How To Appeal A Benefits Decision

Hello, my name is Lee Healey and I'm the managing director of Income Max title expert. We help people to make sense of and understand the benefits in tax credit system. Today, we are going to tell you lots about the benefits and tax credits that are available.

Here's a quick guide to appealing and challenging a benefit decision. Normally, you have the right to challenge or appeal against a benefit or tax credit decision and the time scales can vary according to which benefit or tax credit you're actually claiming. Let's look at benefit claims first of all.

For most benefits, for example, things like income support, job seekers allowance, housing benefit, or council tax benefit, disability living allowance, you have the right to challenge a decision if it's something you don't agree with. So what's your options here? Well, first of all, you can ask for a decision to be looked at again. We often call this a reconsideration and the time scales for that is around about one month.

So if you received a decision and you don't agree with it, you can actually get that decision looked at again. The alternative is to appeal. Now to appeal a decision, again the time scale is normally one month.

So you'll have one month from the date of the original decision or if you've asked for the decision maker to look at that claim again and then you get a new decision which you're still not happy with, you've still got the right to appeal that within one month. So how do you appeal? Well, normally you send in a letter or a form called a GL24, and this GL24 form will be available from the directgov website. Now an appeal, the idea of an appeal is basically that it's independent.

That you can go to an independent tribunal to actually get this looked at again. You can actually go along and attend the appeal tribunal or you can have the appeal heard on the papers. So you've got lots of options open to you in relation to challenging a benefits decision.

So you can ask for the claim to be looked at again or you can go to an independent tribunal. If you're going to make an appeal, once you've filled out the form or decided to send a letter in appealing that decision, you'll need to return that letter or form to the actual benefits office that's made that decision. At that point, the benefits office will pass this on to the tribunal service and at that point, the tribunal service will actually deal with your appeal, and that's a quick guide to appealing a benefit decision. .