Telephone tribunal

Hi Claire

I hope that a member who has had a telephone tribunal will see your question and tell us about their experience.

In respect to what happens at a Tribunal, you can look at the Guide to PIP Appeals. benefitsandwork.co.uk/guides-for-claimants/pip . The guidance there should answer some of your questions. You can find the information you want from page 26 onwards. It starts out telling you what to expect from a technical point of view before moving on to what you might be asked.

BIS

I have done 5 telephone appointments this year, 4 successful, one not so, I have applied for written statement of reasons and hoping to go to upper Tribunal.

What happens with a telephone tribunal;

You should receive a call from clerk of the Tribunal one or two days before to confirm you will be attending and if you have a representative.

On the day of the hearing just before the hearing the Tribunal clerk will contact you, you then have to confirm your name, you will then be put through to the Judge who will explain what is going to happen and they will remind you that you cannot record the session.

There are usually 3 people present on the phone Judge, doctor and lay person, sometimes the DWP are also present. The judge will ask if you are on your own or if you have someone with you, if you have anyone with you, they will ask for their names. If you have a representative on the phone, then they will also ask them for their name and if they have onyone with them.

As the hearing is about you, the judge will explain that they want you to answer the questions and will ask your representative at the end if there is anything they would want to add. If you are not sure what they have asked, ask them to repeat the question.

At the end they will either tell you straight away the decision or they will call you back in a few minutes or they will send you the decision in the post.

One word of advice, if you do not know the answer to the question say so, do not let them try and push you for an answer or make an answer up as it will go against you. Do not take any additional medication to help you cope on the day, as it will go against you, be yourself.

I did a telephone tribunal this morning, the client was awarded zero points when they first applied for PIP, zero points when they asked for a Mandatory Reconsideration and enhanced for both components at the tribunal.

Gary

Hi Claire,
To add to Gary's thorough reply, (which totally agrees with my experience of phone hearings;I have done quite a few,) make sure you gave the appeal bundle with you as the tribunal often refer to pages in the hearing. Read the papers before the hearing, especially your claim form.
The tribunal will want to focus on your health around the time of the claim/ original decision. If your health has changed then you will need to think about how things were at that earlier time.

Make notes before, you can use these to help to remind you what to say in the tribunal. Have a spare piece of paper to make a note during the hearing. If you have someone with you, they can make notes, and can give evidence.

Go at your pace. Have a glass of water or coffee etc with you from the start. If you need a break for any reason, or need the toilet, say so, and the tribunal will stop, and then reconvene a few moments later.

The important thing, as with any tribunal hearing is to say it how it really is. I have represented several people who have autism. Often they struggle to explain things, especially about health matters and PIP activities. However difficult this is, it is really important to stress the difficulties you have, and be brutally honest. You may think you 'manage' to do something, and may be tasks do get completed, but is this the reality? If you say 'yeah, I manage to do that ' You probably won't get points but if you say eg how long it really takes, the muddle, mess, struggle etc you have and the potential safety issues etc etc then points are more likely. Tell it warts and all, however embarrassing or difficult this might be. If you have someone with you, they can also explain your difficulties and help given. If you 'undersell' your disabilities, they should give evidence to correct/ contradict what you have said to ensure the full picture is given. (I appreciate this might be awkward, but is so important!)

Good luck.
Let us know how you get on.
LL26

Hi Claire

I can feel your mind going into overdrive overthinking. The first time is always the hardest as you do not know what is going to happen, most chairs are friendly and try to put you at ease, not in a negative way.

If you have done a submission, read your submission and the assessors report, I don't usually read the whole bundle as some bundles are over 200 pages, I usually concentrate on just the submission and the PA4 with errors.

- Write yourself a bullet point list of any particular points you want to get over, so you have it by you during the tribunal, tick them as you cover them during the tribunal.
- have paper and pens to hand to make any notes such as the tribunal names, date, time
- make sure you are seated in a comfortable chair, you are going to be there a while and at table to make notes
- if you can't hear or understand what is being asked then ask them to repeat the question
- don’t let the tribunal members rush you and get you flustered.
- don't make up an answer, if you don't know, say you don't know, quite often they will try and push for an answer as to how far you can walk before stopping, then they will search on Google maps as to how far it is, I usually use bus lengths, 1 bus length = 10 meters.
- don't forget to have a glass of water if needed so you don't get a dry throat and lose your voice!

Gary