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    • Hi LFI, Your knowledge in this area is greater than I could possibly hope to have and as such I appreciate your feedback. I'm not sure that I agree the reason why a barrister would say that, only to get new customers, I'm sure he must have had professional experience in this area that qualifies him to make that point. 🙂 In your point 1 you mention: 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver. I understand the point you are making but I was referring to when the keeper is also the driver and admits it later and only in this circumstance, but I understand what you are saying. I take on board the issues you raise in point 2. Is it possible that a PPC (claimant) could refer back to the case above as proof that the motorist should have appealed, like they refer back to other cases? Thanks once again for the feedback.
    • Well barristers would say that in the hope that motorists would go to them for advice -obviously paid advice.  The problem with appealing is at least twofold. 1] there is a real danger that some part of the appeal will point out that the person appealing [the keeper ] is also the driver.  And in a lot of cases the last thing the keeper wants when they are also the driver is that the parking company knows that. It makes it so much easier for them as the majority  of Judges do not accept that the keeper and the driver are the same person for obvious reasons. Often they are not the same person especially when it is a family car where the husband, wife and children are all insured to drive the same car. On top of that  just about every person who has a valid insurance policy is able to drive another person's vehicle. So there are many possibilities and it should be up to the parking company to prove it to some extent.  Most parking company's do not accept appeals under virtually any circumstances. But insist that you carry on and appeal to their so called impartial jury who are often anything but impartial. By turning down that second appeal, many motorists pay up because they don't know enough about PoFA to argue with those decisions which brings us to the second problem. 2] the major parking companies are mostly unscrupulous, lying cheating scrotes. So when you appeal and your reasons look as if they would have merit in Court, they then go about  concocting a Witness Statement to debunk that challenge. We feel that by leaving what we think are the strongest arguments to our Member's Witness Statements, it leaves insufficient time to be thwarted with their lies etc. And when the motorists defence is good enough to win, it should win regardless of when it is first produced.   
    • S13 (2)The creditor may not exercise the right under paragraph 4 to recover from the keeper any unpaid parking charges specified in the notice to keeper if, within the period of 28 days beginning with the day after that on which that notice was given, the creditor is given— (a)a statement signed by or on behalf of the vehicle-hire firm to the effect that at the material time the vehicle was hired to a named person under a hire agreement; (b)a copy of the hire agreement; and (c)a copy of a statement of liability signed by the hirer under that hire agreement. As  Arval has complied with the above they cannot be pursued by EC----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S14 [1]   the creditor may recover those charges (so far as they remain unpaid) from the hirer. (2)The conditions are that— (a)the creditor has within the relevant period given the hirer a notice in accordance with sub-paragraph (5) (a “notice to hirer”), together with a copy of the documents mentioned in paragraph 13(2) and the notice to keeper; (b)a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the notice to hirer was given has elapsed;  As ECP did not send copies of the documents to your company and they have given 28 days instead of 21 days they have failed to comply with  the Act so you and your Company are absolved from paying. That is not to say that they won't continue asking to be paid as they do not have the faintest idea how PoFA works. 
    • Euro have got a lot wrong and have failed to comply with the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Schedule 4.  According to Section 13 after ECP have written to Arval they should then send a NTH to the Hirer  which they have done.This eliminates Arval from any further pursuit by ECP. When they wrote to your company they should have sent copies of everything that they asked Arval for. This is to prove that your company agree what happened on the day of the breach. If ECP then comply with the Act they are allowed to pursue the hirer. If they fail, to comply they cannot make the hirer pay. They can pursue until they are blue in the face but the Hirer is not lawfully required to pay them and if it went to Court ECP would lose. Your company could say who was driving but the only person that can be pursued is the Hirer, there does not appear to be an extension for a driver to be pursued. Even if there was, because ECP have failed miserably to comply with the Act  they still have no chance of winning in Court. Here are the relevant Hire sections from the Act below.
    • Thank-you FTMDave for your feedback. May I take this opportunity to say that after reading numerous threads to which you are a contributor, I have great admiration for you. You really do go above and beyond in your efforts to help other people. The time you put in to help, in particular with witness statements is incredible. I am also impressed by the way in which you will defer to others with more experience should there be a particular point that you are not 100% clear on and return with answers or advice that you have sought. I wish I had the ability to help others as you do. There is another forum expert that I must also thank for his time and patience answering my questions and allowing me to come to a “penny drops” moment on one particular issue. I believe he has helped me immensely to understand and to strengthen my own case. I shall not mention who it is here at the moment just in case he would rather I didn't but I greatly appreciate the time he took working through that issue with me. I spent 20+ years of working in an industry that rules and regulations had to be strictly adhered to, indeed, exams had to be taken in order that one had to become qualified in those rules and regulations in order to carry out the duties of the post. In a way, such things as PoFA 2012 are rules and regulations that are not completely alien to me. It has been very enjoyable for me to learn these regulations and the law surrounding them. I wish I had found this forum years ago. I admit that perhaps I had been too keen to express my opinions given that I am still in the learning process. After a suitable period in this industry I became Qualified to teach the rules and regulations and I always said to those I taught that there is no such thing as a stupid question. If opinions, theories and observations are put forward, discussion can take place and as long as the result is that the student is able to clearly see where they went wrong and got to that moment where the penny drops then that is a valuable learning experience. No matter how experienced one is, there is always something to learn and if I did not know the answer to a question, I would say, I don't know the answer to that question but I will go and find out what the answer is. In any posts I have made, I have stated, “unless I am wrong” or “as far as I can see” awaiting a response telling me what I got wrong, if it was wrong. If I am wrong I am only too happy to admit it and take it as a valuable learning experience. I take the point that perhaps I should not post on other peoples threads and I shall refrain from doing so going forward. 🤐 As alluded to, circumstances can change, FTMDave made the following point that it had been boasted that no Caggers, over two years, who had sent a PPC the wrong registration snotty letter, had even been taken to court, let alone lost a court hearing .... but now they have. I too used the word "seemed" because it is true, we haven't had all the details. After perusing this forum I believe certain advice changed here after the Beavis case, I could be wrong but that is what I seem to remember reading. Could it be that after winning the above case in question, a claimant could refer back to this case and claim that a defendant had not made use of the appeal process, therefore allowing the claimant to win? Again, in this instance only, I do not know what is to be gained by not making an appeal or concealing the identity of the driver, especially if it is later admitted that the defendant was the driver and was the one to input the incorrect VRN in error. So far no one has educated me as to the reason why. But, of course, when making an appeal, it should be worded carefully so that an error in the appeal process cannot be referred back to. I thought long and hard about whether or not to post here but I wanted to bring up this point for discussion. Yes, I admit I have limited knowledge, but does that mean I should have kept silent? After I posted that I moved away from this forum slightly to find other avenues to increase my knowledge. I bought a law book and am now following certain lawyers on Youtube in the hope of arming myself with enough ammunition to use in my own case. In one video titled “7 Reasons You Will LOSE Your Court Case (and how to avoid them)” by Black Belt Barrister I believe he makes my point by saying the following, and I quote: “If you ignore the complaint in the first instance and it does eventually end up in court then it's going to look bad that you didn't co-operate in the first place. The court is not going to look kindly on you simply ignoring the company and not, let's say, availing yourself of any kind of appeal opportunities, particularly if we are talking about parking charge notices and things like that.” This point makes me think that, it is not such a bizarre judgement in the end. Only in the case of having proof of payment and inputting an incorrect VRN .... could it be worthwhile making a carefully worded appeal in the first instance? .... If the appeal fails, depending on the reason, surely this could only help if it went to court? As always, any feedback gratefully received.
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DLA and ESA Appeal and Tribunal Questions from a Newbie


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Hello,

I hope I have this in the right place as am a new member. I really hope that some one can give me advice because I am completely lost now as to what to do.

I am 26 and have suffered from severe depression for a number of years but since February 2010 it has been so bad that I haven't been able to work. I am self harming, suicidal and taking panic attacks and don't go out without some one being with me (in part due to the panic attacks but I also can't go anywhere new or take new routes to places I know because of Dyspraxia which interferes with my ability to follow directions, coordination etc.) I am attending both a psychiatrist and a psychologist and was assessed by a psychiatrist from my work who determined that I am unfit to work and will be unable to do so for some time. Medication hasn't helped a single bit. Now my work have awarded me their health insurance meaning I get a small percentage of my salary for as long as I am unable to work but they also stated that I had to apply for ESA and DLA, which I did. And I've had nothing but problems since.

I received letters from DWP today advising that after attending their medical assessments I have been awarded 0 points and am not entitiled to any benefits. I have been in a complete mess all day and have just got to the stage that I want to give up fighting everything but eventually managed to calm down enough to phone them between the tears. They are sending out the things I need to appeal but I already have the appeal things for DLA. Despite sending an in depth psychological capability report from my work's psychiatrist (who spent almost 5 hours assessing me) to them they have ignored all information in it saying that I don't need the help or have any of the problems in it that I state. And my doctor and psychiatrist haven't included any information either other than that I have "low mood" (but they are telling me that I can't go back to work because I won't be able to cope.) I was honest at the medical assessment saying that I don't go out at all, I struggle to keep track of anything, don't do any of my hobbies anymore, had to have some one take me in and accompany me, self harm etc but they don't seem to have considered any of this either - despite the fact that the only way I could keep calm during the 10 minute assessment was to gouge a chunk of skin out my hand which the nurse noticed and didn't bother about. So a 10 minute assessment from an ordinary nurse not trained in learning difficulties or psychiatry has been able to say that she knows better than my GP, psychiatrist, psychologist and a work hired psychiatrist and that I can go back to work. If I was able to go back to work I would, I was on a good salary of £1200 per month and seconded onto a leadership role, all of which i have lost with being off ill - I'd give anything to go back and not be claiming the pitance from DWP!!

So my questions are this, given my luck it will get to a tribunal stage which is just more stress. So can some one tell me, please:

1. What does the tribunal entail?

2. What happens if they decline the ESA appeal?

3. Do they contact my doctor and work and tell them that I have to go back despite the fact that I had such a bad panic attack last time I was there I ended up being sick and could hardly breath? 4.Can I just not claim ESA and still be off while my work are paying me health insurance?

 

I'm really really sorry for so many questions and the long post, but I haven't any one else to check this with as the woman who has been helping me from Money Matters has been away on holiday and doesn't get back for another week and I just can't stop worrying about this :Cry:

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Welcome to the site.

There are a number of members on the site who will be able to answer your questions.

In fact some of your questions come up quite frequently.

Try not to worry someone will answer here.

In the meantime,there is some good info in the stickied threads at the top of this forum which you may like to read.

Have a happy and prosperous 2013 by avoiiding Payday loans. If you are sent a private message directing you for advice or support with your issues to another website,this is your choice.Before you decide,consider the users here who have already offered help and support.

Advice offered by Martin3030 is not supported by any legal training or qualification.Members are advised to use the services of fully insured legal professionals when needed.

 

 

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Hello and welcome to CAG. Life does sound tough for you at the moment, I'm sorry. I'll put a couple of answers to your questions below.

 

1. What does the tribunal entail?

 

It won't happen for many months. You'll be called in to see a panel. Have a read of my sticky about ESA appeals, I hope it helps you understand the system. To find the stickies, use the back arrow to come out of your thread and look in the yellow section near the top.

 

2. What happens if they decline the ESA appeal?

 

Well, obviously they won't pay you. I don't know much about re-applying, but I know people here have. Hopefully someone else will comment,

 

3. Do they contact my doctor and work and tell them that I have to go back despite the fact that I had such a bad panic attack last time I was there I ended up being sick and could hardly breath?

 

I don't think they will contact work.

 

4.Can I just not claim ESA and still be off while my work are paying me health insurance?

 

I would say you can. But the offset to your work insurance won't be made up by the insurer, so you'll be a bit worse off than you would be if you get ESA.

 

I hope that helps a bit. If you think the medications isn't helping, have you discussed it with your psychiatrist? It could be that a different one would help.

 

My best, HB

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

 

 

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Just to fill in one of the questions - if you're not successful at appeal, you can reapply for ESA providing it has been at least six months since the decision refusing you ESA, after the medical.

 

You would also be able to reapply for DLA as well.

 

Regarding medical evidence, it is useful if you can get something related to the descriptors that apply to you for ESA, and something that says you can't go out alone for DLA, as well as anything that mentions any additional help with personal care that you may need for DLA - for instance you have dyspraxia, can you make a cooked meal from scratch?

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Thanks all for the replies and sorry for not being on again sooner! I didn't notice the sticky threads unti ltonight and have sat and read them. I wish I had found this site before going for the assessment.

Honeybee - I have discussed my meds with my psychiatrist and although he has given me numerous different medications (so far 10 different medications and various strengths of them all) none of them seem to help so the consensus has been that the tablets just aren't the way forward. So I just need to hope that the psychologist and therapy will help.

Leemack - no I can't cook a meal from scratch but my doctor has no notes of anything to do with my dyspraxia. It was diagnosed at school just before I left and the doctor at the time didn't want to know, so I have been left to deal with it myself as the school decided "well you are leaving soon and will be some one else's problem so there is no point in us getting involved." So I don't have any "proof " from specialists.

I really appreciate the help from you, it's nice to know that some one can give me some advice because I didn't know where to turn.

IN other news - I received the copy of the medical assessment today. The nurse who did it has lied out right about the lenthg of time for the assessment - I was in the assessment centre for 50 minutes, 40 minutes of a wait and 10 minutes of assessment. According to her though I was assessed for an hour!! She hasn't taken note of anything that was said, and half of the questions she has said I answered "doesn't apply to me" she didn't even ask. On top of that, I recognised her name. She didn't introduce herself at the assessment but I recognised her name as soon as I saw it on the paperwork yesterday. I met her once - she is friends of one of my mum's work colleagues. My mum accompanied me on the day of the assessment but couldn't place where she recognised the nurse from. So the nurse knew about me before going as the work colleague told my mum and I that she had discussed my illness with her. And the work colleague is forever telling us about how she (nurse) has said she will (and she said this when my mother met her before) "single handedly stop people claiming benefits - none of the lazy ***s deserve it." So I will make a point of mentioning this to the lady at money matters but I don't know whether I should get in touch with DWP to let them know before discussing this with money matters. Some one upstairs must hate me!!

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I don't know about conflict of interest - certainly GP's at appeal who have previous knowledge of the appellant have to recuse themselves. I would think this should apply to anyone assessing you at medical. Personally, I would put in a complaint, stating the connection, and that the woman had prior knowledge of your illness and knows you, and should not have undertaken the medical, and the fact that she has bias against claimants and possibly against you. Ask for a new medical with someone who will assess you on the facts. You may also want to mention the fact that she lied about the length of the assessment - they have cameras in the waiting room, and could easily confirm what you're saying if they still have the recordings.

 

But certainly someone who already has prior knowledge of you, should not be doing the assessment. How do you know what preconceptions the person already has about you that could colour their assessment.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi

I don't know if this will help you or not but I went through a similar thing with my ESA. I am 28 and made a claim in June 09 for depression and anxiety after being told to leave my Universoty Course (where I was a student Mental Health Nurse - ironic I know) as I was too unwell to continue. I had my medical in October 09 and failed. I was awarded just 6 points for not being able to go to places I knew with out someone with me. The doctor doing the medical basically didn't listen to me. I got letters from my mum, my brother, my kuk sool won instructor and our lodger regarding my 'problems'. I also got a letter from my IAPT therapist and took them along to welfare rights who basically took over the appeal for me. They sent all the info to the esa and asked to revise the decision, they said no so it went to tribunal. I went to the tribunal in Sept 10 and won. I was awarded an additional 24 points. The tribunal was in front of a judge, a psychiatrist and a court worker who documented everything and it lasted less than an hour. They only focused on specific points of my medical that were relevent to my case and were really nice.

I don't know of this post helps you but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone and I went through something similar and won.

good luck

Lisa x

Pinklisar

:p:razz:

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IN other news - I received the copy of the medical assessment today. The nurse who did it has lied out right about the lenthg of time for the assessment - I was in the assessment centre for 50 minutes, 40 minutes of a wait and 10 minutes of assessment. According to her though I was assessed for an hour!! She hasn't taken note of anything that was said, and half of the questions she has said I answered "doesn't apply to me" she didn't even ask. On top of that, I recognised her name. She didn't introduce herself at the assessment but I recognised her name as soon as I saw it on the paperwork yesterday. I met her once - she is friends of one of my mum's work colleagues. My mum accompanied me on the day of the assessment but couldn't place where she recognised the nurse from. So the nurse knew about me before going as the work colleague told my mum and I that she had discussed my illness with her. And the work colleague is forever telling us about how she (nurse) has said she will (and she said this when my mother met her before) "single handedly stop people claiming benefits - none of the lazy ***s deserve it." So I will make a point of mentioning this to the lady at money matters but I don't know whether I should get in touch with DWP to let them know before discussing this with money matters. Some one upstairs must hate me!!

 

It might be worth making a complaint. It's not her job to assess people and then write stuff that implies they're fit for work, based on her opinion of the welfare system.

 

With regards to DLA - are you keeping a diary? Can you get statements from friends and family, explaining they've had to help you do thing?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi, I am new on here but wanted to share my experience of DLA and the appeal system. My 13 year old son has a kidney and bladder disorder. He has been getting DLA since he was a baby. During good times in his life he got lower rate of care component and difficult times highest rate. The rate determined by whether we had to do manual catheterization or not. I had to re-apply for DLA in July this year and although he was getting help with bodily function he was only given lowest rate of the care component. I asked them to reassess and provided medical evidence to support this request. It was kept at lowest rate so I appealed. The appeal board asked the DWP to reconsider and again it was kept at lowest rate. On 18 Feb I went to the appeal, and took with me all my son's medical records from Great Ormond Street, together with letters from consultants, doctors and our GP. Within 20 minutes he was unanomously awarded middle rate of cc which had to be backdated to July 2011. I sent a copy of the appeal decision notice to the DWP as I have read on previous threads here that it speeds them up updating their system. It is very true. Today I called them and was told that a letter is on its way to me and that the arrears have been paid into my bank account, issued today. The key message here is to be prepared and to take every piece of relevant information with you to an appeal. There is a Judge, a Doctor and a person who has knowledge of disability themselves, so its fair to say that jointly they will have a good understanding of what criteria need to be met for each of the rates. Once you leave the appeal after a win, copy the decision notice and send it to the DWP with a letter saying your bank details are the same as before, and that the person has not been in residential or hospital care and not been out of the country. It really speeds it up. Mine took 12 days from appeal date to payment date. Hope it helps.

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The issue with the nurse is an ethical one and my understanding from my own studies at university is that she would have had to recuse herself when she realised she knew you and there is a conflict of interest. We all have to do it lawyers, Doctors, Psychologists the lot...I am sure its the same rule for her.

 

You can complain about this and ask for recourse...they will need to give you another assessment without the new person knowing anything about the issue with the previous nurse. You need to provide evidence that the person knew you and you need to REQUEST that the new assessor does not have access to the notes the previous nurse has made. You also have the right under the Freedom of Information Act to see what information the DWP hold about you although this request must be put to them in writing.

 

Hope all goes well for you and you get the result you are after.

 

 

Thanks all for the replies and sorry for not being on again sooner! I didn't notice the sticky threads unti ltonight and have sat and read them. I wish I had found this site before going for the assessment.

Honeybee - I have discussed my meds with my psychiatrist and although he has given me numerous different medications (so far 10 different medications and various strengths of them all) none of them seem to help so the consensus has been that the tablets just aren't the way forward. So I just need to hope that the psychologist and therapy will help.

Leemack - no I can't cook a meal from scratch but my doctor has no notes of anything to do with my dyspraxia. It was diagnosed at school just before I left and the doctor at the time didn't want to know, so I have been left to deal with it myself as the school decided "well you are leaving soon and will be some one else's problem so there is no point in us getting involved." So I don't have any "proof " from specialists.

I really appreciate the help from you, it's nice to know that some one can give me some advice because I didn't know where to turn.

IN other news - I received the copy of the medical assessment today. The nurse who did it has lied out right about the lenthg of time for the assessment - I was in the assessment centre for 50 minutes, 40 minutes of a wait and 10 minutes of assessment. According to her though I was assessed for an hour!! She hasn't taken note of anything that was said, and half of the questions she has said I answered "doesn't apply to me" she didn't even ask. On top of that, I recognised her name. She didn't introduce herself at the assessment but I recognised her name as soon as I saw it on the paperwork yesterday. I met her once - she is friends of one of my mum's work colleagues. My mum accompanied me on the day of the assessment but couldn't place where she recognised the nurse from. So the nurse knew about me before going as the work colleague told my mum and I that she had discussed my illness with her. And the work colleague is forever telling us about how she (nurse) has said she will (and she said this when my mother met her before) "single handedly stop people claiming benefits - none of the lazy ***s deserve it." So I will make a point of mentioning this to the lady at money matters but I don't know whether I should get in touch with DWP to let them know before discussing this with money matters. Some one upstairs must hate me!!

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