Detectives.

paul wrote:

Hi SMC,

By "the documents at your Tribunal", do you mean information the D.W.P had found about you from your medical records from 8 years previously, which you yourself hadn't submitted?

They were DWP documents, clearly documents they held about me.

Bloody Hell!

paul wrote:

Hello fellow sufferers and amateur unwilling detectives.

Does anyone out there know what happens to the evidence and paperwork from your appeal, (by the Tribunals Service), after a decision has been reached?

Is it given to the D.W.P, (because it certainly isn't given to the appellant), and if so, how long do they hold it for?...... (They are one and the same, aren't they? Or have I got it wrong)?

I lost my case for D.L.A this year in March, after waiting about a year due to an overwhelming amount of appellants. Now,after another disabling event, I have filled in another claim form for D.L.A, (so we are only talking of about a six-month period here between a decision from the last claim, and a fresh claim).

Our details are obviously on the D.W.P's data base,(maybe even results and dates of an appeal), because they no longer ask the question in the claim pack about "Have you been turned down or been stopped D.L.A in the past three years. Presumably, they just need a mouse click now to access this information.

What is the likelihood that they look at this information, (if they have it), should anyone make a fresh claim.(Maybe this is the reason for the three year reference in the past claims pack), so that they can make assumptions or assess the strength of the claim?

I decided not to have a representative last time because I was told that the waiting time would be even longer if you had to wait for a representative,(by CAB).

What is the current state of affairs now, regarding reprentatives such as the Citzens Advice Bureaux and Welfare rights organisations, should I have to appeal again?

Hi Paul

At an SS appeal tribunal the appellant, DWP and tribunal will all have identical copies of the appeal papers.

The Upper Tribunal destroy the papers a year after the last action that referenced the papers and I believe the first-tier tribunal will have similar rules. The DWP will destroy them after a period of time unless they have reasons to keep the documents.

It is quite astonishing how they can keep documents for 8 years when they lose medical certificates the moment they receive them. Perhaps it's the size of the paper?

Regards

Derek

On second thoughts,SMC, the documents they produced would be merely copies of your medical records which they can access again and again ad-finitum with authorisation. What I am saying is; this paperwork at the end of your tribunal, would it be retained by the D.W.P for future use without them having to go through the access to medical records route? How long ago was this by the way?

paul wrote:

On second thoughts,SMC, the documents they produced would be merely copies of your medical records which they can access again and again ad-finitum with authorisation. What I am saying is; this paperwork at the end of your tribunal, would it be retained by the D.W.P for future use without them having to go through the access to medical records route? How long ago was this by the way?

My appeal in 2006, the bundle of paperwork they sent to me included papers from my appeal in 1998/99.