Taking claimant to PIP appealed by appointee

Thanks for the message, Ela.

I really hope it goes as well for you as it did for me. I can't stop smiling at it being over.
The panel were really nice, and weren't at all adversarial.

One thing they did say was that I had given a lot of evidence in the papers, so there wasn't much to ask.

What I did with the final submission ten days ago, was to go through each statement made by the decision maker, who only ever quoted the health professional, and refute it with the other evidence, that they'd not quoted.

For example, I'd say "The DM states the HP says 'he has several GCSEs which shows he has adequate cognitive ability to follow a route', (page x of the bundle)" then I'd add "however, the DM does not say why they have decided that the evidence from his support worker is not true. The support worker says 'he needs to practice a route many times with me before he knows the way, and he forgets landmarks etc very quickly' (page z of the bundle)." And I'd say, "In the original PIP questionnaire, I said that he had great difficulty generalising learning into new situations, which is very typical of people with autism."
I did the actual quotes in my submission so they didn't have to keep going back to the pages, but quoted the page number so they could see I wasn't taking anything out of context.

The particular case I quoted was to give the Upper Tribunal judgement that ongoing awards shouldn't be as rare as the DWP try and make them.

I couldn't have made the case without all the information on this site, it's a bit of a rabbit hole, reading the judgements to see which apply, but well worth it.

Hi Becca
I can imagine how relieved you are, it's exhausting isn't it?. What is so difficult is that you are fighting the very system that is meant to be supporting our children. Well done for all the work. Like you, I've been through everything I can from forums and research to case law and guidelines. I can only hold out that at the end of the day my son has the law and justice as a safety net and the tribunal are fair.

I'm currently writing up grounds for appeal. I finished 6 years of a psychology degree recently and it was a breeze compared to this lol. I can see by what you've written you worked really hard too. I'm also cross referencing everything I can and have gone through assessors report with a fine toothcomb. I like how you have worded things re facing off HP report with medical evidence, ie putting onus on DWP to prove their decisions.I'll stress this in my own statement.

Could I ask how long your grounds for appeal /final submission was? I'm trying to be concise so much so that I didn't think of adding in arguing the length of award.

I'm staggered by how they use their "reasoning" eg by saying my son had no anxiety at interview therefore could follow and plan a route unaided. The two are just not comparable. It's terrible vulnerable people are being penalised like this. I don't need to tell you I'm sure. They did the same with my son's cognitive abilities as they did with you.

I still have a fair bit of work to do and you're message has helped a lot, so thanks again for taking the time and for the support. Best wished for the future to you and your son
Ela.

Hi Ela,

thanks for your good wishes -- it is such a relief when it's over, isn't it?

"Could I ask how long your grounds for appeal /final submission was? I'm trying to be concise so much so that I didn't think of adding in arguing the length of award."

My actual submission was 11 pages, and there were nearly 40 more pages of supporting evidence - the case law, etc. I also added his old statement of SEN, because there was a bit in there about the OT describing his visuo-spatial difficulties, etc.

The whole bundle was 185 pages at the end.

Let us know when the hearing is, and I'll keep all my fingers and toes crossed for you

Just doing a case statement for a friend's granddaughter's SEN appeal. It never ends, does it? We're all members of a club we never thought we'd be joining.

That's really useful thanks Becca, it's helpful to know what others have done to know whether I'm on the right track. I was worried about including too much and it not being read.

I've sent off my grounds for appeal with the ssc1 form, I know I have "the bundle" coming then I assume I need to resend it all with any further info I have. And yes, I appreciate you keeping everything crossed! I'll let you know how it goes.

Good luck with your SEN appeal.
Thanks
Ela.

You said:
"then I assume I need to resend it all with any further info I have."

No, you don't need to return the bundle that will arrive within 30 days of your appeal being registered.
You don't need to do anything then, except begin to gather evidence to refute the evidence given in the DWP submission.

I waited 58 weeks for the hearing date to come through, but I believe different areas have a shorter waiting time.

But you'll get a letter with a date and it says to send in any further evidence at least five days before the date of the hearing. I'm a bit paranoid about that, so I sent it in ten days before, special delivery. I just sent the extra, not the original bundle, which you need to keep to refer to at the hearing.

Then five days before the hearing, I got a letter from the tribunal, acknowledging the evidence, and enclosing copies of what I'd sent, the pages numbered to add to the bundle.

Good luck!

Hi

Having read the posts in this thread I am left feeling absolutely astonished by the level of effort and commitment required to get benefit entitlement for SEND young people - or for that matter - anyone with disabilities or ill health.

I too, as an appointee, have, and seemingly always will be navigating the complex Social Security system on behalf of others and loved ones with life-long disabilities - I am not alone. This thread exemplifies the enormous amount of reading up and studying required by claimants and appointees to ensure they get what the law says they should be entitled to.

Additionally, I can't help but worry for the less able claimants who through no fault of their own aren't able to go searching for complex information including statutory Social Security regulations and then evaluating accordingly. Who's going to help these vulnerable people? What's going to happen to their claims and their life chances?

This unfairness simply has to end sometime soon! The system must return to one of relative compassion and empathy - indeed a welfarist approach must return soon rather than the current punitive approach we are all now apparently suffering under.

Anyway, keep up the good work everyone and good luck in your efforts to get what you and your loved ones are entitled to.

Buster