Petrified about further humiliation by a tribunal

I didn't send any more medial evidence for my appeal, just did a submission saying which points agreed with and which not. and a letter attached explaining about why not attending and please to refer to the submission instead. and to go ahead with it. It was pretty quick and dealt with it in only a couple of months.

Dear Gordon,
I hope you are well. Having waiting for more than a year, I had my appeal yesterday and I was successful. I was extremely petrified and had to take a sick bowl with me I was so frightened. I have not slept properly at all since my PIP assessment more than a year ago. I think part of the anxiety was because of members posting that they had felt hectored and harangued by PIP Tribunal members, for which I feel very sad for them. A lot of it was because advice about PIP Tribunals on the internet is largely aimed at people who gained no award upon initial application. Which didn’t apply to me. I have a very strong case with lots of evidence.

I appealed both the length and level of award and I was successful for both aspects. I was expecting to be grilled in depth by the panel, I have had very bad nightmares about this, based on what I have read on this forum. What happened instead was that I was asked into the hearing room and I was told that they had already made their decision based on the documents provided and would be happy to agree with my viewpoint regarding what award should be. That was it. I suppose I could have gone for a paper hearing after all. They were kind and good people and not frightening at all, and a heck of a lot nicer than the ATOS ass essor.

This is what I will do in future and what I recommend to anyone applying for PIP and ESA. Join Benefits and Work. Read all the advisory literature from B&W. Be careful and thoughtful in your application, making it clear as to how your disability fits the descriptors that you are asking an award for. ALWAYS RECORD YOUR BENEFITS ASSESSMENTS. I won my appeal BECAUSE I HAD RECORDED MY ATOS ASSESSMENT and the “Healthcare Professional” failed to take account of a lot of what I said and also of my doctors’ statements.

I also won it because if you Gordon, so THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your support and encouragement. Porridge xx