Client applied for AA 2001/02 (Wembley office), after having a massive disabling stroke, GP apparently completed a factual report with details of above. Claim turned down.

Have contacted Blackpool advisers line to try to get copies of forms and med evidence, was then contacted by local Bristol office? who told me there was no evidence it had been archived and they thought it had been destroyed etc. Anyone got any ideas,advice, suggestions etc etc etc please on the off chance there is a way to resurrect the above.

yours errrrrrrrrr hopefully andy

Have you asked the GP? Doctors never throw anything away...

I have been told in the past by a DLA Decision Maker that medical evidence should never be destroyed. They do however, destroy claim forms and clerical details. It might be worth asking for the file to be found at their storage facility.

(You'll have a very long wait, but that's another story)

Hi Belaibel and Stephen, thanks for your response, i have not contacted the GP at this stage partly because he has apparently retired and it's not a local surgery (it's in the Milton Keynes area, having said that i'll have a word with the clients about contacting their old health centre.

As for the "medical evidence should never be destroyed and worth asking for the file to be found at their storage facility", Stephen can you do me a favour before i start contacting customer services etc and let me know any experience, advice and tips you have of going down this route etc as it definitively looks worth trying.

Lastly, i know i'm not the first welf to post on this area and i won't be the last, but have any of the more salubrious Advice Agencies/Lobbying groups got any thoughts on the general policy of the destruction of claim forms etc after such a short period of time ie campaigns.

andy

Request a search for the file from their storage facility, it will take about 6 months to retrieve the file. After 6 months write/phone the section dealing with your client and get them to badger the storage facility. If still no joy, then put in a complaint using the Ophelia argument.

Forgive me for being dim, but what's the Ophelia argument? (I'm sure I ought to know this).

Thanks Stephen, i'll give it a go. Oh on the subject of dimness errrr what's the Ophelia argument?

andy

The Ophelia argument (actually, widely misunderstood) is where there has been a destruction/spoliation of documents and the argument runs that the destroyed documents contains information which undermines the destroyer's case (if I can put it that way) and that is why the documents were destroyed.

Such arguments are rare nowadays and very unlikely to succeed

See the commentary to section 71 of the Admin Act for a ggod discussion of the issues.

Thanks for that. I'll go look it up.

so will i.