NI260 - A guide to Revision, Supersession and Appeal (April 2006)
Making an appeal
- Who can appeal?
- Decisions
- How to appeal
- Time limits for appeals
- Time limits for late appeals
- Decisions
Who can appeal?
- The claimant [SS Act 1998 12(2) SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 25]
- A person who has been appointed by the Secretary of State because the claimant is unable to act for themselves
- A person who is claiming Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance on behalf of someone who is terminally ill
- An employer, member, trustee or manager affected by decisions on pension schemes
- A person who has been appointed by the Secretary of State to continue with the claim of a person who has made a claim and then died
- A person who has been appointed by the Secretary of State to claim certain benefits on behalf of a deceased person
- A person who has been appointed by the Secretary of State to make a claim for Reduced Earnings Allowance or Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit in the name of a deceased person.
You can ask a representative to act on your behalf in making the appeal. If you want to do this, you must give them written authority. [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 33(1)(a)(ii)]
If an unauthorised person makes an appeal, or if the representative does not have written authority from you, the appeal may be treated as not duly made. This means that the appeal may not be accepted.
Decisions
The decision letter will explain whether or not you can appeal against the decision. Generally speaking you will be able to appeal against the outcome of the benefit decision, how much you are entitled to and over what period. Your decision letter will give you advice on this. [SS Act 1998 12 and Sched 2 & 3] [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 2]
If your appeal is about a decision that has no right of appeal, your appeal may be struck out. See ‘ Decisions to strike out appeals’ for further information.
How to appeal
Before appealing, you should consider asking the Decision Maker to look again at their decision. This may result in the decision being changed more quickly than if you make an appeal straightaway – and it does not affect your appeal rights. That said, all appeals will be checked first to ensure that the decision has been reconsidered by the Department for Work and Pensions. See ‘Applying for a decision to be revised’.
If you decide to appeal:
- fill in the appeal form at the back of Leaflet GL2, if you think our decision is wrong, which you can get from social security offices or Jobcentres, or your local Citizens Advice Bureau or advice centre may also hold copies
- sign and date the form
- send the form in. It would be helpful if you wrote ‘Appeal’ on the envelope. You must send your appeal to the office which is dealing with your claim. The address of the office dealing with your claim will be on the letter telling you about the decision.
Your appeal must reach the office within one month of the date the decision letter was given or sent to you. If you have asked for a written statement of the reasons for the decision and you receive it within one month of the decision, the one month allowed for appealing will be extended by 14 days. If you receive the written statement outside the one month, you will be given an extra 14 days from the date of the explanation. See ‘Seeking a written statement of reasons ’.
Providing all the information needed
Letters of appeal can be accepted, but only if they contain all the information needed to deal with your appeal. [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 33]
An appeal will only be accepted if the form or letter:
- is signed by the person who has a right of appeal or by a representative who has written authority to act on their behalf
- gives the date and details of the decision under appeal, or enough information for the decision to be identified
- contains the grounds for the appeal. It is not enough to say that you are unhappy with the decision. You must say why you think the decision is wrong.
The GL24 appeal form or appeal letter will be returned to you if it is not properly signed, or if it does not contain all the information needed to deal with the appeal. You will be asked to sign the appeal, or provide the missing information, or both. You must do this within 14 days of the date when the letter asking you for additional information was given to you or sent to you. If you live abroad and postal services are not reliable, you may be given a longer period to return the information. The letter you receive will tell you how long you have to return the information.
If you do not provide the additional information within the time allowed, a legally qualified panel member may decide not to accept your appeal. In these cases, there is no further right of appeal against a decision not to accept your appeal. If you later provide all the information, your appeal may be accepted, but it will be subject to the late appeal rules. See ‘ Time limits for late appeals’.
Time limits for appeals
Your appeal must be received within one month of the date the decision was given to you or sent to you. [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 31] If you have asked the Decision Maker to reconsider the decision, the one month begins from the date the revised or superseded decision notice is given to you or sent to you.
If you have asked for a written statement of the reasons for the decision and you receive it within one month of the decision, the one month allowed for appealing will be extended by 14 days. If you receive the written statement outside the one month, you will be given an extra 14 days from the date of the explanation. See ‘Seeking a written statement of reasons'.
Time limits for late appeals
If your appeal is made after the time limit for appealing, you will need to explain in detail why the appeal is late. This is because late appeals can only be accepted in certain circumstances. Your appeal will also need to contain all the information covered in the section ‘How to appeal’. [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 32]
Please note: There is an absolute time limit for making an appeal. This is one year after the end of the time limit for appealing. If your appeal is made outside this absolute time limit it will be struck out.
A late appeal can only be accepted if from your application it is clear that:
- your appeal has reasonable prospects of success
- or it is in the interest of justice for the application to be granted.
It is only in the interest of justice for the application to be granted if special circumstances existed which prevented you from making the appeal on time. Special circumstances are:
- the death or serious illness of the claimant, partner or dependant
- residence abroad
- disruption to normal postal services such as a postal strike
- other special circumstances which are wholly exceptional and relevant to the application.
Late appeals can be accepted by the Decision Maker or a legally qualified panel member. If the Decision Maker allows the late appeal he must be satisfied that it is in the interest of justice to grant the application. If the Decision Maker is not satisfied of this, a legally qualified panel member can grant the late appeal if they are satisfied that the appeal has a reasonable prospect of success or that it is in the interests of justice to grant the application. Both will look at how late the appeal is, and will need to be satisfied that the special circumstances fully justify the length of delay.
Please note: If your only reason is that there has been a reinterpretation of the law since the decision was made, or that you were ignorant of the law including the law on time limits, the application will not be accepted.
You will receive a copy of the legally qualified panel member’s decision in writing shortly after your application has been considered.
If your late application is accepted, your appeal will be returned to the Department for Work and Pensions for a full submission.
If the late application is not accepted your appeal will end. You cannot appeal a decision not to accept a late appeal. The only available remedy is judicial review. You should consider consulting a welfare rights adviser before pursuing this remedy.
Decisions
The decision letter will explain whether or not you can appeal against the decision. Generally speaking you will be able to appeal against the outcome of the benefit decision, how much you are entitled to and over what period. Your decision letter will give you advice on this. [SS Act 1998 12 and Sched 2 & 3] [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 2]
If your appeal is about a decision that has no right of appeal, your appeal may be struck out. See ‘ Decisions to strike out appeals’ for further information.