Dealing with applications
- What happens after an application is made
- Requests for more information
- Who decides who gets Pension Credit?
- How are customers told?
- What to do if a customer thinks a decision is wrong
What happens after an application is made?
This section of the guide explains how we deal with applications, who makes the decisions about Pension Credit and what your customer can do if they disagree with a decision.
Requests for more information
We may ask your customer to provide extra information so we can assess their application. This could include proof of income, earnings and savings, for example. If they have a mortgage or home loan we may give them a special form for their lender to fill in.
Usually, everything can be done by telephone or post. In some cases we may make an appointment for an interview.
If we arrange an interview:
- we will do our best to hold it at a time, date and place that suits your customer
- it will be conducted in private
- it may be held on the premises of a local organisation such as Age UK or a pensioner support group, and
- we will visit your customer at home if this is more suitable, for example if they have mobility problems.
Who decides who gets Pension Credit?
Once we have all the information we need for your customer’s application, we will pass it on to a decision maker.
Decision makers decide whether a person is entitled to Pension Credit according to the law and relevant legislation, including the decisions of the Upper Tribunal (formerly the Social Security Commissioners).
There are publications available that set out relevant legislation and decisions.
How are customers told?
Your customer will be told of the decision in writing. They will also receive a summary of how their Pension Credit has been worked out. Our letter also explains how to get a more detailed explanation of the assessment, if your customer needs one.
The decision maker will give the reasons for their decision in writing if your customer asks for them within one month. Your customer can phone or write to us to ask for this. The address and telephone number will be on the letter they receive about the decision.
What to do if your customer thinks a decision is wrong
Your customer has the right to appeal to an independent tribunal against the decision (see next section), but they can first ask for the decision to be looked at again – known as a reconsideration (usually by a different decision maker). This is generally much quicker than an appeal as a way of getting a decision re-considered.
The decision maker can change a decision that is wrong from its original date if your customer asks for it to be looked at again within one month of the date of the decision. If they contact us after one month, we may not be able to change it from that date.
Customers can apply by telephone or by writing to us giving their reasons. The letter telling them our decision will give more information on how to contact us. Customers can still appeal after we have looked at the decision again.
For more information, see A guide to revision, supersession and appeals.
How to appeal
If your customer decides to appeal they must write to us, telling us which decision they are appealing against and why. (Someone else can write the letter, but your customer must sign it.) It may help if they use the appeal form in our leaflet, If you think our decision is wrong.
Deadlines for disputes and appeals
Your customer must write within one month of the date of the decision. (If they have asked for a detailed explanation of the decision first, they have up to one month and two weeks from the date of the decision, or two weeks from the date they were sent the explanation, whichever is later, in which to apply for revision or appeal.)
If they apply after this time the application may only be accepted from the date of its receipt; the appeal may not be accepted at all.
Possible outcomes
Appeals are heard by independent tribunals and, like the decision maker, the tribunal is bound by Pension Credit and other social security law. It can change the decision by increasing or decreasing the award, or it can confirm that the decision is correct. It cannot, however, change the law or pay more than the law allows.
For more information, see A guide to revision, supersession and appeals.
