What to do if you think the decision about your benefit is wrong.
This page explains what to do if you think the decision about your Council Tax Benefit is wrong.
If you think the decision we made on your claim is wrong, you can contact us to:
- Ask us to explain it
- Ask us to look at the decision again
- Appeal to an independent tribunal to look at the decision
There are time limits for asking us to look at the decision again or for making an appeal but you can ask us to explain the decision in writing to you at any time. This written explanation is called a ‘statement of reasons’.
What should I do if I want you to look at the decision again?
You must write to us within one month of the date on the decision letter. If you have asked for a statement of reasons first, the one month time limit is extended by the time it takes us to reply to you.
I have asked for the decision to be looked at again. What happens next?
A different officer will look at the decision to see if it is correct.
If the decision can be changed we will send you a letter explaining the new decision. If you do not agree with the new decision you can ask us to look at it again.
If the decision cannot be changed we will send you a letter explaining why. If you then want to appeal to the Tribunals Service you have another month from the date of the letter to do so.
What should I do if I want to appeal against the decision?
Complete the appeals form or write to us within one month of the date of the decision letter. The form will help you provide the right information.
If you write to us; state the decision you are appealing against, the date on the notification and give reasons why you think the decision is wrong.
If you have any evidence to support your appeal, send it to us with your form or letter.
You may find it helpful to talk to a welfare rights organisation, such as Citizens Advice or the Welfare Rights Service.
Who can make an appeal?
- whoever made the claim (the claimant)
- someone who is appointed by the courts to act on behalf of the claimant
- someone who we agree can act on behalf of the claimant
- a landlord – but only about who benefit may be paid to
- an agent – but only about who benefit may be paid to
- anyone we ask to pay back an overpayment of benefit
What happens after I have made an appeal?
We will look at the decision again if we have not already done this.
If we think the original decision is wrong we will change it and write to let you know. If we decide in your favour, your appeal will stop.
If we think the original decision is wrong but it is not to your advantage e.g. the amount of benefit you get remains the same or goes down; your appeal will continue.
When we have prepared the appeal papers we will write to you again and send you a copy of the papers.
I have not asked you to look at my claim or made an appeal within one month - what can I do?
You can ask us to look at your claim again or make an appeal outside the one month time limit if there were reasons why you could not do this at the time. You need to tell us what the reasons are and provide any evidence that you have.
We cannot normally accept an appeal 13 months after the decision was made.
However, if you do appeal outside this time limit we will refer your appeal to the First Tier Tribunal for them to decide whether your appeal can be allowed.
General information
This is only intended to be a guide it is not meant to say exactly what your legal rights are.
We have tried to make sure that the information provided here is correct and up to date; but please remember that the information is likely to become less accurate over time because of changes to the law.
To make this topic easier to understand some of the information may have been oversimplified. If you need more detailed information please contact us using the information provided on the right hand side under the heading 'Contact information'.