Accompanying Statement/Letter to PIP Tribunal

Hello Alice-Anne,

It is always good to have new faces around here – so welcome!

First of all, has your representative not given you an idea of what they would like you to include in your statement? Do ask them.

The Tribunal (and you) will get a bundle of papers with everything which has been submitted so far. Your original application form, the supporting evidence you submitted, the assessment report etc etc. This is your opportunity to respond to anything you know is in that bundle which you don’t agree with.

You know what you put into your MR. When I do accompanying statements for people I normally start by referring to what I put in the MR document. That document is something that I have already put everything I have into – and I want to make sure that they read it. I then address anything which is in the MR decision. Very often I find that they have actually failed to address the points I have raised in the MR and more or less just repeated what was in the original decision with no explanation. If that has happened I highlight it.

Make sure that you make clear statements correcting things they got wrong at any stage in the process, for example your schooling.

Although it is not a point winner, I think I would say something tactful like, you believe the assessor’s medical background was physiotherapy, and unfortunately her questioning and analysis of my responses shows that she does not have a full understanding of mental health conditions’.

It is also your chance to add any new evidence or explanations about how your condition effects your daily living and mobility. If you have no done so, you might wish to use one of our PIP diary templates to help you think about the impact your condition has on you. Because you live with it day to day there is a risk that you lose sight of what life would be like without your mental health issues.

PIP resources The templates are just above the heading ‘webinars’.

They are right, it is for you to prove that you have mental health issues, but they should also take a reasonable approach in looking at your evidence. Can you ask any current HCP to give you a typed letter confirming your condition, and a little of its history, and how it effects you? Also, if you can translate the medical notes, I can see no reason why you cannot submit a transcript of them together with the original notes. That way you are not altering evidence but submitting something additional.

Having said all of that, my bottom line would be, put in your statement what you want them to hear.

I hope that helps a little
Catherine

Hi Alice-Anne,
If you are confident that you know hiw many points you should gain for each descriptor, then you can explain your difficulties and add "and therefore should get Xpts under descriptor..."
Politely criticise the assessor as described by Catherine, and go through each descriptor with the points stated at the end is good. But I would suggest that you write a brief history about yourself how you got ill, or when you noticed disabilities etc. Use your own words, describing your feelings or problems is really important. By the time you get to the tribunal, you are likely to forget things, or you won't necessarily say things in the way you would normally say them due to the format of the tribunal. So, your statement is your chance to "speak" from the heart.
I hope this helps.
LL26