Housing and council tax benefit appeals
What can I do if I do not agree with the decision made about my housing/council tax benefit?
If you do not agree with a decision made about your benefit you should contact us straight away. If you want us to look at the decision again or if you want to appeal against it, you must contact us within one month of the date on the decision notification letter. All requests must be made in writing and be signed by the person affected (the claimant and in limited cases, the landlord - see our appeal form below). We will explain the decision to you and inform you of any further action you can take if you are still unhappy.
Do you want us to look at the decision again?
If so, you must write to us within one month of the date of the notification letter. If you ask for a verbal explanation first, the one month is still counted from the date of the decision letter. However, if you ask for a written explanation no account is taken of the time from the day a request for a written explanation is received until the day the explanation is provided. We will look at your case again. We will then write to you and let you know the outcome. We will also let you know what further action you can take if you are still unhappy with the decision made. Once we write to you the one month allowed from the date of the notification letter begins to count down again and you have the remainder of the month allowed to make any further appeal.
Do you want to formally appeal against the decision?
If so, we will pass your case to the Tribunals Service, who will be responsible for arranging an independent tribunal to review the decision. It is important that your appeal is received by us within one month of the date of the last decision. If your appeal is late, then you must show that there were special reasons why you did not appeal in time. You need to write down all your reasons for appealing against the decision. This will ensure that the tribunal considers all the relevant facts.
The Tribunals Service will arrange for an independent tribunal to hear your appeal at the first-tier. They aim to do this within 14 weeks of the date they receive all the information. You will be invited to attend the tribunal to support your case. This is optional. We may also send one of our officers to the tribunal hearing. After hearing all the evidence, the first-tier tribunal will make a decision regarding the issue under dispute. You will be told of this decision in writing.
If you do not agree with the appeal tribunal's decision you may be able to appeal to the upper tribunal. The upper tribunal judges are barristers, solicitors or advocates of not less than ten years' standing and are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. They are independent of both the Department for Work and Pensions and the council. You can only appeal to the upper tribunal if you believe the tribunal has not applied the law correctly to your case.
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