Housing Benefit
When you apply for Housing Benefit, we will give you a decision in writing about your claim.
If you disagree with it, you can ask us to look at it again.
There are different ways in which you can do this:
- ask us to explain our decision
- ask us to look at your claim again
- appeal against our decision
Our decision
You can ask us to give you a statement (called a ‘statement of reasons’) in writing to explain how we made our decision. This does not affect your right to appeal against our decision. The time we take to provide the statement will mean you have more time to ask us to look at our decision again or to lodge an appeal.
Request for us to look at your claim again
You must write to us within one month of the date on the decision letter. The decision will be checked by a different officer to the one who made the original decision to see if it is correct.
If we change our decision we will send you a letter explaining our new decision.
If we do not change our decision we will send you a letter explaining why and you have one more month from the date of this letter to appeal.
Appealing against our decision
The Appeals Service will make a decision about your appeal at an appeals tribunal hearing. People who are independent of the Council make up the tribunal hearing panel.
The tribunal does not have to look at anything you don’t mention in your letter or appeal form. For this reason it is important that you give your reasons for appealing because the tribunal can only look at the evidence, the law, and the circumstances at the time the original decision was made.
Remember, if the appeal tribunal finds you have been getting too much money, we will reduce your benefit.
You can contact us by writing to the address below.