Attending Appeal in Person and effects .

Attending appeal in person which I will find absolutely nerve racking but I read that it will be best chance. But what if one of the descriptors that you think you should get points for is 16-'coping with social engagement' with people then won't just the fact that your attending the appeal in person automatically prove that you can handle some social engagement and so
prevent you getting points on this. I fear they could think this because this was exactly the same reason given on my ESA assessment report that I was awarded no points on this activity.
The assessors seemed desperate to find and use any possible excuse to award me no points for any activity, on this one he managed to find two things 'X attends medical appointments with his doctor where he is able to speak to the receptionist and wait in the waiting room . And he is able to speaks to his brother who bought him to the assessment. therefore activity 16 does not apply to him - 0 points.

I fear the appeal panel could think the same way by me being able to attend the appeal in person could count against me on this. But this is that just me being paranoid, hopefully they don't reason like the DWP HCP assessors do.

I would offer the argument that if you are forced to attend a tribunal because you have little chance of success without doing so- then that does not take away the fact that by attending such a hearing will also cause you severe stress.
I would suggest you ensure you have medical evidence to back this up as it seems anything you say to these people - they dont believe unless its supporterd by medical evidence.

I hope this helps, good luck.

Hi

I would argue that this is not a social engagement in any sense of the word and neither is attending your GP or your brother taking you to the assessment.
You need to show how you behave/react to being put in a social setting as opposed to a professional or legal encounter for example.
If you look at page 65 of our guide to claiming for this descriptor you will see two upper tribunal cases where the judge seperated the social from the professional appointment. Read all this carefully and apply it to yourself. Quote this case to the panel. Make it clear the assessor did not differentiate, possibly because they were not aware of the case law but ignorance is no excuse under the law.
Good luck.