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TWO DLA APPEALS HEARD TOGETHER POSTPONED AGAIN

  • letitia
  • Topic Author
11 years 8 months ago - 11 years 8 months ago #88526 by letitia
Hi everyone ,
my commissioners set aside decision new tribunal
appeal was postponed in mar 2012 by DWP awaiting word back from Attos on my complaint on new fresh claim awarded in jan 2012 , my complaint was upheld by Attos , EMP report not fit for purpose ,Received date for 2nd july 2012 for tribunal both appeals to be heard togeather at the DWP request ,Arrived at the tribunal only to be told by the Legal member that they had to postpone these appeals again as the DWP had including in appeal pack a copy of the Attos upheld complaint report and as they had read it , it wouldnt be fair to me to proceed with the hearing ,and they would have to contact DWP when resending the appeal pack to insure the copy of the Attos upheld complaint is excluded , I cant understand this as the upheld complaint was in my favor ,this has been a long haul from Feb 2010

any help greatly appreciated , Letitia
Last edit: 11 years 8 months ago by slugsta.

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11 years 8 months ago #88531 by Gordon
L

My best guess, and it is only a guess, is going from your previous posts, the DWP had previously removed the medical report you had successfully complained about, by including the complaint report, this re-introduces the original report, if only by inference, and the panel decided that this would bias their view and therefore decided they could no proceed.

I hope that makes sense.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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  • letitia
  • Topic Author
11 years 8 months ago - 11 years 8 months ago #88558 by letitia
Hi Gorden thanks for your reply , I have just contacted DWP by phone and the appeals section cant understand as he has stated they have to send everything relating to my appeal and why the reconsideration was done , still no wiser ,
but thanks anyway
Letitia
Last edit: 11 years 8 months ago by slugsta.

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  • pata1
11 years 8 months ago - 11 years 8 months ago #88571 by pata1
Hi Letitia,

I'll try to answer this as I used to attend all DLA Tribunals and training sessions as Jim's carer. Regretfully, he's not able to post at present as he's back in hospital again with respiratory problems, butI hope to have him home by the weekend, but I doubt if he'll be back moderating until well into next week.

Appellants have to have everything in their case bundle as the other party, technically the Sec of State for Work and Pensions, but of course he delegates this work to DWP Decision Makers.

The Legal Member you refer to is now called a Tribunal Judge and in my opinion he/she had no legal right to postpone your latest appeal ( actually it would have to be an adjournment, rather than a postponement). Social Security Commissioners are now known as the Upper Tribunal.

It was only right that your letter of complaint against an EMP report upheld by Atos was in your case bundle. A Tribunal is a complete rehearing of your case and if as Gordon is guessing that the report was removed by the DWP, then it shouldn't have been as I've made clear in paragraph two above.

DLA Tribunals have to have 3 on the panel, a Tribunal Judge, a Doctor of Medicine and a Disability Specialist. All have equal say, the Judge cannot to decide on their own to adjourn a case, it has to a unanimous decision, or a 2-1 in favour of what the panel decides.

They have have made an error; see FAQ What is an Error of Law

Their decision should be set-aside, as in my opinion it's a procedural error, so can be corrected by a District or Regional Tribunal Judge rather than asking for a statement of reasons for the panels decision. See this Disability Law Service -Factsheet

To ask for a set-aside write to the Regional Judge, his/her name should be on all correspondence from the Tribunals Service.

Presumably, as you've already had a case before the former Social Security Commissioners, you had help from an advice service? If you had, then contact them for face to face advice, which we cannot give. If you did it yourself, then you'll have no problem requesting a set-aside.

Good luck.

Pat
Last edit: 11 years 8 months ago by Gordon.

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11 years 8 months ago - 11 years 8 months ago #88586 by Crazydiamond
Replied by Crazydiamond on topic Re:TWO DLA APPEALS HEARD TOGETHER POSTPONED AGAIN
In addition to the previous useful advice, it may be in your interest if you haven't done so already to write to the Tribunals Service and ask for a copy of the adjournment notice, together with the record of the proceedings.

From what I have read there is no valid reason to adjourn the appeal, and as has been suggested you should ask the decision to be set aside by a district judge on the basis of a procedural error. The grounds for proceeding with an adjournment are normally limited to:-

* a document relating to the proceedings was not sent to, or was not received at an appropriate time by, a party to the proceedings or the person’s representative or the person making the decision; or

* a party to the proceedings in which the decision was made or the person’s representative was not present at the hearing relating to the proceedings.

An appeal tribunal also has the power to adjourn to ask for a medical examination to be undertaken if required, before they can reach a decision on an appeal. The grounds as stated are not in my view grounds for an adjournment, and as such it is misconceived.

If you wish to apply to have the adjournment decision set aside, you should do so within one month from the date of the adjournment of the tribunal. Hopefully this should remedy the situation, but if not, it can be appealed to the Upper Tribunal on a breach of the grounds of natural justice, citing the fact that you weren't given a fair hearing.

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Last edit: 11 years 8 months ago by Crazydiamond. Reason: Additional info.

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  • letitia
  • Topic Author
11 years 8 months ago - 11 years 8 months ago #88604 by letitia
hi pat and crazydiamond , I didnt have any help with the appeal to the Commissioner ,I couldnt get anyone were all too busy , we just used your site and ploughed through all the information on here and had to do our best with it .
Even though this tribunal never ask me anything at all , The Tribunal Judge just informed me when I was called in my appeal had to be postponed because of the copy of the upheld Attos complaint ,She said A new appeal date would have to be made again and a new panel would have to hear it as they couldnt ,and was going to contact DWP to tell them when they sent in the new appeal pack that the copy of the upheld Attos complaint was excluded So would they have to give a reason why the postponed the hearing and also provide a record of the proceedings.,and is this what I should request a copy of ,
I even ask her could they not hear the first appeal from 2010 set a side by the Commissioner on 4/11/2011 , as the upheld Attos complaint related to my second appeal on the fresh claim in Jan 2012 and was told No as both appeals had to be heard together
So I suppose it will be months before I get another date , All this is destroying me mentally and phyiscally and I really dont think I can carry on much longer .

many thanks for your help
Last edit: 11 years 8 months ago by Gordon.

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