Sen advocate - EHCP indipendent school placement

[Sssteph]

Hello everyone,
I need a Sen advocate, I need it in case La doesn't accept the indipendent school I want for my child on his EHCP. Anyone had experience with Sensasadvocacy? Any suggestions? Thank you in advance:)

No personal experience of SEN SAS, but I have heard several good comments about them but also some negative.

If you go down the advocate route, choose carefully. It is an unregulated area and while some are good, some do more harm than good.

And importantly, if you have to appeal and money is limited, prioritise independent reports over representation. The best representation in the country can only work with the case’s evidence.

Thank you so much for the suggestion. I am having some difficulties finding an advocate I can trust. Thank you again

I’d defo go for a “team / company” and not a singular person. That was my mistake (had both)
I’ve been burnt by a single advocate due to ill health / holidays and left due to not managing her workload.
Also, I got burnt by “fixed fee” but then added significantly more ££££ thousands than promised. Which was naughty as what I asked for representation was the same throughout (nothing additional was added)
Equally be weary of where they volunteer / work I thought everything would be wonderful due to concrete knowledge however the person didn’t follow up with the goods / always last minute to the hr / never did deadlines. In the end I was so cross with her and her extravagant holidays and missing the tribunal I ended the relationship after demanding more cash (and she made huge mistakes massively which in turn ended up in having delayed us by 1 yr if not more compared to myself who could of filled in the forms (but not amazing) but logged the appeal 2 months earlier / brought the heading forward due to CME and also TR all of which was an advocate who works for a glowing charity) so pick wisely! Go with a team. Get a proper contract.

Good luck

I think it is more about the individual person/individual organisation rather than a blanket individual vs team. There are well known teams/companies who have poor reviews, including sometimes for missing deadlines, taking ages to return contact and even ghosting, so unfortunately, going for a team isn’t a guarantee.

If you are going to spend thousands on representation and are comfortable doing some of the work yourself, you might as well look at a direct access barrister. With the added bonus of no hidden costs.

I honestly feel I have a strong case, I know.all the reports, but I do not know the law so I need support with that. Having some phone calls and hopefully I will try someone able to help, or at least to support me during mediation and/or tribunal 🤞