INCAPACITY TRIBUNAL APPEAL WON!

I attended my tribunal today and won I just wanted to post my good news to let others know that it is possible to get a positive outcome even when the stress makes you want to give up.

I had been on Incapacity for 7 years which was stopped last october after my medical, which only gave me 10 points (9 physical & 1 mental health). The medical itself only took 29 minutes and when I received a copy of the doctors report I felt like I had been totally ignored or misinterpreted by the doctor.

I had to wait 11 months for my tribunal and today has been an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. I have never been to anything like this before and only found out this morning that my Welfare Adviser could not attend with me so I was on my own.

The tribunal panel could not have been nicer and explained their independence from DWP, there were only 2 members on the panel, a solicitor and a doctor, and a clerk who was recording the proceedings. The solicitor explained the tribunal procedure and then I was questioned by and 'listened to' by the doctor. After only 5 minutes of questioning I was asked to leave the room for them to have a discussion. The clerk asked me back into the room another 5 minutes later and I was told that they didn't need to ask me anything else as they'd already awarded me enough points to have my incapacity benefit reinstated. I burst into tears as I'm sure many of you will know the stress involved in this whole process. They apologised to me for having to go through this and said my incapacity would get reinstated, and back-payments be made, as soon as the paperwork has been processed by DWP, but they couldn't say how long that would take. The panel also gave me a copy of their decision.

I only found this site 8 days before my tribunal and I'm so grateful that I did. After reading through the 'Incapacity for Work Appeals' and going through my papers I realised that the DWP had not included my PCA medical from 3 years previously. I found out that it had been archived and requested it be made available for the tribunal today as my condition remained unchanged from a positive outcome last time. They faxed a copy to the tribunal yesterday and I got a copy in the post this morning before leaving home! Along with a supporting letter from my GP, I'm sure the previous PCA report helped as it was compiled after a much more lengthy and thorough examination, and contained more in-depth information about me.

Sorry for the essay, just needed to get it off my chest, I'd like to say I feel alot happier now but I don't, I just feel vindicated.
Best wishes to all of you who are still going through the 'motions' and good luck for your tribunals.

Congratulations & well done.Nice to hear some good news. I hope now you can relax and move on with your life a bit better now. I am in the middle of waiting for my Appeals date. Not looking forward to it.

Congratulations.
My friend had her Incapacity reinstated after her tribunal hearing on 21st June this year. Her Incap had been stopped last August after a PCA where she encountered much the same as you. The examination had not been thorough enough and the doctor was at best rude on the report itself about her physical activity during that PCA.
She had a great advisor from DIAL in Chester with her at the Tribunal along with myself.
Like you the Tribunal panel was made up in the same way and they too couldn't have been nicer. Her tribunal also went the same was as she too was only in for about 5 mins and the outcome resulted in my friend too bursting into tears. The relief was imense. They had also apologised for all the stress this had put on my friend and that in their opinion she should never have been sent for a PCA in thefirst place. There was sufficient supporting evidence relating to her condition in the form of letters from her GP and specialist. It was their opinion that the DWP had completely overlooked this evidence and subsequently caused uneccessary stress to my friend.
It took about 3 weeks to have her incapacity reinstated including back payments. However my frien only discovered this on receipt of her bank statements as the DWP do not inform you by letter! Don't expect an apology either! Well done you !!!!!
We too are grateful for the information that this site offers , it was a great help!

Oh God!! After waiting 10 months the day of judgement has arrived!!!
Incap appeal at 10 30 am. I don't know HOW I'm feeling or HOW I'm gonna get through this.

That is brilliant news. Well done for seeing through such a stressful process to the end.