Tribunal decision

Following a Tribunal appeal by telephone, the tribunal increased my PIP Daily Living Component score to 11 points from the 5 points that the DWP awarded. Mobility points remained zero, which I expected and accept. There is no mention of award duration.

When I originally added the points I thought I might be eligible for, I thought I might entitled to at least 12 DLC points. I would like to see how the tribunal arrived at their decision. After reading the Benefits & Work “A guide to mandatory reconsiderations and appeals” it seems that I should ask for a Statement of Reasons, and the Record of Proceedings. Is there anything else I should ask for or do at this stage?

I doubt that the DWP would appeal a claim where a tribunal has awarded 11 points. If a tribunal had awarded either 8 or 12 points then the DWP may consider it worth contesting but 11 points indicates that it is likely that a different tribunal would likely make an award too (it is unlikely that a different tribunal would award at least 4 fewer points, which they would have to do in order for my current award entitlement to be reduced), but a new tribunal may well award an additional point, so pushing it over the Enhanced award threshold. However, I appreciate your warning.

I know that asking for a Statement of Reasons and Record of Proceedings is my right and I do not have to give a reason for requesting them, nor do I have to then pursue an appeal, as I may agree with the reasoning. But is asking for these statements likely to get the back up of the judge who presided over the tribunal?

Contrary to what I said in my initial post, the tribunal did state the duration of the award. I just missed it in the decision letter. The award is made for 4 years, starting from the date I originally claimed. I know that award durations are based on a claimant's individual circumstances, and that the DWP can order a new assessment for any reason it wishes, even if it is not nearing the end of the claim's duration, but what are the averages of durations of awards? I have tried to ascertain this but cannot find the stats. I am just asking out of interest.

Hi, one of the Mods observed recently I believe, that awards seemed to be coming out shorter these days. Our daughter has never topped three years over 3 goes, despite some of her conditions being genetic and the effects on DL and Mob incurable. A friend, who does some voluntary advocacy among friends, reckons in those circumstances you only get half-realistic recognition on your third or later award.
IMHO they'd rather waste taxpayers money re-doing the genuine and persistent in the knowledge that a hostile attitude will weed out many of the genuine but too-ill-to-persist, thereby cutting the overall bill never mind the misery caused. Not real stats, think you can find some official ones online if you look hard. Happy hunting, Denby

How odd. If your daughter's condition is incurable and she is very likely to have the same difficulties in, say, 5 years' time, then it makes no sense to demand that she goes through the whole ordeal (and "ordeal" is an appropriate word to use to describe the whole process) in a shorter time period. While I try not to subscribe to conspiracy theories, I must say that after my experience, it is clear that the DWP is not interested in ascertaining the correct award for a claimant, but is geared to prevent genuine claimants from claiming their entitlement. It is only the tribunal who appears to be genuinely impartial and prepared to calculate the true number of points a claimant is entitled to. I am sorry that you have to go through this more frequently than you should have to.

I certainly won't complain about my award duration of 4 years. It seems that it is at the higher end of what awards are these days. I was simply interested to know what the average award durations are, just for interest's sake