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DLA 2nd Appeal Hearing
- dogandbone
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I have a question from a relative who is attending her 2nd appeal hearing. Briefly her first appeal was adjurned as they agreed with her submission that it was unfair to go forward with the hearing as the DWP had not had her examined by an assessor,so any decision they would make would be unfair.
They ordered a medical doctor to attend her home and asked her GP to prepare a report for the Court. Since then the Court has set a new appeal date for 4th March. The problem is she still has not been examined by a doctor as ordered from the Court. She does not know if the GP has sent the Court his report.
She spoke to the Clerk of the Court and followed it up in writing expressing her concern over not having a medical examination at home despite the Courts order to arrange one. She was told that the Tribunal feels is ready to make a decision based on the evidence they have now.
She does not know what to make of this can anyone throw some light on what the tribunal are thinking as she really is now starting to worry.
Thank you
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- Gordon
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joshua wrote: Hi everyone.
I have a question from a relative who is attending her 2nd appeal hearing. Briefly her first appeal was adjurned as they agreed with her submission that it was unfair to go forward with the hearing as the DWP had not had her examined by an assessor,so any decision they would make would be unfair.
They ordered a medical doctor to attend her home and asked her GP to prepare a report for the Court. Since then the Court has set a new appeal date for 4th March. The problem is she still has not been examined by a doctor as ordered from the Court. She does not know if the GP has sent the Court his report.
She spoke to the Clerk of the Court and followed it up in writing expressing her concern over not having a medical examination at home despite the Courts order to arrange one. She was told that the Tribunal feels is ready to make a decision based on the evidence they have now.
She does not know what to make of this can anyone throw some light on what the tribunal are thinking as she really is now starting to worry.
Thank you
Your relative needs to clarify whether a medical was ordered, or a copy of their medical records was requested?
If the former, then as a medical has not taken place, it would not seem appropriate for the Tribunal hearing to be convened.
If the latter, then the hearing should be able to proceed, however, I would expected the claimant to also receive a copy of whatever records had been provided to the court, if this has not happened then they should contact the Tribunal Service for a copy.
Gordon
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- dogandbone
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She was told to put it in writing which she has done and send to Tribunal. She has asked for a postponement of this 2nd Appeal hearing until the medical takes place (this is a bit late in the day hearing is this Monday the 4th March) She is still going to attend unless She hears otherwise from the Tribunal.
In a panic she hand delivered to her GP a Subject Access Request letter to gain access to her medical records for the Tribunal, He has told her he sits on DLA tribunals himself and has assured her that the SAR will not be needed and her list of prescriptive medicines will be enough for them to determine an award of DLA (He gave Her an updated list).
What is going on
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- dogandbone
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- Gordon
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joshua wrote: She has phoned DLA Tribunal Service and was told that Atos had sent out 2 letters for Doctor vist and she had missed 2 Appointments. This is simply not true shes does not know who Atos even are.
She was told to put it in writing which she has done and send to Tribunal. She has asked for a postponement of this 2nd Appeal hearing until the medical takes place (this is a bit late in the day hearing is this Monday the 4th March) She is still going to attend unless She hears otherwise from the Tribunal.
In a panic she hand delivered to her GP a Subject Access Request letter to gain access to her medical records for the Tribunal, He has told her he sits on DLA tribunals himself and has assured her that the SAR will not be needed and her list of prescriptive medicines will be enough for them to determine an award of DLA (He gave Her an updated list).
What is going on
Given the timescales there is really not much I can do but wish them good luck with the hearing.
As to the letters. The DWP and ATOS (as a contractor) operate a policy of, if it is sent it is received, even though some 1/2 million letters a week are lost or significantly delayed. They do not get off scott free, as they need to show that the letter was produced, was correctly addressed and was actually sent. Previous experience with ATOS is that there systems do not have an audit trail to prove this, unlike the DWP ones. However, you should still investigate whether there are any poblems in your relatives area that could cause letters to be lost.
Good luck for Monday
Gordon
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- dogandbone
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