DWP appealing against the tribunals' decision

Thanks for your reply Gordon.
I have now received the tribunal's response to DWP's appeal. They have made their case for the award and my support worker believes that it is worded very strongly. They do make a point of mentioning that I didn't have a face to face assessment and that an experienced psychiatrist was on the tribunal panel. They also make it clear that the medical evidence, which was submitted with my PIP form, was instrumental in helping them reach their decision. In addition, they note that myself and my partner/carer were both "plausible and credible". They have stuck by their decision that my mental health problems make it impossible, and unsafe, for me to go out unaccompanied.

I would be interested to know if DWP are harsher on people like myself with long-term m/h problems than those with physical disabilities? I know of lots of people with m/h problems who were in receipt of high levels of DLA and have been either given no PIP award or a greatly reduced one. Is there any chance of B&W asking for a FOI with regard to this?
Thanks,
Vicky

PIP was deliberately made harder to get than DLA, the whole point of it was to reduce the benefit bill It seems to me that it is easier to get the mobility component when suffering from both physical and mental health issues, thus scoring for both mobility questions.

There is nothing to stop you from making your own FOI request but, if this would be too much for you, you can always contact the B+W office and suggest it.

Thanks for your reply, Gordon. There wasn't anything else which I hadn't posted on this site. DWP felt that I didn't qualify because I don't have either a "sensory or cognitive impairment". To be honest, I feel that it was just plain spitefulness because their dismissive award had been so overwhelmingly countered by the tribunal.

I have now received a letter from DWP stating that I had my tribunal on 12th July and what the award is as per the tribunal's original decision. There's no mention of DWP's appeal against the tribunal's findings.The way their letter is written, you'd think that DWP had reached this decision themselves - not inflicted nearly 9 months of struggling, and suffering, for me to reach this final goal. If they had bothered to read my PIP claim form, and all the supporting evidence, in the first place none of this would have been necessary. The adverse effect on my mental health has been enormous. Clearly, DWP don't feel that they need to apologise for any of this.

However, there's one more issue which has now arisen and I'd like your advice on this please.
The tribunal panel made it very clear to me that I should never have to go through this process ever again. They wrote on the award that it was "inappropriate to fix a term" and told me, to my face, that they were giving me a lifetime PIP award. DWP's recent letter states that they'll be contacting me again in March 2026 to review my claim...

What should I do? Are there lifetime awards for PIP? I realise that this is 9 years away, but I'm already anxious and agitated about it. I can't go through this process again. I'd rather be dead. I'm not exaggerating - this entire process has increased my suicidal thoughts and urges. It has meant that my partner has had to be extra vigilant 24/7.

Hi Vicky,

Letters from the DWP appear to be generated by an outdated computer system. They probably don't have a letter with the clause "we've changed our mind about appealing the decision", so the wording of these letters are not always appropriate, but just the best fitting one!

Good luck,

Derek