Appeal against tribunal

Hi lesley,

I'm actually going through the same process right now - so I waited for my letter from the first tier, and then I applied to the upper tier to ask for permission to be granted for an appeal - they allowed this due to an error of law. After this, the DWP were sent a letter with a month to respond, then I was sent a letter with a month to respond, back to the upper tribunal. I'm awaiting a decision to see if my claim was won.

Hope this helps.

Chris.

Hi lesley,
Within a month of the tribunal decision, (the hearing if decision given then or date of decision letter if posted,)write to the tribunal and ask for the written statement of reasons, also ask for the record of proceedings. The latter is likely to be a cd recording.
The WSOR is basically the full written reasons for the decision.
You will need to find an error of law.
It may take a few weeks for the WSOR to arrive. You will have a month to write to the tribunal explaining the errors of law.
This might sound daunting, but often the errors are quite easy to find.
Firstly consider each of the relevant descriptors- has the right test been applied? For example, often tribunals fail to award points under descriptor 1 because the claimant 'can cook ready meals in the microwave ' Wrong. The legal test requires making a simple meal for one, with fresh ingredients . Ready meals don't count
Second has the tribunal fully explained its reasoning. If you as a non legal person can not understand the reason, (not whether you agree with it) then it's almost certainly an error of law. Explanations are needed to show why eg assessor is 'preferred' over your GP or consultant. If they felt you/daughter in law lacked credibility this must be explained too.

Third, look at the evidence relied upon. Was it actually said, or in the papers?
So, if you repeatedly said that you have to use incontinence pads (eg an aid for toilet needs) but the tribunal say you have said you don't need to use pads hence no points, this isn't borne out by the evidence. This is where you can check the cd recording to confirm exactly what was said.
Other errors of law include a perception of bias, including not giving breaks, or inappropriate behaviour by the tribunal.
Lastly consider the 4 so called reliability criteria- safety, repetition, acceptable standard and reasonable time. (Regulation 4(2A) & Reg 7 which is 'majority of days' ( often misquoted as majority of time ) and scoring when more than one descriptor in a set applies.
Await the WSOR and maybe re-post fir more advice at that time.
Good luck.
I hope this helps. LL26