NI260 - A guide to Revision, Supersession and Appeal (April 2009)
Decision makers
Making a decision
Officials acting on behalf of the Secretary of State make decisions about claims and applications for revision and supersession. These officials are known as Decision Makers. (The Secretary of State has delegated their decision-making powers to these officials.) [SS Act 1998 1 & 2]
This section explains how decisions are made on social security benefit claims and applications for revision and supersession.
Claims
If you claim a benefit you will have to prove that you are entitled to it. You will be asked to provide information and evidence to support your claim. Your claim will be passed to a Decision Maker for a decision. Once the decision has been made, you will be informed in writing of the outcome of your claim (known as the ‘outcome decision’) [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 28]. The notification will explain what decision has been made, that you can contact us for more information and it will tell you about your dispute and appeal rights.
If there are medical aspects of your claim which need to be considered when making a decision, then the procedures followed will depend upon the benefit claimed. There are different procedures for:
- Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)
- Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Attendance Allowance (AA)
- Incapacity Benefit (IB)
- ESA
You can get more information about claiming these benefits in the relevant technical guide.
Stayed decisions
A ‘stayed’ [SS Act 1998 25] decision is where the Secretary of State does not make a decision on a claim or an application for revision or supersession because it includes a point of law that is similar to another case involved in an appeal at court (known as the lead case). If the same point of law is involved, the Decision Maker can ‘stay’ all or part of a benefit decision until the legal issue has been decided.
Once the lead case has been determined, the Decision Maker will look again at your claim or application and will make a decision based on the outcome of the lead case.
If staying a decision is likely to cause you hardship, you can ask the Decision Maker to make the decision instead. The decision may then be changed at a later date.
Challenging a decision
Although, as explained in Applying for a decision to be revised or superseded, you do not always have to show grounds for challenging a decision, you will be expected to say why you think the decision is wrong. Because the law says that the Decision Maker does not have to consider anything other than the issue raised by you, you should give as much detail as possible when making your challenge. [SS Act 1998 9 (2) & 10(2)]
There are two ways in which you can challenge a decision:
- Revision and supersession – straightforward procedures which allow the Decision Maker to look at a case again and, if appropriate, change the decision quickly and economically without the need for an appeal to be made
- Appeal – your opportunity to challenge the decision of a Decision Maker to an independent appeal tribunal.
Choosing to apply for a revision, a supersession or appeal
The decision whether to apply for a revision, supersession or appeal will depend upon the timing and circumstances of any challenge.
Here are a few points to bear in mind:
- Revision – you can only apply for a revision of a decision within one month of the decision you disagree with, subject to certain exceptions. Further details, including how a late application for revision can be made, can be found in Applying for a decision to be revised or superseded
- Supersession – if you do not apply for a revision but at a later date you think the decision made on your claim or application is wrong, you can apply for it to be superseded. A decision will also be superseded if your circumstances change after a decision has been made. Further details can be found in Applying for a decision to be revised or superseded
- Appeals – like an application for revision, you have to appeal within one month of a decision being made. It may take some time before the tribunal can hear your appeal. But if you do appeal, a Decision Maker will always look again at the decision being appealed to see if they can change it so that you do not have to wait for the appeal to be heard. Further details, including how you can make a late appeal, can be found in The appeals process.
If you need help in deciding what you should do, you can get advice from your local social security office or Jobcentre Plus office, or from an advice agency such as the Citizens Advice Bureau.
When you apply to have a decision revised or superseded or you appeal a decision you are asking the Decision Maker to look at the decision again. You should be aware that there is no guarantee that you will be better off. If you succeed in getting the decision changed, it is possible the new decision means you are worse off.
Challenging a decision made on your contribution record
Your entitlement to some benefits, for example Incapacity Benefit, contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), contribution-based Employment Support Allowance, Retirement Pension, relies on you having paid the correct National Insurance (NI) contributions over set periods. If you disagree with a decision made on these benefits on the grounds of your contribution record, your dispute will be passed to the Inland Revenue to be decided. Their decision will be binding on the Department for Work and Pensions’ Decision Maker and the appeal tribunal. [SSCS (D&A) Regs 1999 11A].
