APPEALS PROCESS FIRST STEPS.

What your psychiatrist has told you is not strictly correct.

Most consultants will submit medical reports about their patients, but they will levy a charge which can be in excess of £300. However, if you are on a low income legal help may be available in which case a solicitor can obtain a medical report from your consultant. If you are still unable to obtain a medical report from your psychiatrist having enlisted the assistance of a solicitor, you can always ask for an independent psychiatrist to provide a report under the legal help scheme.

I will reiterate however that the burden of proof lies with the DWP to demonstrate that you fit the WRAG criteria and not the SG conditions of entitlement. If the DWP did not approach your healthcare professionals when making the decision to put you in the WRAG, this is something that this can be raised in a reconsideration/appeal, and you can instruct the decision maker to obtain the requisite evidence at this stage.

Finally, a claimant should never be placed at a financial disadvantage where the need for obtaining medical reports arises as has happened in your case, when the DWP carry out a review of your ongoing entitlement. As I mentioned earlier, the burden of proof rests with the decision making authority and not the claimant.

Hi crazydiamond and thankyou for your speedy concise reply.

Yes i remember him at the end of the session ie. my phsychiatrist that a private Pshychiatrist would be able to submit a report but as you say £300 plus!!.

So in my case because I havent recd either a medical nor have ATOS contacted my GP, Pshychiatrist or Psychologist I should use this to my advantage in my appeal and ask the decision makers to appraoch these people so that they recieve precise details of my medical incapacity and they then can make an informed revised decision of which froup I should be allocated to.

I wonder aswel if hostorical medical reports can be used to influence the decision makers, eg, I have a letter from my last employer 11 years back that certifies that the councils doctor after a medical and reference to past medical history found me to be unfit for employment. He actually certifid this.

Would this be of any use in my appeal or is historical evidence diregarded?.

Kind Regards A.

A very interesting thread. Can I just ask what the mods think I should do with regard to the level of detail on my appeal.

I sent in a lot of supportive medical evidence and I also have a copy of the Atos report and the DM report.

The main thing that I think should get me into the support group is that I have medical evidence (from 2 sources) that I can only walk up to 30 metres and not with any regularity, and not without exacerbating symptoms.

Yet the Atos report (no face to face medical) states that I am likely to be able to mobilise over 50 metres and to be able to do so repeatedly.

For other SG descriptors - reaching, lifting, cognitive function, the main issue for me is that I am unable to do so reliably, repeatedly and without exacerbating symptoms.

I want to maximise my chances at the reconsideration stage, but don't want to be accused of bringing something up that wasn't included in the initial appeal if the case goes to tribunal.

Or is it one of those things where you don't know if you have made the right decision until afterwards?

Hi All,

Alot of really good discussion and advise has been given on this thread.

The quiery that i have is that my husband has been plced in WRAG without a medical and i firmly believe he qualifies on atleast three discriptors to be in the Support Group.

I have requested the statement of reasons etc three weeks ago and have, not surprisingly recieved nothing. Therefore, in my husbands GL24 appeal it is prooving to be quite difficult to state on what grounds we are appealing as we have no facts to go by.

Furthermore, as rightfully suggested previously on this thread, i do not want to write anything until i have recieved the requested facts. However, i do need to get this appeal in by the end of this week.

I have looked at the guides to appealing WRAG,to me it seems to be giving advise on what to say once you have recieved DWP's decision. Please correct me if i have misread or misunderstood.

Nevertheless, any advise will be greatly appreciated.

Radhika.