NI260 - A guide to Revision, Supersession and Appeal (April 2006)
What happens when your appeal is received
- Action by the Decision Maker
- Withdrawing your appeal at the revision stage
- Appeal submissions
- Pre-hearing enquiry form
- Decisions to strike out appeals
- Reinstatement of struck out appeals
Action by the Decision Maker
The Decision Maker will first see if the decision can be changed by revising it in your favour. If the decision is revised in your favour, the appeal will stop. This is called a lapsed appeal. If the decision cannot be changed by revising it, the appeal will proceed. If the decision is revised but not in your favour, you will be given the opportunity to make representations against this new decision. If nothing changes, your appeal will continue but against this new decision. [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 30(1)]
Withdrawing your appeal at the revision stage
If you are happy with the Decision Maker’s explanation, and do not wish to continue with your appeal, you can withdraw it. Send your letter withdrawing the appeal to the Decision Maker.
Appeal submissions
Appeals that are not lapsed or withdrawn will be sent to the Tribunals Service for a decision. Before they are sent, the Decision Maker will prepare an appeal submission. This explains the reasons for the decision under appeal. It will explain the law that relates to the decision and will include any additional evidence used in making the decision such as your wage slips or bank account details.
The appeal submission will be used by the tribunal deciding your appeal.
A copy of the submission will be sent to you and your representative if you have one. If you want the submission to go to your representative, tell the agency when you make your appeal. You can get more infomation about this in leaflet GL24 If you think our decision is wrong.
Pre-hearing enquiry form
You will also receive a pre-hearing enquiry form with the submission. This asks important questions about your appeal. The form asks you questions about how you want your appeal to be looked at. You must choose between an oral hearing and a paper hearing and send the form to the Tribunals Service in the envelope provided. If you fail to do this on time your appeal may be struck out and will not continue. (See the difference between an oral and paper hearing.) [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 39]
Decisions to strike out appeals
Some appeals can be struck out without going to a full hearing. [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 46] This can happen for any of the following reasons:
- you do not follow up your appeal and you have been told that failure to do so may mean that your appeal is struck out.
For example, if you or your representative have not answered letters on time or taken action in connection with your appeal as requested - you have failed to return the pre-hearing enquiry form
- your appeal is about a decision against which there is no right of appeal and you have been told that an appeal against such a decision may be struck out
- your appeal is made outside the absolute time allowed for appealing, that is, more than one year after the end of the time limit for appealing.
The Appeals Service will tell you if your appeal is struck out. See below for details about what to do if you disagree with this decision.
Reinstatement of struck out appeals
If you think your appeal should not have been struck out, you may apply for it to be reinstated. An appeal can only be reinstated where: [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 47]
- you were not told that your appeal would be struck out if you did not follow it up
- your appeal was wrongly treated as one which could be struck out
- it is not in the interests of justice for your appeal to be struck out.
- there are good reasons why you did not return the pre-hearing enquiry form.
If you think any of these conditions applies in your case, you must write to the tribunal clerk within one month of the date the strike out notice was given to you or sent to you. You must state clearly why you think your appeal should not have been struck out. There is no right of appeal against a determination by a legally qualified panel member not to reinstate an appeal that has been struck out.