Industrial Injuries Tribunal advice.

[honestbear]

Hey folks i had a medical and was classed as 14% disabled but the medical didn't include my neck problems which my Physio had told me had come from the accident with my back.I asked the DWP to consider this so i had to appeal.I know have my tribunal letter in and on the same day i was told that MRI scans showed i had wear and tear on my neck.Is it worth continuing or should i just withdraw.

 

Thanks to anybody for looking.

[queensclose]

It depends if the consultant says that the accident has hasten the the injury. For example you wouldn't have had a problem for 6 yrs if you didn't have the accident.

[honestbear]

It depends if the consultant says that the accident has hasten the the injury. For example you wouldn't have had a problem for 6 yrs if you didn't have the accident.

 

As far as i'm concerned it was always due to the accident which was in 2006, i'm just worried about approching the tribunal without any proof.I did have a private doctor who excels in his field help me after the accident for a few years who then stopped working on my neck due to risk of Arthritis.I cant contact him anymore as he left his wife and done a runner!

[queensclose]

Did you bring this up at the original assessment. Did the dwp say they wasn't including your neck

[honestbear]

I've always mentioned my neck and it is noted on there list but they said it wasnt connected to the accident.It was only 2 weeks after the assesment that i started recieving physio again and he said it was the accident. An MRI scan last week showed wear and tear in the neck.

[queensclose]

I,m just a bit of a loss.

 

When you had your original assessment. You were assessed on how your life had changed since the accIdent. Did you request a copy of the assessment. This will help in seeing what the assessor has put.

And you can flag up you side to the appeal.

I personally won't have the appeal until you have a copy of the assessment because if you fail on the appeal you can only reappeal on a point of law.

This is your one and only chance..

Is the14% for life or review at a later date. The private doctor was he part of injury claim against your employer.

It will be a push getting it to 20% but do it correct and you may just do it

 

The assessors alway go way below anyway. I,ve seen people on 6% get to 20% on appeal. But first things first get a copy of the assessment

[jacobsl]

Hi, I wouldn't give up. I don't know how old you are but the majority of people have wear and tear changes in their spines as they age so yours could just be a coincidental finding and doesn't necessarily mean that they are causing your problems or that if you hadn't had your accident they would have become painful. If you enter into your browser 'magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine in asymptomatic people' you will find a number of research based evidence which you could send to the tribunal. Studies have been extensively carried out on people with no pain or symptoms whereby MRI scans have been performed and a large number of these asymptomatic people have been found to have abnormal findings on their scans.

[honestbear]

Jacobsl thanks very much for the advice, i have withdrawn my appeal after listening to advice from my doctor and physio who both said that it would be hard to prove that the accident caused the neck pain and not arthritis.I have just turned 37 and my neck pain was indicated in my first medical back in 2008 and has been mentioned in 2009,2010 and 2011 reports.In my opinion the accident caused the neck pain but the cervical manipulation treatment i received many times to help certainly has made it worse.Does the treatment i got hamper my appeal or is the treatment considered to be part of the accident?Thanks again and i will look out for what you suggested.

[jacobsl]

Dear Honestbear, I understand how you must feel and how difficult it is trying to stand up for what you believe especially to doctors.

 

I don't know the nature of your accident but if you started with pain after your accident then I believe you have a case. As I explained before, the majority of the population has some form of abnormality in their spine, including arthritis, but this doesn't mean it will lead to pain and disability. If you hadn't had your accident you may or may not have developed pain in the future and if you did, it may possibly have been at a much older age.

 

Regarding the treatment you had, if you hadn't had your accident you wouldn't have needed to go for any so it shouldn't matter that your pain has increased.

 

Most industrial injury claims are denied and go on to a tribunal appeal and the majority then succeed so if I were you I would go to appeal.

 

By the way, the Government and the CAB have complained to the Department of Work and Pensions about the amount of claims that need to go to Tribunal and have then succeeded.