dla and tribunal

my daughter needs to attend a tribunal for her DLA. She has learning difficulties and ADHD, ODD and non epleptic seizures she is also 19. she does not want to go to the tribunal she wont be able to speak and will probably just either burst into tears or become aggressive when they ask her questions. Although she knows she cant manage and knows she only has a mental age of an 8 year old, she has great difficulty accepting it and when someone asks her she gets very upset and denies it becasue she is embarressed.



even though she knows she needs help etc and could not manage to live indepdenently without my help she is loathe to admit it and gets very upset and aggressive because she is embarressed.



can i attend the tribunal on her behalf and answer the questions they are going to ask her. Or will it be better to send in a written submission.

mummybev wrote:

my daughter needs to attend a tribunal for her DLA. She has learning difficulties and ADHD, ODD and non epleptic seizures she is also 19. she does not want to go to the tribunal she wont be able to speak and will probably just either burst into tears or become aggressive when they ask her questions. Although she knows she cant manage and knows she only has a mental age of an 8 year old, she has great difficulty accepting it and when someone asks her she gets very upset and denies it becasue she is embarressed.



even though she knows she needs help etc and could not manage to live indepdenently without my help she is loathe to admit it and gets very upset and aggressive because she is embarressed.



can i attend the tribunal on her behalf and answer the questions they are going to ask her. Or will it be better to send in a written submission.

Hi,

Yes, you can attend even if the appellant is 'in absentia'.

However the tribunal will not necessarily be able to ask you questions they may have put to your daughter.

However this is seen as generally a better option than opting for a paper appeal - at least the panel can put questions to you which they cannot do with a tribunal 'on paper'.

Pete

Hi,

I totally agree with Pete's advice. Having sat as the Disability Specialist on DLA Tribunals from 1994 until I retired in 2005, it is much better that you attend in your daughters absence rather than just have what's called a paper hearing.

Good luck.

Jim

Hi Mummybev

In addition to the replies from mods Pete & Jim, there is a lot in your post that may lead to your daughter qualifying for a component of DLA, altough its not possible to give advice on a board such as this.

As you are appealing you may wish to prepare your case to present to tribunal by reading through the B&W guides in the Members Only orange section & the link below, or you might get help from an Advice Agency, who in some cases will help prepare an appeal.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/dla/#dlaappeals

Where to get advice?

Kind regards

Michael