Advice needed for upcoming ESA tribunal

After a six month fiasco of mistakes made by the benefits office I have been informed I have to take my ESA appeal to tribunal. I would like to know of anyone who as been through this tribunal, the outcome, and any advice they can give me. I used to be confident in most situations, but I am losing my confidence with the progression of PD, and I am dreading the tribunal, especially as we really need the financial help.I would be most grateful for any help or advice.
Yours hopefully, Butterfly.
Hi butterfly

My Hubbie had to attedatribunal few years ago and they agreed in his arbour , I suppose the best bit of advice is don't be proud be honest and tell them how it s on a ad day .
If you search the forum there should e quite a lot about ESA tribunals.

All the best butterfly hope it goes ok

X
Thank you Bubble, I will do a search. I am feeling rather negative as the statistics seem to be against us. The success rate at tribunal is only 40%.Reading the blurb on it today proved depressing. One bit even said that if you have a terminal illness, you will only be put in the support group if you have six months or less to live! (I presume they are fit for work otherwise!) Madness!
Hi butterfly apologies for spelling mistakes must of needed my sleep.
Hope it made sense !
I know it's easy for me to say but try and remain positive , the difficulty with PD is that it does affect individuals very differently but it can be so variable and unpredictable, that should go in favour for support group eligibility.

Also don't be put off by statistics of people claiming with a terminal illness , it doesn't make sense to me , I support people who are in the terminal stages of their illness , I have offered to send DS1500 for some patients which states they have less than 6 months to live and even that doesn't always ensure they go in the support group but they do look at terminal illness differently than degenerative neurological conditions.

Best Wishes
Hello Butterfly.

My husband was given a tribunal date last year, after months of tooing and froing with the Benefits Agency. We too, were extremely stressed.

The day came for the hearing, and I received a phone call 2 hours before we were due to attend, advising us that we had won our appeal, and not to bother turning up.

I do so, hope, this happens to you. I was very angry that we were put in this situation, as the stress definitely made my husband's symptons worse.

All the very best to you.
Thank you Coombsie and Bubble for your kind words. I shall try and remain positive. As you say though, we don't need this extra stress. I'm glad you both had a positive outcome, despite the system being so difficult now.
I went to the tribunal today, and although it wasn't a pleasant experience I am thrilled to say that I have now been put in the 'work related activity component' group. However, the judge asked about my driving, and asked if I had informed the DVLA about my PD. I haven't because my symptoms don't impinge on my driving ability at the present time. I was duly told off and told to inform them straight away. I realise now that I should have done this already. Does anyone know what will happen when I do this tomorrow? Will my license be suspended until I take a test? I really am ignorant of the procedure. Can anyone tell me what will happen? It seems most of my silver linings have a cloud!
Hi Butterfly19553,

Yes it is a requirement to inform the DVLA, but don't worry (even though I cried my eyes out!) they will just give you a 3yr licence instead without fuss, just a form to fill in with medical info.

happy continuous driving :smile:

Diane
Hi !!
And just to add ..............The renewal is not that complex but does take a few months. About 3 months before your three years are up the DVLA will write to you to fill in the drivers license reewal forms. DVLA contact you consultant who replies to DVLA. Next the DVLA check with their medical team and decide on giving you another 3 years. This process takes about 6 months; by which time the old license has expired. To overcome this issue the DVLA will write saying the renewal is on going but you can continue driving in the mean time.

westby
Thank you D and W for answering my query, that's a relief! I thought I could be fined (it mentioned £1000 on govt website) or they would take my license until I took a test.
Kind regards, Butterfly.