Benefit Reviews and Appeals

When we determine your application for Housing Benefit we will send you a decision letter. This will show the information used to work out your entitlement – please ensure you check this carefully.

You can also ask us to provide a written ‘statement of reason’ explaining our decision in more detail. To request this please write to our Benefits team using the contact details below within one month of the date shown on your decision letter.

If you disagree with a decision with have made about your Housing Benefit award, you can challenge this by:

Requesting a reconsideration

You can ask us to look again at a decision we have made about your application or award of Housing Benefit.

To request a reconsideration please write to our Benefits team using the contact details below.

In your letter you must state what you think is wrong with our decision and provide any additional evidence to support your request.

Making an appeal

If, following your request, we do not change our decision, and you have made it clear that you wish to appeal, we will send your appeal to the HM Courts and Tribunal Service. They will arrange for an independent tribunal to hear your case.

If you have not stated that you wish to appeal, and we do not change our decision, you will be given a further calendar month in which to make an appeal if you still think our decision is wrong.

If there are special circumstances, the Tribunals Service may be able to consider an appeal made outside this time limit. It cannot consider an appeal if your request is more than 13 months after our original decision letter.

For more information please see the Appeals Service website.