Requesting Statement of Reasons PIP Tribunal

Hello Hil,

As far as I know there is no template, but it is just a simple letter saying please will you send me ..... is all that is needed.

You have a month to send it, and make sure that you include the case number in your letter.

Can I suggest you also read this Tribunals – Requesting a Statement of Reasons since it has some relevant points.

I hope what you receive is helpful.

Catherine

Hi Hil

A Statement of Reasons is intended to explain to an applicant or a consulted third party how the decision was made.

A Record of Proceedings is a recorded copy of the actual Tribunal hearing.

If you are unhappy with the decision of the Tribunal you should ask for both, once you have copies you can then decide if you want to go to the Upper Tribunal, you can only appeal to the UT on a point of law and not because you do not like the Tribunal decision.

www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/unhappy-tribunals-decision

Gary

Hi Hil,
If you think that the original tribunal (First tier Tribunal) has given the wrong decision, then as stated by Catherine & Gary you will need to ask for the Statement of Reasons AND the Record of Proceedings. Please note you should ask for the Written Statement of Reasons - often abbreviated to WSOR. (The ROP may well comprise a cd recording if this was a phone conference hearing - if so you may need to transcribe what's said, or at least write down the crucial bits and a time.) Compare the ROP/transcript with the WSOR. There may be glaring errors. Easy things to spot are discrepancies such as in ROP poor mobility is mentioned, and later in WSOR 'claimant confirmed he had no walking difficulty'. That would be a blatant example of where an error of law has occurred. Often the errors are less obvious to spot. Looking very carefully at the descriptors and comparing this with the WSOR is a good idea. Sometimes the original Tribunal will award no points because they have applied the wrong test. An example of this would be where the tribunal say 'he can cook because he can reheat ready meals'. This would be wrong as the test is cooking a simple meal from fresh ingredients. If you can find at least once material error of law then you can appeal.
What you need to do, once you have the WSOR/ROP, and have found the error/s of law, then you will need to apply for the First Tier Decision to be set aside and/or leave to apply to the Upper Tribunal. The Regional Judge will do through your request, and he/she may be able to agree there has been an error of law. He will then send the case back to a different tribunal panel at first tier to rehear the case. If the Regional Judge is not sure, or perhaps this is a point of law that several people have been arguing, then the case might get referred straight away to the Upper Tribunal. Unfortunately this all takes time, but of course, if you subsequently win the appeal, money will get back dated to the claim or renewal date.
There are many law centres and CAB etc that can assist with appeals from the first tier tribunal, and an advisor would be able to help draft letters, and/or represent you during the appeal, this is often free of charge. Have a look at advicelocal.uk/ where there are details of advice centres. Hopefully there will be one near you.
I wish you luck, and hope that you can resolve any appeal.

LL26