Hello Im new to the site but glad i have found somewhere with so much information and support .

Anyway getting onto the subject of my thread..... I am going to Tribunal next wednesday for high rate mobility (was awarded low rate on renewel of son application in Oct 2009, was previously getting high rate since he was 5 and he is 15 now. He gets High rate care which is not being disbuted), but this is my second tribunal. First tribunal went really well was in about 15 mins and went out waited less than 5 mins before being called back in to be told that they had reinstated his mobility to high rate and that it was a unanimous decision, to which i was pleased. About 2 weeks later i got a letter from DLA saying they were requesting a statement of reason and that i needed to wait to see if they had grounds for appeal. A few weeks later i got a letter saying they were appealing against tribunal decision on the grounds that they didnt give enough information on SOR and that the reasons they gave were not good enough, even though there was no representative from the DWP at hearing and the judge even wrote that i had gave credable evidence at the tribunal. So that decision was cancelled and now i have to go back again to another fresh appeal which is very frustrating considering i won my first appeal unanimously from dr's who actually understand my sons disabilities rather than decision makers who dont!.... Im just wondering if anyone else has been through similar circumstances.

p.s I have recently went through all the paperwork and have found a couple of things that the decision maker has wrote that are wrong ( i.e saying he has rhum arthritis which i have never said, he actually has an arthritis associated with his cromosome syndrome he has which is different to rhum arthritis) can i bring this up at tribunal? and couple of other wrong facts thats on the statement from decision maker.

Sorry to ramble on its just difficult to stop typing after finding a site where i can get advice and support from other people who are going through the same as me.

Gayle

hiya
i dont have much experience in tribunals apart from one i attended a few years ago, i do remember the "support" officer telling them where they had gone wrong but mine were simple things like getting dates wrong and something else i cant remember now so it is probably a good idea to write a list of things that are incorrect but this sounds like they are clutching at straws as the first tribunal were very quick to make their decision
corinne

Hi I've just joined this site because I found your message.

I'm going through a similar situation - my 16 yr old son's DLA mobility was reduced when I reapplied on his behalf back in Nov 2009. He has autism, severe learning difficulties and severe behavioural problems and had been receiving high rate care and high rate mobility for the previous 8 years and nothing had changed (except now he's taller and stronger than me). His paperwork was read by a DLA GP and nurse who clearly had no understanding of his disabilities given the comments that they made. I appealed the decision and after a very long wait we went to Tribunal in Nov 2010. DLA sent a rep as well, who picked at some tiny points that the panel didn't seem to agree with, but after 40 mins we were sent out then went back in and were told it was a unanimous decision to reinstate the high rate mobility. I was very glad it was over but couldn't relax until I received the letter from DLA saying he'd got high rate mobility - instead I received a letter saying they were still only going to pay low rate as they were going to apply for the Statement of Reasons and may appeal. That was late November. Finally got the Statement of Reasons last week, and I really can't see how they could find anything to appeal but they seem to be a rule unto themselves.

So how are you getting on? Have they given you an idea as to when the next Tribunal might be? I'm wondering whether I will be spending another year of my life fighting this.

Manda

(01-31-2011 10:28 AM)trapdoor Wrote:  Hi I've just joined this site because I found your message.

I'm going through a similar situation - my 16 yr old son's DLA mobility was reduced when I reapplied on his behalf back in Nov 2009. He has autism, severe learning difficulties and severe behavioural problems and had been receiving high rate care and high rate mobility for the previous 8 years and nothing had changed (except now he's taller and stronger than me). His paperwork was read by a DLA GP and nurse who clearly had no understanding of his disabilities given the comments that they made. I appealed the decision and after a very long wait we went to Tribunal in Nov 2010. DLA sent a rep as well, who picked at some tiny points that the panel didn't seem to agree with, but after 40 mins we were sent out then went back in and were told it was a unanimous decision to reinstate the high rate mobility. I was very glad it was over but couldn't relax until I received the letter from DLA saying he'd got high rate mobility - instead I received a letter saying they were still only going to pay low rate as they were going to apply for the Statement of Reasons and may appeal. That was late November. Finally got the Statement of Reasons last week, and I really can't see how they could find anything to appeal but they seem to be a rule unto themselves.

So how are you getting on? Have they given you an idea as to when the next Tribunal might be? I'm wondering whether I will be spending another year of my life fighting this.

Manda

PS Sorry I meant to say, how long was it between receiving the letter from DLA saying they were going to appeal the first Tribunal's decision to going for your second Tribunal? The whole process seems to be so slow. Manda