worried about saturday
will the panel know that i won on appeal last time by a unanimous decision getting awarded hrc and hrm shall i mention it or not? i just want it all over and done with i am getting myself in such a state about it

They should be aware of this as it should be in the case bundle, unless the decision was a long time ago. Is it in your case bundle ?

In the unlikely event that it's not, then inform the tribunal. However, tribunals are not bound by a previous decision of a tribunal, they will their own decision on the day of the hearing. It's impossible to predict if they'll award you HRM & HRC.

Again, good luck.

Pat