DLA appeal

foreverfoggy wrote: am I right in thinking I will get plenty of notice then before the hearing and I can submit info up to two weeks before the hearing?

Hi ff,

Yes, you should receive adequate notice of an appeals hearing date, which as previously stated, will probably be several months from now.

Ideally, you should ensure that all your evidence is submitted no later than 2 weeks before the hearing.

However, the sooner that you submit the evidence, the better.

Evidence can be submitted on the day of the hearing, by providing 4 copies to the clerk, on arrival. (plus your own copy)

However, this should be avoided unless it is absolutely necessary, as if you try to submit more than a few pages of fresh evidence on the day, it can result in the evidence not being accepted, or the hearing being adjourned.

You should have plenty of time to submit any extra evidence before the hearing.

My best advice would be to compile and submit it ASAP, rather than leaving it to the last minute, where at all possible.

bro58

hi Bro58
Thank you so much for your help, I feel better now knowing that I am not in a blind rush to finish this report. There are so many mistakes, untruth's, contradictions and medical inaccuracy's in the atos report that it is going to take me forever to pull it apart. I will do it in bite size chunks until it is done.
I honestly don't know what I would do without this website. Thanks again.

I have had many clients who have experienced what could diplomatically be called 'inaccuracies' or perhaps even outright lies in their medical reports. So I don't know if this helps, but you are not alone. There is some evidence that doctors are even encouraged to change reports after the fact but this is mainly in relation to ESA not DLA and could simply be incompetence in this case. But either way it is not a personal reflection on you. Of course there is no harm in drawing the tribunals attention to these inaccuracies but you will mainly want to focus on the ones that undermine your case. You will then want draw the tribunals attention to any medical evidence you have that contradicts the medical assessors opinion. The tribunal will probably be used to these kind of complaints and should pay attention to the medical evidence you provide.

Thank you so much. To say there were 'inaccuracies' is an understatement. The words have been twisted and it is a total misrepresentation. I have started to pull it apart but fear it will be a long response as many of the 'inaccuracies' undermine the case and I cannot leave them unanswered. As just one example, during the interview she gave a lengthy account of how she had been struggling last term to go to school for just one lesson a week and was unable to get out of bed for the rest of the week as a result of attending. She was only making two lessons a month. she said that now she had left school she was not feeling that pressure and was hoping to be able to attend some of her physio lessons instead. This was interpreted as 'she says she feels better ow she doesn't have to go to school.'