Having had the opportunity to sit in on a days tribunals, I came away with the extremely* strong impression that the panel were the first and last point in the process where truly fair and just expert decision making was done.
It was a couple of years ago and I hope it hadn’t changed too much with the pressures on the system now - Quaint what do you think? Am interested to know...
I suspect the high standard of fairness and clear thinking hadn’t changed much, because their loyalty isn’t to the individual government policy or party of the moment, and they don’t bow down to pressure from targets or a culture of demonising the disabled.
They also don’t belong to any of the company’s that pip assessment centres have been farmed out to.
They exist as part of the judiciary really - so they are about the law, which is about facts, evidence and analysis, and therefore much less easily swayed.
I suspect for many pip applicants the tribunal is the first taste of respect, courtesy and well, justice!
I would have a little more hope, if you can? Though I know how hard it is to feel anything other than flattened by this whole experience so far. But, if you genuinely think you have a case, they will try to be fair. They won’t try and trip you up, and start from an assumption of guilt and prejudice in the way that the pip assessments are known for.
If you can give them all the information and evidence you possibly can, then theyll be looking to understand your situation. They are used to large bundles of papers, so don’t worry about overwhelming them! Just ensure you haven’t got completely irrelevant stuff in there.
Yes, they will be tough, they are very analytical, and look at every angle to find the truth of how your disability stacks up against the pip rules and points system, they won’t just throw on a few points because they’re kind or anything like that (!)... but they will be open to your side, and they will also be able to see through all the bluster and noise from the other side.
It’s a shame people are cowed and bullied into giving up before they get to this stage, so it’s great you’ve managed to get through to it.
*I was deciding whether to go for the position of disability expert on tribunal panels, sadly realised my health wasn’t up to it. I’m still on DLA and privately terrified of the pip assessment which will happen at some point. I will have to take my own advice and keep pushing through to tribunal if needs be.