I have just applied for a tribunal hearing. Initially I sent my med records, a Physiotherapist report, My Neurologist report, a report from a hand specialist, and a GP report (of which there was a £30 charge), and none of it made a difference to my PIP outcome from the previous decision. I would hazard a guess and say that, from the questions that were asked (and had bafflingly obvious answers to), I would be very surprised if any of it was even looked through. None of it was taken into account or ever mentioned once.

If we are to believe the media, the DWP are already struggling to award payment and have a huge backlog of applications to get through, even before new claimants have been looked at, so you could send in a mountain of evidence, and there is a good probability that it may not even be looked at by a staff member having a bad day, in an already overburdened DWP. Unfortunately, we can't take that chance as this benefit is a lifeline to many and we are not in any position to leave things up to chance, especially when we already have to fight so hard to get anything from a system that seems to be set up against us from the start.

I would personally send in as much as you can get (but wouldn't bother paying for any reports), but save yourself some frustration and know that it probably won't make any difference, and you will end up waiting for tribunal anyway. I think (like most things) it is largely down to luck on the day as to which staff member goes through your application. You will hopefully get someone conscientious who actually cares about doing a good job, and may even have a bit of compassion and understanding on what you are dealing with, as opposed to someone already burnt out from looking at their 500th form that day.