Pip hearing on 14th July

Hi Venusbrum

You have not said if this is a telephone tribunal or a face to face tribunal.

Have you sent in a submission?

If it is a face to face tribunal then they would want your husband to try and explain how his condition affects him, if it is a phone assessment the last one I did the claimant only had to say their name but we did put in a submission.

If you have not yet done one you still have time to do one and send it in to HMCTS, make sure you write your husbands reference number on the submission.

Gary

Hi Venusbrum

By the sound of it you had a torrid time, usually at the end they will ask the rep if they want to add anything, I usually go with a list which I tick off when mentioned during the hearing and then add anything not mentioned.

If you are not happy with the outcome you need to contact HMCTS and ask for a statement of reason in writing. The Statement of Reasons is only produced on request, by the Judge that heard the appeal, it is not produced otherwise. The request must be made within one month of the date hearing.

When asking for the Written Statement of Reasons (WSOR) also ask for a transcript of the recording that should have been made during the hearing. (You may only get a recording so you may have to listen to this and copy it down yourself.) Compare the transcript with the WSOR, in order to appeal further you will need to identify at least one error of law.

You may to seek specialist advice if you decide to appeal to the Upper Tier; you can find your local Welfare Rights Organisation to help you with advice by clicking on the link below and putting in your post code, it will then come up with a MAP with a list of agencies. advicelocal.uk or lawcentres.org

Gary

Hi Venusbrum,
I'm sorry to hear that your tribunal experience was somewhat negative.
However firstly it is possible you will nevertheless receive an award for your husband. If not then what Gary says is totally correct. Write in for the written Statement of reasons (WSOR) and also ask further Record of Proceedings (ROP) likely to be the CD recording. You have a month from when the decision is sent.
You need to look for a material error of law ie something that might make a difference. (So if thee is something wrong but if correct would only give 2 points, and you only got 4 -
4+2 is still not enough to get to the required 8. So the appeal wouldn't be allowed.
The WSOR and ROP can take several weeks to arrive.
The WSOR normally comes in 3 parts.
History - background of case, dates etc, why you are appealing, basic medical evidence etc.Maybe a reference to your letter sent in.

Evidence given this should be a record of what's said. This may not necessarily be repeated in the WSOR as this will be in the ROP.

Facts found/how these relate to each descriptor

Listen to the CD. There is transcription software online but I don't know whether this will work, or how to access this. Howeber this is something to look into, or maybe ask a typist friend!
Compare what's on the actual ROP with what the tribunal deem. To have been said as evidence.
Sometimes the tribunal have misheard or misunderstood, and think X was said when it was Y !In particular check was a yes answer recorded as no, or vice versa! Easy mistake but profound consequences!
Errors of law
Go through the descriptors tests as stated in the members guides.
Common mistakes. Saying the descriptors apply for the majority of time' - wrong! Correct test is 'majority of days'
Think also about the 4 important criteria:
Safety
Reasonable Time
Acceptable standard
Repeatedly

This is regulation 4(2)A PIP Regs 2013.
Repeatedly means across the whole day as reasonably required. Food prep could be say 3 or 4 times, toilet needs eg if you have incontinence might need to be done 10, 20 times per day?Communication is probably required 24/7.
All 4 criteria need to apply and be correctly assessed against the correct law.
Failure to give proper explanation is another common error.
If this a renewal case then the tribunal must consider the rules for Supersessions.(posh name for when DWP reduce existing benefits awards.) There needs to be cogent evidence of a change of circumstances not just a new assessment report.
Have the tribunal applied the correct descriptor tests.eg Preparing food requires 'a simple meal for one made from fresh ingredients' if tribunal say you can cook a meal using tins or microwave this isn't the test. Even the mwave descriptor requires fresh food to be used, ie peeling and chopping.
If you feel the tribunal didn't allow you to speak even at the end and give evidence this may not be a fair trial under Article 6 ECHR. Also consider if the tribunal adhered to the 'overriding objective of fairemness'under Tribunal Procedure Rules 2008 rule 2.
I am sure that is a few ideas to start with! (By all means ask on B&W for more assistance if required)
If you have identified at least one arguable material error of law, you actually need to write in explaining the error and ask for the tribunal decision 'to be set aside and/or to request leave to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. '
There is a 2 stage process.The Regional Judge can set aside the decision himself or refer to the Upper Tribunal. If he doesn't accept there is an arguable error of law, you can apply direct to the UT.
However hopefully this will be not be required.
Fingers crossed.
Good luck.
LL26