PIP APPEALS anyone had NEW award halting Appeal ?

Hello

I wondered if anyone who has lodged an APPEAL, has maybe had am AWARD made to them by the DWP after the were notified of your appeal but BEFORE the appeal hearing ?

My health is getting WORSE because of anxiety and only sent forms in today.

ANYTHING I can do ? to help speed up the process anything I can say to the DWP or use to get the appeal heard faster ?

We ae all having bad time with this unfair system. Am hoping the NEW about the fight to get benefits called I DANIEL BLAKE by director Ken Loach, who wrote Kathy Come Home in the 60s.

Questions have been asked in the Commons, but the employment minister denied this was the tip of the iceberg and only isolated cases exist. We all know that is not the case, which is why we are on this excellent website, which has been a lifeline to me, am sure lots of you would agree with me. I am finding the anxiety over uncertainty to be overwhelming and damaging my healyj and daily living.

Interested to hear if anyone has been made ward after they appealed but before the hearing so you did not have to attend ?

Thankyou

This does happen, but not often. DWP have someone look through appeal cases a couple of weeks before the hearing is due. We have members who were contacted at that stage and given the good news that the decision has been revised in their favour.

This happened to me, although it was an ESA claim.

Hi Cipolar. Although it won't necessarily get your appeal dealt with any more quickly, the following may be of interest. If you find it a confusing and/or a dense read, my apologies - it isn't my intention to cause you any unwanted anxiety.

Once an appeal is made, the DWP essentially has two and a half options. The "half" is for the DWP to ask for more information but they shouldn't be trying to obstruct the appeals process or put pressure on you to withdraw the appeal. Sadly, that sometimes happens (first hand experiences).

The next option for the DWP is to consider revising the decision being appealed. If the decision is revised in your favour before a Tribunal hearing, for the whole of the period under appeal, the appeal lapses and there is no hearing. The DWP should notify you and pay all arrears accordingly.

There is a techie point relating to "changing" decisions before a hearing. I deliberately used the word "revised" instead of "changed". This is because a decision can also be "superseded" and, in the latter case, the appeal cannot legally lapse. The difference between a "revising" decision and "superseding" decision is hard to explain but I'll have a go. Please be aware that this is a broad overview and there are exceptions.

A revising decision goes all the way back to the effective start date of the decision being appeal. This effective date refers to the award, not the notification letter.

A superseding decision happens when an award is in place and a change takes place from a date that is after the original award start date mentioned in the notification letter containing the decision being appealed.

For example: lets say a claimant was awarded benefit of £50 per week from 5th Sept 2016 and is notified accordingly. The claimant believes the award should be £75, from the same date, and appeals. If the decision is changed to take effect from the 5th, that is a revising decision and the appeal lapses, so there will be no hearing to attend. However, if the DWP only changes the award from 12th Sept, that is a superseding decision and the appeal doesn't lapse. However...

I have had a situation where the DWP made a superseding decision following an appeal and informed me the appeal had lapsed, even though the decision had not been REVISED. Despite help from a welfare rights advisor, officer after officer insisted the appeal had lapsed and it was only by chance we found what, apparently, was the only officer in the whole of the DWP who understood the distinction between "revising" and "superseding". Even the DWP's Director of Operations didn't get it - I have the letter to prove it.

The final option is of course for the appeal to proceed to a Tribunal hearing. I can't remember if any LEGAL time limits have been introduced for dealing with appeals. However, even if there have not, there is still some support for arguing that the DWP (and Local Authorities) should respond within 28 days of being made aware of an appeal. Under the previous appeals regime (i.e. before Mandatory Recons), there were a couple of legal authorities citing an Ombudsman's case in which it was stated responses to appeals should be referred to the Tribunal within 28 days of the appeal being received (except in the most complex cases). For clarity, this relates to the time taken for the DWP (and LAs) to deal with appeals; not delays in Tribunals arranging hearings.

The current (new) appeals regime means the above info about "28 days" isn't strictly comparable but, in my opinion, it's still useful as a reference to try and move things along if matters aren't progressing for no apparent reason.

Hello Mrs Hurtyback

Thank You for replying to this post and it does give me some hope hearing that in fact it happened to you and it saved you from going to the appeal. I did not expect it to happen much, but read in one the fantastic downloadable guides on here that it can happen. I have therefore
included highly detailed medical evidence from my mental health specialist dealing with every single prescriptor on the form of which they have no evidence that they can counter argue with.

I am quite encouraged by your experience. Also Solicitor has sent in a letter in huge factual detail as to why we disagree with the DWP to the Appeals court after I signed them. So they can see there is no way they will win the case and it will just add to their figures of lost cases.

It does appear over the last week since trailers have been released of the film I Daniel Blake by Ken Loach that our plight and all of us fighting on here is now getting massive publicity and questions are now been raised in the Commons including today at Prime Ministers questions.

Its amazing that a film as opposed to real peoples individual fights, is able to get so much publicising for disabled people struggling with the benefits system. However mainly it is because the film is so accurate and could be any member on here, we all have a story to tell about our fight. No longer can it be hushed up from the general public who vote. It is my hope ANOTHER ONE LOL ! that this will bring forward change that we all so desperately need.

Thankyou

PS. I just remembered I did appeal my ESA the above relates to pips, I only appealed about been in the work group and never went anywhere just said you have been moved into the Support Group.

Hi Kevin

Thank you so much for taking the time out to reply with such a detailed response, which is VERY USEFUL for me. I seem to feel LESS anxious knowing how things can proceed
and doing everything possible to get the matter dealt with speedily.

Today I have done the following :

1/ Written to the DWP to inform them I have since had a breakdown and am now receiving help from the crisis team, something you were warned by my health team would happen if you did not resolve the matter. Given them notice that if there is any delay in an appeal that I had a legal team ready to sue. I have also told them I have sent more medical evidence in with the appeal. I assume this will then be sent to them by the HMCTS if they send what I have said to DWP.
NOTE : In my letter I wrote you NO LONGER HAVE PERMISSION TO CALL ME and I am recovering from a breakdown.

NEXT : They will receive a solicitors letter outlining the Appeal so then if they are thinking of asking me to withdraw the appeal which I have heard many people on here say they do, this is why I did it. Kevin it appears this also happened to you ! Hopefully they will get the message I will not withdraw an appeal and would not advise anyone else to withdraw an appeal for no reason.
Actually I told them to no longer contact me by phone because thought this may happen.

I have used a Solicitor to prepare the appeal, so there is a long letter to the tribunal outlining whey the decision is wrong. For anyone interested it cost me 1 hours work and was £180 and no I could not afford it and had to get help for me to get food. Wont be using them now and by myself and £700 less to live o leaving me £500.

When you detailed about the dates, think your spot on as my solicitor said they have 28 days but can apply for an extension.

It is great to get such detailed message of experiences of yourself Kevin and other people replying to my posts and the moderators as suddenly you don't feel as though you are by yourself as am sure most people will agree its just a battle of which a lot of people cannot fight, but why i come on here and try and help other people.

It was interesting what you said regarding what the decision words mean that you only got one person at the DWP that really knew what they were talking about.

I feel less anxious trying to do more to fight my case rather than just giving up and sure others will feel the same, but good to here from others who have been on the journey and won.

Carl

Hi Cipolar,

I'm glad you have found the extra knowledge helpful in reducing the degree of stress you feel. For me, it's a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it causes stress because I know very well the ethos all too often present within the DWP and the benefit sections of local authorities. There are of course some very good benefit officers but the fact they stand out is perhaps indicative of too many who fall short. On the other hand, knowledge from a former life means I am more likely than many to know where to at least start looking, who to try and get help from and, if needed, how to tweak the tail of the beast.

I have limited energy at the moment, so am not able to respond to some of the points you have made. However, I noticed Gordon responded to you in another thread with additional information about appeals lapsing and, ideally, I should have incorporated it within my previous post on this thread. I hope Gordon doesn't mind me borrowing from his post to update a part of my post.

In my previous post, I set out an example to show the difference between "revising" and "superseding" decisions. The original text is reproduced below and THEN the updated version, taking into account Gordon's additional info, is posted below that.

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The original text:

For example: lets say a claimant was awarded benefit of £50 per week from 5th Sept 2016 and is notified accordingly. The claimant believes the award should be £75, from the same date, and appeals. If the decision is changed to take effect from the 5th, that is a revising decision and the appeal lapses, so there will be no hearing to attend. However, if the DWP only changes the award from 12th Sept, that is a superseding decision and the appeal doesn't lapse.

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The updated version is as above but with an additional paragraph:

If a decision is "revised", the appeal lapses only if the revision is "advantageous" to the "person affected" (normally the claimant). In the above example, an appeal would lapse if the DWP revised the award to, say, £60 (so long as it covered the whole period under appeal). If the revising decision reduces entitlement below £50, the appeal would remain live.

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Many years ago, appeals only lapsed if the revised decision provided all that was being sought within the appeal. However, the law was changed long ago and subsequent legal rulings have confirmed that "advantageous" doesn't mean a revised decision has to provide everything being sought. That said, legal rulings also say a revised decision does have to cover the whole period under appeal in order for the appeal to lapse.

Just one note of caution for you. It's great you managed to find some help with the appeal even though it had a serious financial impact on you. However, from experience, it is rare for a Solicitor's letter to have any more effect than, say, a letter from CAB or a welfare rights organisation or a specialist independent welfare rights advisor. It's also worth bearing in mind that plenty within the world of benefits is counter-intuitive and if the Solicitor doesn't have a benefits background, you may be no worse off seeking help from one of the voluntary organisations. This isn't a criticism of your solicitor; it's just a fact that solicitors have more knowledge in some areas than others.

Unfortunately, the standard of knowledge and knowhow in voluntary organisation is variable but at least you would have some tangible support which, I'm sure you know, can be worth its weight in gold. If you're unsure what organisations are available in your area, your local council *may* be able to point you in the right direction. Ask if they have a welfare rights officer of their own and, if not, who holds the local contract for support? They might not know but there is nothing to lose by asking.

I wish you well and hope you find a way to hang in there.

PS: If you get a telecon from the DWP to "discuss" your appeal, calmly ask if they intend to revise the decision in your favour (without entering into conversation about the detail). If it is a call to fish for more info, even if you are led to believe the info could result in a revision in your favour, I would be inclined to politely but firmly say you have provided all relevant info and it is a matter for the Tribunal. You are quite within your rights to terminate the call. Based on first hand experiences, such calls are rarely made in the interests of claimants and it is not unusual for what is said by appellants to be taken out of context. In the event of such a call, don't forget to note the date and time of the call plus the full name of the caller. Good luck!