Appeal tribunal next week

Hello everyone!

I have severe ME/CFS and was turned down for DLA with no medical back in June after applying in January.

To say I'm petrified would be an understatement!

My benefits advisor is no more as they were forced to close so I'm going it alone. My partner will be with me for physical/moral support and I'll inform them he is my primary carer so he can answer any questions if they ask him.

Although I subscribed to B&W before I got my DLA form through the post my benefits adviser was quite aloof and forceful and she insisted she fill in the form for me even though I wanted to follow the advice on here. I found it impossible to go against what she said because it felt like I was being scolded like a naughty child and I just don't have the confidence and assertiveness to stand up for myself due to depression.
I can't read a word of what she has put on the forms, her handwriting is terrible and half of me thinks I was turned down because the decision maker couldn't read it either!

My GP was on holiday when the DWP wrote so it was filled in by his secretary with zero information apart from a very brief description of fatigue and muscle pains and spasms

I've deteriorated much more since filling in the forms (DVT due to my immobility and IBS diagnosis) but I know this won't be accounted for as it wasn't at the time my form was filled in.

I just feel like I'm going in there with no weight behind me and no medical support to back me up and it's going to be hopeless

I'm reading and re-reading the B&W guides to try and be as prepared as I can but I'm terrified.

If you have any advice or reassurance or personal experience please please do share them with me.
I can't sleep or eat and it won't get out of my mind

Thank you so much if you read this far!

Hi Sassy

I trust your benefit advisor or agency has sincerely apologised for letting you down and withdrawing their support!

If the DWP could not read her handwriting I would have expected them to return the form for clarification.

If the information your GP provided was inadequate and written by a secretary or anyone else who is not familiar with you, I think you should mention this at the hearing.

I would not be too despondent if there is not enough evidence in the appeal papers to support your case. Jim has years of experience as a DLA tribunal member and says that most appeals are won not from written evidence, but from what the appellant has to say at the hearing.

You say that your health has deteriorated since filling in the form, but it is the date of the decision (which you say is June) that is relevant to the tribunal. If your health was worse by this time you should state this to the tribunal.

Best of luck

Derek

Hello Sassy,

First of all, due to Social Security legislation implemented in 1992, the tribunal are only allowed to consider how you were at the time you received the decision notice from the DWP. Under the previous legislation, tribunals could consider changes in your condition 'down to the day of the hearing'

If your condition has deteriorated, you need to put in another claim form, outlining how your condition has worsened, then send it off to the office that dealt with your decision under appeal, using our guide in the members area.

Your appeal will still be heard next week, and it's permissible to submit a new claim pack even if you're appealing a previous decision.

I'm not a WRO, but my husband Jim, who's also a moderator here, but currently in hospital was a WRO & DLA Tribunal Member before he retired.
He preferred claimants to fill in their own claim packs, after which he'd check them over, since the claimant is the person who knows the most about any care and mobility needs they have.

I wouldn't be too concerned if you don't have a WRO representing you, since the tribunal will always direct it's questions to you not to a representative. Most appeals are won not really on any new evidence, but mainly what the tribunal ask you, and you tell them about your needs.

I attended most appeals with Jim and to be honest, if you don't have a good WRO, representing you it can often do more harm than good. Appellants without representation are usually given much more leeway and guidance by the panel to enable them to present the best appeal possible.

Your partner can attend with you for moral support, or if you wish, they can also act as a witness, and give evidence to the tribunal backing up what you tell them. You can always take a friend or relative with you also for support.

There have been a lot of members with ME/CFS who have won their appeals, so I'm sure they'll reply and give you some advice and tell of their experiences.

Also, if you type in ME/CFS in the "Search Forum" box at the right hand side top of the page, that should bring up previous posts on ME/CFS, and answers which both moderators and members have replied to. I've just checked and it came up with 139 results for me, so have a read through some of them.

Good luck.

Pat

I do not beleive it is appropriate to a GP's secretary to answer the care related questions in a DLA enquiry letter, and to do so without requesting to see you makes it even worse. As suggested by Derek, this should be mentioned to the tribunal
and it can be presented to the effect that the practice did bn their best under pressure, the GP being away, but without recourse to you and so not providing a comprhensive picture of your difficulties. I'm sure the tribunal would be underastanding, especially given that the GP was not available.

Also this shows how important it is to ensure your GP's know what you find difficulty with in your everyday life
because otherwise it can always be argued that the difficulty was not so significant that the patient /claimant felt need to mention it. That is of course simplistic because often we don not go into this detail with GPs, they are buzzing through their surgeries with only a a few minutes each but you get the idea

I was turned down for DLA too, and I appealed. I was fairly sure that the info from my doctor's surgery was the reason for the first refusal. In my case a locum filled in the form, and while she said in detail that I had ME, was disabled by it, in the quick info boxes she put "independent" and "aware of danger"

The tribunal was a lot easier than I thought, and I won, though only lower rate both when I am sure I am eligible for higher mob. I hadn't the energy for a supersession.

My sister came with me. I was honest and direct. Sis nudged me to shut up occasion, which was useful!

I think the hardest thing to overcome is the natural desire to show yourself in a good light. We all do it socially, not "moaning" and looking on the bright side. Inappropriate behavior for the tribunal.

Almost the last item discussed at my tribunal was the doctor's evidence. I pointed out that she was a locum in her first GP job, had only seen me three times, and never out of the office. Seemed to work!

Do take the advice here about preparing for and attending your Tribunal.

Good luck with yours, I'm sure you'll find the whole process easier than you think, and I hope you leave there with a weight lifted and your income boosted.

I hope you are lucky with your Tribunal. I had mine in August and it was a lot worse than I feared and I felt I did myself no favours going without a representative. The doctor was openly hostile from the beginning and I felt I wasn't given a fair hearing. I lost my appeal. Think it may have been the area I went to and the doctor so maybe you'll fare better. Good luck.