Expenses incurred in preparing for appeal

I have ME/CFS. There are no services in my area for people with my condition so I had to pay £250 to see a consultant privately in order to get a report from him in support of my appeal. Can I claim this as an expense?

Hiya,

Most of us who require additional support from GP's/Consultants/OT's etc do so privately.

You can google your local area in the given fiels of expertise within the medical sector to find the most appropriate person and telephone and discuss your problems and ask how much a consultation and report will cost.

You can then provide this extra support with your ESA 50 and what's more send a copy to your NHS GP and arrange an apt to discuss the findings with him after he has had time to read it.
This will then help you to get him to see that you do have a problem and he can appropriate the best treatment from the NHS from then on.

I still do this both with my OT NHS/OT Private and Consultants NHS/Consultants Private.
Once a year this then helps to back up all.

As my problem is physical I also managed to see thru my NHS GP the Local Authority OT and they to will write reports.

Try it all and see what helps you

Good luck

Ooops forgot to say in my previous message, that once I found out the costs, I then saw the private Consultants/OT's etc, paid for the reports and consultations.
Used those photocopies to send along with my ESA and copies to my NHS GP.

Thanks but this consultant is the best person in his filed in my area and he charges £250 fora one-hour appointment. There is no treatment for ME/CFS and no-one to whom I can be referred on the NHS.

Thanks, Gordon. I will contact the Tribunal Service on Monday. I don't hold out much hope, either but it's worth asking.