Appeals

When we have dealt with your claim for benefit we will send you a benefit decision letter which will show you the information we have used to work out your benefit. 

You should check this letter carefully.

If you are a landlord, you can ask us about a decision whether housing benefit is to be paid directly to you or about a decision to recover an overpayment from you.

If you are an appointee for another person you can ask us to look again at a decision about their benefit and you may be able to appeal for them.  The letter telling you about the decision will tell you if you can appeal.  An appointee is someone appointed by us to act for a person who cannot act for themselves.

Do you understand our benefit decision?

If you do not understand our benefit decision or you want to know more, you should get in touch with us and ask us to explain it. It is important to do this as you only have one calendar month to ask us to look at the decision or to appeal.

Contact the Council page for the different ways you can get in touch or download the Appeals Leaflet (PDF, 620KB) for more information.

You can ask us to explain the reasons for the decision and you could also ask us for a written statement of reasons for the decision.  If you still disagree with the decision, you can ask us to look at it again or appeal against the decision.  If you asked for a written statement of reasons the one month you have to ask us to look at the decision again or to appeal against it will be extended by the time we took to send the statement of reasons.

What if you think the decision is wrong?       

If we have explained the decision to you and you still think that it is wrong, you can ask us to:

• Look at our decision again and check that the decision is correct; or
• Pass your case to an independent tribunal that is run by the Tribunals Service

In order to do this, you must write and tell us why you think your benefit is wrong. You (or your representative) must also tell us whether you want us to look at the decision again or pass your case to the Tribunals Service.

What happens when you ask the Council to look at the decision again?

A second decision maker, who has not looked at your claim before, will look at the decision again. They will check your claim thoroughly and take account of any more information you have given in your letter.

If the decision can be changed and you asked us to look at the decision again within the one calendar month time limit, we will change the decision from the date of the original decision. But if you asked us to look at our decision again after one month and did not have special circumstances, the decision will usually be changed from the date you asked us on.

• If you do not agree with the new decision, you can ask us to look at it again.
• We will send you a letter telling you what the new decision is.

If the decision cannot be changed

• If the decision cannot be changed, we will send you a letter telling you that we cannot change it. The letter will confirm the original decision.
• The letter will tell you if you can appeal against the original decision.
• If you can appeal, the one calendar month time limit starts again from the date of the letter confirming the decision.