	Benefits Service
	Torbay Council
	Town Hall Castle Circus Torquay TQ1 3DS
	housing.benefits @torbay.gov.uk
	01803 207201
	01803 207122
	Additional Contact Details

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Benefit Appeals

If you think the decision about your Housing or Council Tax Benefit claim is wrong.please use the list below to find the answers to these frequently asked questions:

Do you understand our Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit decision?

When we have dealt with your claim for benefit we will send you a decision letter. The letter shows the information we have used to work out your benefit and you should check it carefully.

If you do not understand our decision or you want to know more, please get in touch with us and ask us to explain it. You should do this within one month of the date on our decision letter.

If you ask us for more information after this time, we will still explain the decision to you but we may not be able to look at the decision again if you later decide that it is wrong.

We can explain our decision verbally, or if you want us to confirm it in writing we will send you a ‘statement of reasons’ explaining how we have worked out your benefit.

You can contact us by phone, by e-mail or in writing, or you can call into one of our offices.

What can I do if I think your decision about my Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit is wrong?

You can do one of two things. You can :

ask us to look at our decision again; or
appeal against the decision.

What do I need to do if I want you to look at your decision again?

If you ask for a written statement of reasons, you will have the one calendar month from the date of the decision letter plus the time we took to send you the statement of reasons. For example:

Our decision letter is dated 1 April.
The one calendar month is 2 April to 1 May.
You asked for a written statement of reasons on 6 April and we sent this to you on 10 April.
The one calendar month is extended by five days, and now ends on 6 May.

If there are special circumstances which mean you cannot contact us within one month, we may still be able to change the decision. Tell us what the special circumstances are when you contact us.

If you ask us to look at a decision again more than one month after the date of the decision letter and you do not have special circumstances, we may still be able to change the decision. But this will usually only be from the date you write to us.

An appeals officer will look at your case again. They will check your claim thoroughly and take account of any more information you have given in your letter.

We could then:

decide not to change the decision;
change the decision and pay you more benefit; or
change the decision and pay you less benefit.
We will write to you and let you know what we have decided.

If you are still not happy with our decision, and you have not appealed you can then ask us to pass your case to The Tribunal Service.

I want to appeal against your decision. What should I do?

You can make an appeal to the Tribunal Service using the appeals form. Fill in the form and write down the reasons for your appeal.

Make sure that you sign the form.

If you need help you can get it from:

an advice centre;
a Citizens Advice Bureau;
a solicitor;
any housing advice service.

When you have filled in the form, send it back to the Benefits Section within one calendar month of the date on the decision letter.

The Tribunal Service will decide on your appeal at a tribunal hearing.

What is an appeal tribunal?

An appeal tribunal is normally made up of one legally qualified panel member this person is a lawyer and completely independent of Torbay Council.

What does the tribunal look at?

The tribunal can only look at the evidence, the law, and the circumstances at the time we made the decision you are appealing against.

The tribunal cannot look at changes of circumstances that happened after we made the decision.

If a change of circumstances could affect your benefit or means you could claim again, you should report it to us straightaway. Do not wait for the appeal hearing.

Remember, if the appeal tribunal finds that you have been getting too much money your benefit will be reduced.

What if I miss the deadline for an appeal?

If you miss the one calendar month deadline, your appeal may not be able to be accepted.

your appeal can only be accepted late if there are special circumstances for the delay.

This could be something like:

a death;
a serious illness;
absence abroad;
a postal strike; or
some other special circumstance.

You should explain why you could not appeal in time on the Appeal form.

The council and/or the Tribunal Service will look at the reasons you have given for not appealing in time and will decide if your appeal can be accepted.

They will look at:

whether there were special circumstances for the delay;
the length of time since you received the decision;
whether it is in the interest of justice that your appeal is accepted; and
whether your appeal is reasonably likely to succeed.

Your appeal cannot be accepted if you appeal 13 months or more after the date on the decision letter.

What happens after I have made an appeal?

We will offer you an explanation of our decision, if we have not already done this.

We will also look at the decision again if we have not already done so.

If, at this stage, we agree that the original decision is wrong and the new decision is to your advantage, we will send you a new decision and your appeal will stop.

If you do not agree with the new decision, your appeal rights start all over again.

If we agree that the original decision is wrong, but the new decision is not to your advantage, we will send you a new decision.

Your appeal will continue against the new decision and you will have another calendar month to comment on the new decision.

If we do not change the decision, we will send your appeal, along with an explanation of the law and the facts used to make the decision, to the Tribunal Service.

We will also include any other relevant papers.

We will send a copy of the appeal papers to you and your representative (if you have one).

We will also send you an Tribunal Service form called a ‘TAS1’.The form asks you questions about how you want your appeal to be looked at. You can choose between an oral hearing and a paper hearing. If you choose to go to an oral hearing, you will be able to deal with any questions or issues that arise. You must fill in the TAS1 form and send it to the Tribunal Service within 14 days of the date the form was sent to you. If you do not, your appeal will stop.

Read the appeal papers very carefully. If you do not understand something, ask us, or an advice centre or solicitor, to explain.

What is an oral hearing?

It’s an appeal hearing which you can go to. At the hearing:

the tribunal may ask you questions;
you can ask questions;
you can take someone with you to represent you;
you can call witnesses to give evidence to the tribunal; and
one of our representatives will be there and he or she may ask you questions and call witnesses.

If you choose an oral hearing but find you cannot go, you must let the Tribunal Service know straightaway.
You must have a good reason why you cannot go, such as an illness. You may be able to arrange another date.

If you do not let the Tribunal Service know you cannot go to the hearing, the tribunal may hear your appeal without you.

Oral hearings are usually open to the public, but anyone who goes to the hearing will usually be involved in the appeal. You can ask to have your appeal heard in private.

If you live abroad and want an oral hearing, let the Tribunal Service know you want to go to the hearing or want to send someone to represent you.

The Tribunal Service can then arrange for your appeal hearing to be:

as near as possible to the place you arrive in Great Britain;
as near as possible to your representative, if you have one; or
delayed until you are in Great Britain.

Will they pay for my expenses if I go to my appeal hearing?

The Tribunal Service may pay some of your expenses for going to the hearing, for example, travel costs.

If you want more information about expenses, please contact the Tribunal Service office that is handling your appeal.

If you live abroad, you will have to pay your own fares to and from Great Britain. You may be able to get expenses while you are in Great Britain and the appeal hearing is going on.

What is a paper hearing?

This is an appeal hearing that you do not go to.

You should use the form we send you with the appeal papers to add any more information that you think will help your case.

Do not delay sending information as you will not be told the date of a paper hearing.

The appeal will be heard, and the Tribunal Service will send you the decision.

If the tribunal think they need you to go to an oral hearing, they can refuse your request for a paper hearing.

If you choose a paper hearing but change your mind, you can choose to have an oral hearing. You should write to the Tribunal Service straightaway.

Please remember that it might be in your interests to go to an oral hearing because you will be able to deal with any questions or issues that arise.

How will I know what the result of my appeal is?

You will be given a decision notice explaining the tribunal’s decision as soon as possible after the appeal hearing.

The Tribunal Service will send a copy to the Council.

You can also ask The Tribunal Service for a statement of reasons.
This gives an explanation of the tribunal’s decision, including the facts and the law used.

You must ask for a statement of reasons within one month of the date you are given, or sent, the decision notice.

You must have a copy of the statement of reasons if you appeal to the Social Security Commissioners.

If you want a record of the appeal hearing, you can get a copy of the record of proceedings up to six months from the date of the hearing.

If your appeal is successful, we will usually put the decision right as soon as we receive our copy of the tribunal’s decision.

We may not put it right straightaway if we are not happy with the tribunal’s decision and decide to appeal to the Social Security Commissioners.

What can I do if I disagree with the tribunal’s decision?

You can appeal to the Social Security Commissioners.

The Commissioners are barristers, solicitors or advocates with at least 10 years’ experience and are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Lord Chancellor.

They are independent of both us and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Who can appeal to the Commissioners?

Appeals can be made by:

anyone who has already appealed to the Tribunal Service;
us; and
the Department for Work and Pensions.

What can I appeal to the Commissioners about?

You can only appeal to the Commissioners on a point of law.

You cannot appeal to the Commissioners about:

a question of fact; or
a tribunal’s findings or conclusions.

How do I appeal to the Commissioners?

Your decision letter from the Tribunal Service will tell you what to do if you are not happy with the decision and how to appeal to the Commissioners.
Read it carefully – it tells you important time limits for your appeal.

You cannot appeal unless you first get the statement of reasons for the tribunal’s decision.

You should read the statement of reasons carefully.

If you think the tribunal did not apply the law correctly, you can apply for leave to appeal to the Commissioners.

You must do this within one month of the date the statement of reasons was sent to you.

If you appeal to the Commissioners, you must send the statement of reasons with your application.

If you do not, your application may not be looked at.

A legally qualified tribunal member will decide if your appeal can be sent to the Commissioners or whether it should be looked at again by a different tribunal.

You can ask an advice centre, solicitor or another suitable person or organisation to help with your application.

What if my application for a statement of reasons or my application for leave to appeal to the Commissioners is late?

If your application for a statement of reasons, or for leave to appeal to the Commissioners, is late, it can only be accepted if there are special circumstances or special reasons that caused the delay.

You will need to show why you were not able to make your request on time.

Where can I get help?

You can get help from the following advice centres:

Citizens Advice Bureau
Age Concern
Shelter
Local Welfare Rights
Local Law Centres

They can represent you and help you understand the reasons for decisions about Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

They can also help you to fill in forms or to write a letter, and they will sometimes go with you to the tribunal that hears your appeal.

It will help if you show them any letters you have about the decision that you think is wrong.

Sometimes, trade unions may also offer free advice to their members.

They may also be able to speak for you at the tribunal that hears your appeal.

You can check your local phone book or library for details of all the above organisations above.

Solicitors

You may be able to get advice from a solicitor, but check with them whether you can get any help with your costs or whether you’ll have to pay.

You cannot get any money for things like solicitors’ fees from us or the Tribunal Service.

If you do decide to use a solicitor, you may not get any help towards their costs if they represent you at a hearing.

For details of solicitors you should contact the Community Legal Service Directory on 0845 6081122.

What if I live abroad?

You can ask someone in Great Britain to act for you.

They may be able to get help from a solicitor under the Legal Advice and Assistance Scheme, but the scheme does not cover the cost of a solicitor to help you at a hearing.

Benefit Appeals Guidance