On this page:
To write an effective submission, ideally you should:
It's always worth getting advice about a PIP appeal from an advice agency that provides free, independent advice. An adviser may be able to help you with these steps and may be willing to draft a submission on your behalf.
To find an advice agency near you, check advicelocal.uk
When making decisions, the DWP and the First-tier Tribunal must apply the relevant law. It has no discretion to ignore it and can’t alter it. The main sources of social security law are in legislation and caselaw.
The DWP’s response to your appeal normally sets out the law it has relied on to reach its decision. However, the DWP doesn’t always interpret the law correctly or apply the law correctly to your circumstances. It’s important to look at what the law says to know what facts you have to prove to win your appeal.
As well as checking the law mentioned in the DWP’s response, you can find the law relevant to your appeal by looking up the issues raised in your appeal in our Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers). Then, check the reference for the information given in the text, which should tell you the legal source of that information.
If a complex legal issue is involved and you have an adviser, your adviser can help you establish the best arguments to put forward in your submission. Your adviser can contact us for further help if necessary.
Legislation includes Acts of Parliament (primary legislation) and regulations, rules and orders (secondary legislation). Broadly, Acts of Parliament set out the main framework for the rules about particular benefits and their administration, and rules and regulations set out the details.
Sometimes the legislation is amended; the legislation relevant to your appeal is the legislation in force on the date of the decision you are appealing against. You can look up the legislation online and see the changes to it over time at legislation.gov.uk.
Caselaw clarifies how the rules in the legislation should be interpreted and applied. For example, what the meaning of particular words or concepts in the legislation should be. Caselaw relevant to PIP is made up of decisions of:
Their decisions on points of law ‘set precedent’, which means that the DWP, lower courts and tribunals must follow them in similar cases (they are ‘binding’ on them).
Decisions of the First-tier Tribunal are not caselaw. They don’t have to be followed by the DWP in other cases or by other tribunals or courts.
If an Upper Tribunal decision is particularly important, it is 'reported'. If an unreported decision conflicts with a reported decision, the reported decision is normally applied.
A decision made by a three-judge panel of the Upper Tribunal is given preference over a decision made by a single judge.
If you see 'UKUT' as part of a legal reference (like this: ET v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (UC) [2021] UKUT 47 (AAC)), that means it’s a decision of the UK Upper Tribunal. If the reference also includes 'AACR', it means that the decision has been reported because it’s a leading decision.
The DWP publishes guidance for its decision makers and for assessment providers who do PIP health assessments. These explain the DWP’s interpretation of the law.
Sometimes the law could be interpreted differently, or the DWP’s interpretation is incorrect. So, if the guidance does not support your case, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your appeal won’t be successful. The success of your appeal depends on what the law says rather than what the guidance says. However, if the guidance supports points you’ve raised in your appeal, it may be worth mentioning this in your submission as it adds weight to your argument about your entitlement.
DWP guidance on PIP includes:
Broadly, a fact is relevant if it helps to confirm whether you meet the legal requirements for what you're arguing you’re entitled to. The tribunal expects you to help it establish the relevant facts as far as you can.
The tribunal then has to decide what it thinks the true facts are (in other words, what your true situation is) – for example, when you and the DWP disagree about them or when there is contradictory evidence. However, even when there’s no disagreement or contradiction, the tribunal can come to its own conclusion about the facts if this is supported by the evidence.
If possible, try to get more evidence that supports your statements about the relevant facts, particularly on points where you and the DWP disagree.
When you read the DWP’s response, it’s useful to identify the facts that the DWP has relied on to reach its decision.
The point of Paola’s appeal is to show that she’s entitled to the standard rate of the mobility component of PIP. The relevant facts concern her ability to move around (as she has no difficulty with planning and following journeys). Relevant facts might include the following:
These are just examples; other facts may also be relevant.
It’s important to read the DWP’s response and all the documents in the appeal bundle carefully so that you understand the DWP's reasons for its decision. You should check:
To prepare your submission you need to understand the reasons the DWP reached its decision and particularly the reasons for the parts of the decision you disagree with. To do this, think about:
In deciding what the facts of your case are, the tribunal considers the evidence. Unlike in some other courts, there are no rules about what type of evidence the First-tier Tribunal can or cannot take into account; all kinds of evidence can be considered.
The tribunal has to ‘weigh’ the evidence to decide what it considers the facts to be. This may involve it assessing how ‘reliable’ the evidence is. For example, when considering how your health problem or disability affects you, the tribunal may look at the details you gave to the DWP (such as, on a claim form and when you requested a mandatory reconsideration of the decision) and to the healthcare assessor (if you had a health assessment) as well as the information you give in the hearing. They’re unlikely to try to ‘catch you out’ but if there are glaring, unexplained inconsistencies in your evidence, the tribunal may consider it to be less reliable. For this reason, it’s important explain the reason for any significant inconsistencies.
The DWP decided Frankie shouldn’t score any points for the PIP activity ‘Planning and following journeys’ as the healthcare assessor who conducted their PIP assessment said Frankie could reliably plan and follow even an unfamiliar journey alone without an orientation aid or prompting.
Frankie has consistently said to the DWP that they cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without someone with them. They have submitted letters from their GP and support worker that explicitly confirm this. The tribunal has to consider which evidence it prefers: that of the healthcare assessor or the evidence of Frankie, Frankie’s GP and support worker combined.
You don’t necessarily have to get more evidence to support your appeal. The tribunal can make its decision on the basis of the evidence already in the appeal bundle. Also, what you say to the tribunal doesn’t have to be supported by other evidence (’corroborated’) to be accepted by the tribunal.
However, the tribunal will decide your appeal by looking at the law, facts and evidence. This means that any additional evidence that you can get, which confirms the facts that are relevant to establishing your case, is likely increase your chance of success.
The stronger the evidence is which supports your appeal, the more chance you have of winning your appeal. If possible, try to get supportive evidence and send it to the tribunal in advance. The more closely the evidence applies to the point of your appeal, the more the tribunal is likely to consider it relevant and important.
It doesn't matter if the evidence (including medical evidence) is dated after the date of the decision, as long as it clearly relates to your condition at the time of the decision you’ve appealed. The tribunal can’t take into account any changes in your circumstances that occur after that date. This includes if your condition has got worse.
The tribunal rarely gets evidence for you (unless, in exceptional cases, it considers that it’s necessary for making a decision). However, if you think that the DWP may have other relevant evidence that hasn’t been included in the appeal bundle (such as a previous medical report), you can ask the tribunal to direct it to produce this.
If your appeal is about whether you meet the disability conditions for PIP, it’s useful to get supportive medical evidence if you can. It can help you counter evidence in the healthcare professional’s medical report which the DWP has obtained.
The DWP tends to rely heavily on what has been said in the healthcare professional’s medical report and may argue that this should be given more weight than evidence from your own GP.
However, caselaw has established that:
Sometimes it’s difficult to get medical evidence – for example, your GP may say they don’t have the resources to provide a letter. You can’t insist that your GP or whoever is treating you or providing you with medical care gives you evidence for your appeal. And even if they’re willing to do so, you may be charged for it.
To be given 'weight' by the tribunal, your medical evidence should focus on what is relevant to your appeal. A diagnosis and list of treatments is less useful than a letter stating how you are affected by your condition, ideally referring to the point of the appeal. However, it’s best to make it clear that you're asking the doctor or other medical professional to express their own opinion.
If your appeal is about the disability conditions for PIP:
Getting other evidence that supports your appeal can also be helpful. For example, you could:
