Thank you so much for your help. I have now emailed my local CAB asking to put me in touch with Welfare Rights and over the weekend I will search about for some charities in relation to loss of hearing. I will also contact the tribunal place and enquire about representatives and their rules. Thank you so much again.

Thanks for this. I will email my local CAB now and see if they can offer me help in any form. After reading your sticky thread I am very much terrified of going for my tribnal now! One question I do have is, if nobody is allowed to speak on my behalf, are they at least able to repeat the questions for me or write them down so I can answer them?

Thanks for your response, I will be sure to look at this now. I have only spoken with CAB which was in regards to the DWP messing up my payments as I am still receiving assessment phase amount until the outcome of my tribunal. I am all so new to this so I hadn't considered contacting charities but that shall be next on my list. I cannot afford someone such as a solicitor to represent me. I was told by a friend that it is possible to get representation if I qualify for it but wouldn't know where to start if i'm honest!

Hi there, im requiring some advice if anyone has suffered similar problems to me. Back in February I applied for ESA in regards to a hearing loss I have. Since the age of 12 I have had test after test but all these tests have resolved as inconclusive! As always, I put down the details of my GP and consultant on the form, but because my test results cant help me in the way i need them too I have no actual evidence on paper. We all know how rubbish ATOS are, and as expected, the examiner made out there was nothing wrong with me, despite him having to speak extremely slowly and clearly and having to ask him to repeat himself a number of times, as well as asking my partner to help me understand what he was saying! A few things stood out on the report, one main one being 'because I can use a laptop I can communicate fine'! I find it extremely interesting as to how im meant to carry a laptop around with me 24/7 just so i can communicate with people. The best part of the examination was when i was asked to face the wall and he went to the other side of the room and i was to repeat what he said, bearing in mind I didnt even know he had spoken! With no surprises the DWP turned down my claim, to which I appealed. Wrote an extremely long explanation of how i suffer due to my hearing loss as well as depression because of it. Once again this was unsatisfactory! I am now in the process of waiting for my tribunal date to come through. I have scoured the internet on how I can help myself and have currently sent a 3 page explanation on how my life has been since i lost my hearing. Also my step father and my aunt have written a personal statement in regards to how they've seen myself cope and how frustrating it is for them. I am diliberating asking my GP to do one also as when I see her she has to communicate with my partner because i cannot understand what she's saying. I'm wondering if anyone can give me any advice as to whether they think this could help me case or if they feel I should do something different? One other thing is i've been ill for the past 3 months or so with something that is non-relative to my hearing. I am currently waiting for a diagnosis on this. If it turns out to be something unwanted would I have to inform the dwp in writing or complete another esa form for this? Thanks!

I purchased a laptop from Very last September/October. Over time it has needed repair numerous times. First time, the charger stopped working - They had no idea why. Second time, the charger stopped working. Complained of overheating. The screws on the bottom fell out. One screw left was holding it in. - This time they didn't take the laptop in for service, they asked us to post the charger to them, and asked for pictures of the charger port to be emailed. They rang us and said "If we have to take your laptop in for service and find nothing wrong with it you will be charged £63". In the end they just sent me a bunch of screws and a brand new charger. Its now not even 2 months later and the charger adaptor has melted over whilst being in rhe laptop, and the temperature of the heat on it has made the pin in the charger port bend. Decided enough was enough so went for a look through their Terms and Conditions. Only thing I could find to do with faulty goods was: "Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 you have the right to sue the supplier, us or both if you have received unsatisfactory goods or services paid for under this agreement costing more than £100 and less than £30,000." Gave them a phone call Tuesday, had a very rude bloke on the other end until I mentioned the above clause. The call resulted in him telling me I would receive a call tomorrow (Wednesday), and that I will get a replacement and a new model. Of course, the call never came. So today I've called them again. The tech I spoke to didn't know his backside from his elbow. Tried telling me that the overheating from the laptop had NOT made the charger pin bend. A child could explain how heat causes metal to bend! So I made another call back to the catalogue, the girl said she was going to make a call to the Tech place and get a report on my laptop and call me back. Call comes 20 minutes later, she says they refuse to do anything and that my only option is to pay £60 and send it to their Tech place. If the conclusion is a Manufacture problem I will receive my £60 back. If it isn't I'm £60 out of pocket. I'm at the end of my tether with these people. I Have now point blankly refused to pay anymore on my account and told the girl I will be taking this further. Her response, "OK whatever." I'm only 21 myself so cannot say I'm clued up with all the legal stuff. If anyone has any advice that will help me I would very much appreciate it! Sorry about the long post too!

I'm looking for some advice in regards to Halifax > Wescott > iQor > Geoffery ParkerBourne.. My fiance apparently incurred bank charges of £367.80 with Halifax some time back though he feels they were wrongly given. We had an agreement with Wescott to pay £20 a month back but on a £350 a month wage after bills and food etc its pretty tough. So we stopped the payments, had a numerous amount of letters and calls from iQor and now have received a letter from Geoffery ParkerBoune stating we have seven days to pay the full payment else legal action will be taken. I was slightly suspicious of the letter after all I read about iQor before and came across this forum about GPB to which I have seen i'm not the only person to have dealings with them. I'm not the most clued up person about things like this so any advice anyone can give me would be extremely appreciated as we are unsure how to proceed with this. Thanks.