Hello paulandrog, just caught up with your thread. Can see that you have had several replies. Do you think your problem has been resolved - are you happy with what to put in the ESA50?

In my experience, a tribunal will have no truck with evidence not before it, whichever side is trying to rely on it. You mention that a GP letter has gone in. Presumably, this at least confirms the medical condition even if it does not express an opinion on your walking ability outdoors or on your care needs. Plus, you would hardly be prescribed this pain relief unless there were a significant problem. I would say that much depends on how the tribunal take to you - whether they find you to be a credible witness, plus their assessment of what pain you are experiencing. Claimants sometimes make the mistake of dosing themselves up with meds to get through a hearing, or they rest up on the approach to the day. Both strategies risk the tribunal getting the wrong impression. I would do your best to get professional representation for the hearing and do it sooner rather than later. Your rep might want to send in a written submission so that the tribunal can see both why you think you qualify for parts of the benefit, plus the legal arguements you refer to. The tribunal can chew on these prior to the hearing and when the tribunal members get together on the day, they are likely to turn to the legally qualified chair for guidance on the points you make. Personally, I would pursue the appeal. I think re-claiming works best when there has been a change in your circumstances or when you want to distance yourself from negative medical evidence on an earlier claim, in which case I would leave a six month gap between an earlier decision and a fresh claim. Hope this helps, Agostini

I agree with what Citizenb has written. Regarding a means-tested JSA claim, the amount of benefit would be affected by savings over £6,000 but the cut-off point is certainly £16,000.

I know this process takes ages but at least you are more likely to get some sense from a tribunal. You know you will get the same papers the tribunal members get, so you will see all the evidence well ahead of the hearing. I would certainly recommend that you get representation and I would start looking now. Keep in touch, Agostini

Hello n00b2011, I think you will be ok. My guess is that you are on means-tested ESA. (You can stop reading now if this is wrong as it will be rubbish). That being the case, the clerk dealing with your industrial injury disablement benefit (IIDB) award is wondering whether your new 'capital' - your arrears of IIDB will affect your entitlement to the means-tested ESA. They are asking the question to cover themselves but the rule is that arrears are ignored for 52 weeks after they are received by you. In some circumstances they are ignored for longer but I don't think you fit these. In other words, you can do what you want with the arrears, including what you say you want to do with them, and those arrears will only be looked at as capital for ESA purposes after that 52 weeks. Hope this a) applies and b) makes you happier. Best wishes, Agostini

Hi Justmejeff, No magic wand but hopefully still worth a read. Has someone had a look at your overall benefit position lately? You don't say which parts of DLA you are on. Two points - would your DLA award trigger entitlement to a premium (an extra element) into the calculation of your income support needs so that you need a top-up, however small, of IS. If so, then you have access to the rest of the social fund, including non-repayable community care grants. You wouldn't be able to tell the Dept that you needed the money for housing deposit as this is in the list of excluded items, but you might be able to make a convincing case for needing some thing(s) else and what you then do with the money is normally up to you. If you did find that an income support top-up was required, then you have a little more by way of weekly income and could save it. Also, being on IS would passport you to full housing benefit, up to your eligible amount, making paying rent more affordable. The other question must be, are you on the right award of DLA? Just because that's what they gave you doesn't make the right award. Did you get advice on what award would be right for you and anyway, have your circumstances changed since then? Perhaps there is additional income to which you might be entitled by way of extra DLA?? Have a peaceful weekend, Agostini

Hello Karen, I too would forward it. If you take it on the day, I fear that you risk annoying the tribunal members by producing 3 or 4 pages of what I imagine are quite detailed comments about the evidence they have seen. They could have been going through this in the run-up to the tribunal but are likely to be dismayed to find that they have to do it on the day, over and above the task they envisaged. If there were other factors at play that day, such as the list overrunning and your case starting late, this new information might be all the excuse they need to adjourn you hearing, a further delay that I imagine you could do without. As an aside, I hope that you have sorted out some representation. Even though you may be very familiar with at least some aspects of DWP work, you could also be too close to the evidence to be completely objective.

Sure, just make sure that you refer to the name of the benefit and include the date of the decision that you are challenging, then post the office that made the decision. This is perfectly valid. Best wishes, Agostini

Hi, don't give up! You are not the first and will not be the last. Send in your appeal form (GL24) and send with it a letter explaining why it is arriving outside the 1 month time limit. The reason you give in your thread suggests that you have been feeling down. Perhaps you have been diagnosed with depression? Whatever your diagnosis, put it/them down. If you have medication, refer to this to confirm that you are suffering from a medical condition and explain that as a symptom of it, your ability to deal with the appeal within the time limit was affected. If it is difficult for you to get independent advice, because of where you live or the fact that you are unable to access it due to how your condition affects you. I would be quite hopeful that the Decision Maker will agree to treat your appeal as having been lodged within the time limit. If not, the tribunal itself can make such an order, so keep plugging away. In the unlikely event that both say no, there are still options, but these are less advantageous to you. I won't set them out here, partly as I don't expect you to need to know! Hope this helps and as the Power Rangers say, never give up!