DWP QUERYING TRIBUNALS DECISION!

Hi there
a bit confused about what has happened now, so thought I would see if this has happened to anyone else. Won my Tribunal on 22/03/2011 (both claims) and phoned DWP to ask when amending payments (Tribunal put me in Work Support Group) and arrears would be made. First time I rang they said they had not got copies of decisions which I duly photocopied and sent to them. Rang then again today and they said they needed information from Tribunal services as to how they arrived at their decisions as my points had gone from 0 to 18 and 6 to 24). I was a bit surprised as I thought DWP had to comply with a Tribunals Decision.The person I spoke to at DWP also said that if they disagreed with information supplied by Tribunal I might have to have another medical!Is this normal procedure or am I just being fobbed off?! If I could afford to I would just walk away from this the level of stress you have to put up with is ridiculous! Any advice please. Thanks JANICE

Hi Janice

Both appellants and the DWP have a right to apply for a Statement of Reasons for the decision and appeal to the Upper Tribunal if they disagree with the reasoning. It's quite rare for the DWP to do this but it's possible that they are considering it.

Good luck

Derek

Hi Derek
thank you for the info. Have now had a letter from DWP stating that they will not apply the tribunals decision to my claim yet. They have requested a copy of the Tribunals full statement of Reasons and when they receive it they will let me know their decision!Maybe because I went from 0 to 18 and 6 to 24 (points) they need to see how the scores have been awarded, but I dont see the point in attending a Tribunal with all the stress it involves if DWP can choose to ignore their findings.Also despite mentioning hearing problems at both medicals and at the Tribunal and having recently been diagnosed with significant hearing loss in both ears(waiting for hearing aids for both ears now), I received no score on the hearing bit of the medical!Sorry I am just having a bit of a rant, I guess I thought everything was sorted but it would seem not! Thanks for listening . JANICE

Janice

They will just wear us down until we get to the stage where we say..Enough I can't take any more and they will get what they want.

Us off the benefits.

One way or another they will win.

When an appeal is disallowed at the First-Tier Tribunal and the appellant appeals to the Upper Tribunal, the DWP are quite happy to enforce the FtT's decision immediately. Strangely enough, they're not so happy to do it when they are appealing.