ESA tribunal date 25/5/16 depression & bulimia

Hi everyone. This is my first post & I am a new member on this site. I have suffered with depression, anxiety & eating disorder (bulimia) for over 20 years. My medical history with these problems is documented from my teens onwards. I claimed incapacity benefit for approx a year in 2008. I have been on ESA since July 2015. These are the only 2 times I have claimed any benefits. I attended a medical assessment in January 2016 - I was awarded 0 points & taken off ESA. I asked for a mandatory reconsideration & within 10 days received a refusal to change the decision. I then appealed & have received a tribunal appeal date in just over 4 weeks from first requesting the appeal. I feel I am really being rushed through the system due to the fact I have no actual medical support behind me apart from my GP. I am on 2 waiting lists for counselling but have not been offered any appointment yet. I will literally be going into the tribunal with a letter from my GP & the rest will be up to me. I really feel this is a lost cause...especially as people who seem to have a lot more support behind them (such as psychotherapists & counsellors) are still losing their appeals. I am going to my local CAB first thing tomorrow for advice & then to my doc surgery to request a support letter etc - but my GP has told me before she needs 7 days to produce a letter for me? The tribunal letter says I need to send in evidence 7 days before my appeal date - how can I do this with only 10 days to arrange & collect my evidence? Can I turn up on the day with evidence (as I sadly will not have a lot of supportive evidence) or send it in at a later date? Can you please advise me of any other organisations other than CAB who could advise me considering what a short amount of time I have until the appeal? I have joined this site & will be downloading & studying all your advice in the next 10 days. If you could highlight the best guides for me I would really appreciate it. Apologies for the long winded post - I am just in shock I have such a short amount of time to prepare & feel my case is VERY weak despite my problems being 100% genuine. I just do not have the professional help behind me to help prove my case so I cannot help but feel beaten already Thanks so much for reading this post & any replies will be much appreciated. Clare x

Hi Clare and welcome to the forum. This link will help explain how things work

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I am sorry that you are going through this

As you have mental health problems you might find MIND helpful or you could try B-eat

However, I think the short time frame is going to be a problem for any organisation. With the reduction of funding for many voluntary agencies it is becoming increasingly difficult to find Representation for 1st tier tribunals We do have many members who have successfully represented themselves, so it is far from impossible.

It is unusual for the tribunal to come through so quickly. In view of this you could try contacting them and asking whether the hearing could be postponed to give you time to find a representative. I don't know how likely they are to agree.

You are able to submit just one side of A4 on the day, you should make 4 copies, keep 1 for yourself and give the others to the Clerk of the Court when you arrive. It is not impossible that they would accept more on the day but I wouldn't advise that you rely on it.

The ESA guide will be the most help

ESA claims and appeals

You should also look at the MR and appeal FAQS

ESA mandatory reconsiderations and appeals

and this topic from the 'Spotlights' section at the top of the forum

Appearance before tribunals

Finally (for now), this youtube video shows you what to expect at a tribunal

What to expect at a tribunal

You might want to bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future. That will allow you to return with further questions/comments without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one place - and I hope you will find it useful too

Thank you so much for your reply hun that's really helpful. Everyone has been shocked at how quickly my tribunal appeal date has come through. There are very long waiting lists for appts with help organisations such as MIND where I live (but it seems that way everywhere now). I didn't think it was an option to ask for them to postpone the appeal date but I will certainly ring and ask. I could not get an appt at my local CAB this morning as there were too many people in front of me. I will have to go back even earlier tomorrow morning to queue. I didn't expect the appeal date to take months to come through but certainly not as quickly as this I feel it has just scuppered my chances even more. I will contact them & let you know how that goes. Thanks so much again x

Update - I rang the tribunal service number earlier & spoke to a lady. She said I can request a postponement for my appeal date in writing or via email listing the reasons why I need more time to prepare my case. She did say it's up to the judge & it could be refused but I will try anyway, nothing to lose at this point. I will be sending the letter off first thing tomorrow, will let you know the outcome. Thanks so much again for the advice xx

Update - I had my tribunal appeal yesterday. They refused to postpone my case (I received a letter the day before the hearing) so I went in person. I won the appeal And have been placed in the work related activity group. i was in shock all day yesterday, I am just so relieved. The Doctor and Judge were lovely, very understanding and did their best to put me at ease (as I was in a bit of a state). I hope me posting this will give other claimants hope, who are awaiting appeals. Although the process is stressful, it is worth it. Thank you so much for all the advice on this site, it deffo helped me to prepare myself. Good luck to everyone with appeals coming up. Don't give up! Xxx