Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I've found this forum as I have been desperately searching for help this afternoon following a difficult hour and a half tribunal hearing over the phone. Please note - I DO NOT find it comfortable to speak on the phone so did ask for a paper hearing which was adjourned in December and the tribunal recommended me to opt for a telephone hearing instead.
Background - I have struggled my whole life, my mental health became so poor in 2018 that it was effecting my daily life so I finally went to my GP to ask for help. I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression and prescribed antidepressants and CBT.
I also had a diagnosis of Crohn's Disease and Fybromyalgia at this point. I then made my first application for PIP. This was rejected.
After trying 5 different antidepressants which didn't help and my mental health getting progressively worse I was finally referred for an autism assessment. I received my diagnosis in 2022 and a few months later also received my adhd diagnosis. Now I know why life has always been difficult for me.
Whilst waiting for my autism assessment in August 2021 I reapplied for a new PIP claim which was again rejected. Feeling strongly about this I asked for a mandatory reconsideration wii j was also rejected. Having by then having my diagnoses confirmed I applied to appeal the decision at a tribunal.
This whole process has took 19 months and been the most stressful time of my life. As I mentioned there was a paper tribunal hearing in December 2022 but that was adjourned and the panel recommended I opt for a telephone hearing and they also requested my full medical records from 2020 (which had never been requested before).
I sent all of this in and having chased weekly for a new date today has been the telephone hearing. The tribunal's decision was to agree with the decision of the DWP and I am heartbroken.
I don't know where to go from here, I have no support, I feel like whilst the panel sounds like they're listening and understanding they really don't otherwise how could they reject my claim?
Can anyone help with regards to taking this further? And how I could put a better case forward? I feel so strongly that I deserve this benefit but the difficulties I have in daily life are just not being taken seriously
NAS85289 said:I feel like whilst the panel sounds like they're listening and understanding they really don't otherwise how could they reject my claim?
Because the criteria they're legally obliged to use are irrational. The DWP applies a check list compiled by heartless bureaucrats to judge your claim and all the panel is doing is checking the DWP has applied the checklist correctly.
you can actually read that checklist here www.gov.uk/.../pip-handbook
and particularly here https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1092461/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-assessment-criteria.pdf
It's just so overwhelming. I know that some people do win this fight and I really want to continue with my appeal but I just don't know how to make them understand or take my conditions and the effect they have on my life seriously. I won't be able to eat today at all because I am so upset, my brain is scrambled, the outcome has ruined my positivity and I am back in a very anxious place that I haven't been for a while.
It is disgusting! We don't ask to be born. We are brought into this sick world without our permission, we have to beg for help and are made to feel bad for doing so. If they don't want to help us then they should offer us euthanasia. This is happening for people with Asperger's in the Netherlands and in Belgium.
Thank you I'm looking in to that now
I’m sorry that you feel this way, please try to see the forest for the trees and take an objective view, the welfare state is designed to minimise the burden of the state. The only way to get through is either through their hoops or to point out legitimate admin error or exception.It’s a bureaucratic process, a red tape operation and something that cannot be taken on a whim-and-a-prayer, so yes I do think that you should seek an advocate for this one.:)
Yes they are, I don't have anyone. Maybe I could try my local citizens advice now, I really thought that after everything they have on my background and diagnoses etc they would see how things are a struggle for me. It's very disappointing.
Sometimes I think, that people can have a hard time seeing that a disability, can be more than just a mobility issue. You need to have a confident advocate, to state that your psychological and neurological issues are a hinderance to your independence. Though I can appreciate that they are hard to come by..
Is it not possible to have an advocate, like a Citizens Advice Representative, join the call with you?