What if I don’t understand or disagree with a decision about my Benefit?

You can contact our Helpline by phone, or come in to one of our offices where a specially trained advisor will explain the decision to you. See our Contact us page for details and opening hours.

If you are unable to do this you can ask for a full written explanation of the decision. You must do this in writing. We will then send you a full written statement as soon as possible.

If you still disagree with the decision after it has been explained, you can ask us to look at the decision again.

Who can ask us to review a decision?

Only the ‘person affected’ by the decision can query it. Normally, it is the claimant who is the ‘person affected’ by the decision. However, there are a few other exceptions:

a. If a landlord is being paid Housing Benefit direct and the Council decide to recover overpaid benefit from that landlord.

b. 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 him or herself.

If you understand the decision but disagree with it

You can ask us to look at the decision again to see if we can change it. You must do this in writing. You must tell us which decision you are unhappy with, and say why you are unhappy with the decision. If you have new or further information or evidence, you can submit it at this stage.

Where a decision is changed you must remember that it does not always mean you will get more benefit. It is possible that if we change a decision, you will get less benefit.

You have one month to contact us if you don’t understand a decision, or if you disagree with it.
Generally speaking, we can only change a decision if we receive written notice from you within one month of the date of the decision. Please write in black ink. We can only accept late requests in special circumstances.

If you are writing to us about a decision that was made more than one month ago, you must also request an extension of the time limit by giving reasons for the delay. We will only accept a request that is outside the time limit if we think it is reasonable, has merit, and the delay was due to special circumstances.

Once we have looked at the decision again we will write to you to let you know the outcome. If the decision has not been changed in your favour and you still think the decision is wrong, you will be able to appeal to an independent tribunal. We will send you more information about your right of appeal at that stage.

If your circumstances change, you must tell us in writing immediately. If the change means you get more benefit, you must tell us about it within one month. If you do not, the increase will start from the date you tell us of the change. If the change means you get less benefit, it will start from the date of the change. If we pay you too much benefit because you did not tell us about a change, or you told us afterwards, you must pay the money back.

This document was last updated on 2008-08-11 12:48:05 published by the Revenues and Benefits team. Document Reference:LBE_130540