Benefits Appeals

If you have received a decision letter about Housing Benefit and you think it is wrong, you can appeal. You must do this within one month of the date of the letter notifying you of the decision.

You will need to tell us which decision you disagree with and the reason why.

Your appeal needs to be in writing and should say why you disagree with our decision. You can:

• ask for the decision to be looked at again
• ask for an explanation of the decision
• ask for a Statement of Reasons (how the council came to its decision)
• appeal to an independent tribunal through the Tribunals Service/Valuations Tribunal.

Send your appeal to:

Revenues and Benefits Service,
PO Box 250,
Wolverhampton,
WV2 1AX

If you have special reasons why you have not been able to dispute a Housing Benefit decision within one month, you need to tell us why. There is an absolute upper time limit of thirteen months. Disputes made after this time will not be considered.

What happens after a dispute is made?

We will look at the decision again and may contact you to ask for more information.

If we think the original decision is wrong, we will change it and write to let you know. If we decide in your favour, your appeal will stop.

If we are not able to change the original decision, we will write to you and explain the reason why. We will also tell you if you can appeal the decision.

Independent tribunal

If you have appealed a decision and we have been unable to change it, your case will be forwarded to an independent tribunal for them to make a decision on the case. Your appeal and our detailed response will be sent to the tribunal for them to make a decision.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service make decisions on all social security benefit appeals, including Housing Benefit. The tribunal usually consists of one legally-qualified judge. You will be sent a form asking if you want to attend. If you decide to attend the hearing you will be told of the day of your appeal, and both you and the council will get a chance to attend and have your say before the Appeals Tribunal decide what is correct.

Please visit the GOV.UK website for more information about HM Courts and Tribunals Service.

What to do if you think the decision about your Council Tax Support is wrong

If you think the decision we have made is wrong, you can contact us and ask us to look at it again. You must tell us which decision you think is wrong and the reason why. There is no time limit for disputing Council Tax Support decisions.

We will then look again at our decision and write to you to tell you whether we have been able to change it. We will explain the reason for our decision. If you still disagree with our decision, you have the right of appeal to the Valuation Tribunal Service. We will include details of how to appeal to this service in our decision letter.

If you have not received a response to your initial dispute within two months, please visit the Valuation Tribunal Service to appeal.

Alternatively, write to us at:

Revenues and Benefits Service,
PO Box 250,
Wolverhampton,
WV2 1AX