Appeal Housing Benefit decision
If you believe that the decision on your housing benefits is wrong, Here are your steps in the appeal process
- Firstly ask us for an explanation on the decision. You can do this by writing to us and ask us for a detailed statement telling you how we came to the decision and how we calculated the figure shown on the housing benefit letter you have received.
- Next step is to inform us of the wrong information and ask us to look at the decision again. You will need to provide evidence of what you think is wrong, so that we can look at your claim again. For example, if you do not think we are using the correct income details you can upload pay slips to us from your customer portal for the relevant period. Once we have reassessed your claim we will let you know the outcome by email.
- If you feel the decision is still wrong
you can make an appeal:
- You must appeal within one month of the date stated on your housing benefit letter. You will need to give us full details of what you think is wrong and why you do not agree with our original decision so that a specialist benefits officer can review it
- If we cannot change the decision in your favour, your appeal will be passed directly to the independent Tribunal Service.
- If you make an appeal after a month or within 13 months, you will need to give an explanation for the delay, clearly giving the reasons for the dispute.
Your right to appeal
Asking for a statement or for us to review you claim does not take away your right to submit a formal appeal.
If you ask for an explanation, or for us to look at our decision again, then you will be allowed extra time if you wish to follow the other options later. We will give you more details about extensions to time limits once you have told us what, if anything, you would like us to do.
Additionally, you are able, at any time, to ask us for a written explanation of any decision we have made.
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You should ask us for an explanation on the decision
You can do this by writing to us and ask us for a detailed statement telling you how we came to the decision and how we calculated the figure shown on the housing benefit letter you have received.
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Let us know what information is wrong and ask us to look at the decision again
If you think that we have not used the correct information in our calculations you can ask us to reconsider our original assessment.
So that we can do this, you will need to provide evidence of what you think is wrong, so that we can look at your claim again. For example, if you do not think we are using the correct income details you can upload pay slips to us from your customer portal for the relevant period.
Once we have reassessed your claim we will let you know the outcome by email.
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What happens if I still think the decision is wrong?
If, after doing all of the above you are still not happy, you can make an appeal:
- You must appeal within one month of the date stated on your housing benefit letter. You will need to give us full details of what you think is wrong and why you do not agree with our original decision so that a specialist benefits officer can review it
- If we cannot change the decision in your favour, your appeal will be passed directly to the independent Tribunal Service.
- If you make an appeal after a month or within 13 months, you will need to give an explanation for the delay, clearly giving the reasons for the dispute.
Your right to appeal
Asking for a statement or for us to review you claim does not take away your right to submit a formal appeal.
-
If I ask for an explanation or ask to reconsider the decision, do I get extra time to apply for other options after?
If you ask for an explanation, or for us to look at our decision again, then you will be allowed extra time if you wish to follow the other options later. We will give you more details about extensions to time limits once you have told us what, if anything, you would like us to do.
Additionally, you are able, at any time, to ask us for a written explanation of any decision we have made.