A mother who had her Personal Independence Payment (PIP) withdrawn after brain surgery, as she was considered not ill enough, has expressed her joy after successfully winning her case at tribunal.

Sarah Drinkwater, 48, is encouraging others who have been denied PIP to persist in their fight for justice, especially if they believe they are entitled to the benefit.

Earlier this year, Aasma Day covered Ms. Drinkwater’s story. She believes that sharing her experience publicly played a key role in getting her case heard more quickly at the tribunal. You may remember that Fightback were featured in the original article which we shared a few weeks ago.

Content warning: this article contains graphic medical images. Quotes are direct from the article and have been shared by Fightback to highlight our involvement.

Ms. Drinkwater admitted that she had nearly lost hope, as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) made her feel like she was fighting a losing battle. However, she now wants to encourage others who may feel intimidated or afraid of taking their own case to tribunal, urging them not to give up.

Are part of the updated article, Michelle commented that “We are really pleased to hear Sarah Drinkwater won her case and that she spoke up about her story as it encourages more people to fight back against such decisions.

“It is a common occurrence and we are finding around 40 per cent of our appeals are dealt with in advance and 90 per cent are overturned at tribunal. So nine out of 10 decisions are wrong and overturned at tribunal stage.

“Writing to the claimant a few weeks or sometimes even days before the tribunal is standard practice by the DWP. Often, they also send a presenting officer to the hearing and that further intimidates clients.

“But all these things don’t stop the tribunal panel from making the decision that is right and they are doing this in nine out 10 appeals.

“This shows the high level of PIP claims which are being refused on review or on first claim which if people fight on and proceed to court, they have a high chance of getting a positive decision in their favour.”

You can read the full article on iNews here – https://inews.co.uk/news/pip-stopped-brain-surgery-took-court-won-3318060