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Personal statement in MR?

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4 years 10 months ago #232720 by Doris
Personal statement in MR? was created by Doris
I am preparing an MR to challenge activity 11. The original award made prior to the upper tribunal decision in 2017 CPIP/1347/2015 was 'b' four points, which has now been reduced to zero. Reading the recent decisions, it appears (d) is now the more appropriate description as its related to an 'unfamiliar journey'.

The MR will be put together as a factual challenge with a letter detailing therapy sessions (not available during the assessment). However, I wonder if the MR would benefit from a small personal statement of around 100 words. The context is as follows:

The assessment was carried out in the claimants home. The decision maker removed the points citing that the claimant was in a stable mood and showed no visible signs of anxiety. The claimant had been told their cancer had returned six months prior to the assessment and were still awaiting a treatment plan, in addition they had found the hospital had made errors, and were awaiting a telephone call on the day of the assessment for details of surgery. The assessor was made aware of the situation, and as you can imagine, the claimant was suffering from incredible levels of anxiety. The second point, is the assessor made that observation whilst the claimant was in the safety of their own home, not during an unfamiliar journey.

Would such a statement dilute any factual challenge, or would it humanise the situation and place the facts in context?

In other words, would it help or hinder?

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4 years 10 months ago #232734 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Personal statement in MR?
Doris

The problem that I see is that I don't understand what it has to do with following a route to an unfamiliar place? I understand what you are trying to do but the paragraph does not address any of the issues involved with Descriptor so I don't see how it helps.

As to your second comment, the DWP will simply argue that this is what assessors are trained to do.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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4 years 10 months ago #232741 by Doris
Replied by Doris on topic Personal statement in MR?
Sorry about that, I don't think I explained the situation that well. The information contained within the factual challenge will demonstrate a history of severe anxiety causing overwhelming psychological distress in unfamiliar places, by use of additional medical evidence not available at the time of the assessment.

I was asking if it was worth adding the personal statement as an addendum to the core argument above.

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4 years 10 months ago #232745 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Personal statement in MR?
Doris

I understood what you were saying :)

What I am saying is that it offers no information that would help someone score for being unable to follow a route, so include it if you want but don't expect it to help.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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